A method is presented for
generating a maximally-flat chirp signal whose
effective duration is controllable by a single
parameter. A sequence of discrete sample
values is calculated, each of which is equal
to the nth-order Bessel function at a fixed
argument. The effective duration of this se-
quence is approximately twice the value of
the argument. Standard analog-to-digital
conversion methods can be used to produce
a time-varying analog signal for system test
and evaluation. The utility of these signals
is demonstrated by their application to the
spectral analysis of audio systems including
multimedia sound cards and a cassette tape
recorder.