On ternary complementary sequences

A pair of real-valued sequences A=(a₁,a₂,...,a_N) and B=(b₁,b ₂,...,b_N) is called complementary if the sum R(·) of their autocorrelation functions R_A(·) and R_B(·) satisfies R(τ)=R_A(τ)+R _B(τ)=Σ_i=1^N$ -^τa_ia_i+τ+Σ_j=1 ^N-τb_jb_j+τ=0, ?τ≠0. In this paper we introduce a new family of complementary pairs of sequences over the alphabet α₃=+{1,-1,0}. The inclusion of zero in the alphabet, which may correspond to a pause in transmission, leads both to a better understanding of the conventional binary case, where the alphabet is α₂={+1,-1}, and to new nontrivial constructions over the ternary alphabet α₃. For every length N, we derive restrictions on the location of the zero elements and on the form of the member sequences of the pair. We also derive a bound on the minimum number of zeros necessary for the existence of a complementary pair of length N over α₃. The bound is tight, as it is met by some of the proposed constructions, for infinitely many lengths