  Resonance assignment is a critical first step in the investigation of protein
structures using NMR spectroscopy. The development of assignment methods that
require less experimental data is possible with prior knowledge of the
macromolecular structure. Automated methods of performing the task of resonance
assignment can significantly reduce the financial cost and time requirement for
protein structure determination. Such methods can also be beneficial in
validating a protein's solution state structure. Here we present a new approach
to the assignment problem. Our approach uses only RDC data to assign backbone
resonances. It provides simultaneous order tensor estimation and assignment.
Our approach compares independent order tensor estimates to determine when the
correct order tensor has been found. We demonstrate the algorithm's viability
using simulated data from the protein domain 1A1Z.
