DATA DIRECTED ESTIMATION TECHNIQUES FOR SINGLE-TONE HF MODEMS

by Frank M. Hsu
GTE Government Systems Corporation Communication Systems Division 77 "X' Street Needham Heights, MA 02194-2892

ABSTRACT This paper is concerned with data directed estimation (DDE) techniques for use in single-tone HF modems. The proposed scheme uses least-squares adaptive techniques for dealing with fading and multipath radio HF channels. The DDE is based on direct estimation of channel parameters and data blocks. Training data is imbedded into the transmission in the form of blocks of training bits alternated with blocks of source data at a fixed (though selectable) fraction of the transmission.
Two DDE techniques, i.e., linear and nonlinear, are discussed in this paper. In the linear DDE, the source data block is estimated by a Levinson recursive algorithm. In the nonlinear DDE, only the end symbols of the data block are kept, quantized, and subtracted from the simultaneous equations. The symbols left in the block are estimated by a Levinson algorithm again, and so forth. The procedure described here is used recursively until all the known symbols are obtained. In both linear and nonlinear DDE techniques, the channel is estimated by a steepest-descent algorithm.

transmitter. Consequently, the power loss in a traditional multitone modem is enormous. The amount of signal energy available for bit decisions is further lowered by using the guard time since only a portion of each received signaling element is used in the integration interval. Significant spectral efficiency is lost by the requirement of separating the tones by an amount larger than l/T, where T is the symbol interval. A spectral efficiency of 0.8 bps/Hz is typical in 4-phase multitone DPSK modems. Finally, the performance of (uncoded) multitone transmission schemes can be seriously degraded when spectral nulls in the channel fall on or near one of the tone frequencies used. [1]
A second configuration for an HF modem uses single-tone M-ary PSK modulation and a data directed estimation (DDE) demodulation techniques. In contrast to the multitone case, a single tone modem in principle suffers from none of the above consequences. Both higher data rates and low peak-to-average ratio can be achieved by a single tone modem. For clarity, some possible modulation alphabets, block parameters, data rates, percentage of training, throughput and maximum allowable multipath spread for an HF modem using the DDE techniques are listed in Table 1. The block parameters, M and N, denote the sizes of the block for source data and training bits respectively. The modem proposed here uses a 2,400 keying rate and a 3 kHz bandwidth. From Table 1, it is clear that the single tone modem using the DDE techniques may achieve a data rate up to 1 bps/Hz or higher. Table 1. Modulation Alphabets, Block Parameters, Data Rates, Percentage of Training, Throughput and Maximum Allowable Multipath Spread for HF Modem Using the DDE Techniques with 2,400 keying Rate in 3 kHz Bandwidth.
Maximum Allowable

As with a linear equalizer, the linear DDE lacks the ability

to cope with the fading dispersive HF radio channels. However,

the nonlinear DDE works well under the same channel conditions. The analysis shows that the nonlinear DDE can achieve performance similar to the decision-feedback equalization (DFE) technique with known channel conditions. The channel estimator used in the DDE techniques will converge faster than the DFE (see Section VII) if a similar adaptive algorithm is utilized. A single-tone HF modem based on the DDE technique has been implemented on a digital signal processor at GTE. SUMMARY Commercial and military demands for greater communication reliability, lower error rates and higher data rates in the transmission of digital information over dispersive media, such as HF ionospheric channels, are continually increasing. There are two classical approaches for dealing with fading and multipath. The traditional configuration for an HF modem uses multitone modulation (Kineplex) with guard time inserted between adjacent symbols for avoiding the intersymbol interference. The transmitter based on multitone techniques must be capable of supporting a high peak-to-average power ratio in the range of 8-9 dB. This means that the average transmitted power is about 8-9 dB below the maximum deliverable power of the
I.

Percentage

Modulation Alphabets

Block Parameters

Data Rates (bps)

of Training
50% 33'h% 25% 50%

Throughput

Multipath Spread
8.3 ms 6.6 ms 5.0 ms 8.3 ms 6.6 ms 5.0 ms 8.3 ms 6.6 ms 5.0 ms

44
psk

M=20, N=20
M=32, N=16 M=36, N=12 M=20, N=20 M=32, N=16 M=36, N=12 M=20, N=20 M=32, N=16 M=36, N=12

84
psk

164
psk

2,400 3,200 3,600 3,600 4,800 5,400 4,800 6,400 7,200

50% 6623 % 75%

3351%
25% 50%

662A%
75% 50% 75%

50%

3351 %

6625 %

25%

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Two DDE techniques, i.e., linear and nonlinear, will be discussed in this paper. In the linear DDE, the source data block (bo, b1 , bM-l) is estimated by a Levinson recursive algorithm. In the nonlinear DDE, only b0 and bm_ obtained from a Levinson algorithm are kept and b1 to bM-2 discarded in the first step of estimation. The estimates, bo and bM 1 are then quantized to the nearest symbols, bo and bM 1, respectively. The decisions, bo and bM1, are substracted from the simultaneous equations. The M-2 symbols (bl, b2, . . . , bM 2) left are estimated by a Levinson algorithm again, and so forth. The procedure described here is used recursively until all the unknown symbols are obtained. In both linear and nonlinear DDE techniques, the channel is estimated by a steepest-descent algorithm.
II. MODULATIONS It is mathematically convenient to represent the digital communication system in a baseband formulation. All signals and filters in this paper are written in complex-valued, lowpass equivalent form. Suppose an information sequence {In} modulates a basic transmitting filter pulse s(t) at a rate I/T. Then the total transmitted signal is
00

variances, t[ If 12]. (Note: The sign t indicates an ensemble average.) The tap coefficients are generated by filtering white Gaussian noise through a filter whose bandwidth (B) is on the order of the fade rate.
IV. DATA-DIRECTED ESTIMATORS The proposed DDE techniques use single-carrier transmission and least-square adaptive techniques for dealing with fading and multipath. The DDE techniques are based upon direct estimation of channel parameters and data blocks. Training data is imbedded into the transmission in the form of training blocks alternated with source data blocks at a fixed (though selectable) fraction of the transmission.

a) Signal Structure
Three types of modulations (i.e., PAM, MPSK and hybrid PAMPSK) discussed in Section II are suited for the DDE techniques. Generally, the MPSK modulation is favored for transmission on the HF radio channels. The decision block of the DDE depicted in Figure 1 consists of three subblocks, one block with N known symbols (ao, a,, . . ., aN- 1), one adjacent source data block with M unknown symbols (bo, bl, . . ., bm-1) and another block with N known symbols (aN, aN+I, . . , a2N 1) which is adjacent to the previous source data block. Both a's and b's are the data symbols (i.e., IK) which are described in Section II. A data frame consists of one training block (i.e., block with N known symbols) and one adjacent source data block. Signals are transmitted in successive frames. The information throughput, (I, and fraction of training, (T, are given by
M -M+N N M+N
Known N Symbols
|

s(t) = E Iks(t-kT), k=0

(2-1)

where T is the duration of the signaling interval and Ik is the timeindependent information symbol that is transmitted in the interval kT <t < (k+1)T. The information symbols in (2-1) may be complexvalued in general. Is is convenient to assume that the symbols {Ik} are statistically independent, with zero-mean and unit variance. Three types of modulation fit the mathematical formulation presented above. First, Ik can take one of M real values, equally spaced about zero, in a pulse-amplitude-modulated (PAM) signal. Second, an M-ary phase-shift keying (MPSK) signal is obtained if one allows Ik to take any one of the M values exp[2?ri(m-1) /M], where m =1, 2, . . ., M. Finally, a hybrid PAM-PSK modulation also fits the formulation in (2-1). III. A DISCRETE-TIME CHANNEL A problem encountered in high-speed serial data transmission over multipath radio channels is intersymbol interference. The intersymbol interference is directly caused by multiple propagation modes or paths with different path delays. The multipath spread of a long distance radio link (e.g., 4,000 miles) is about 5 milliseconds. Specifically, the transmitted symbol rates on such a channel are of the order of 2,400 symbols per second. Hence, intersymbol interference will extend over 12 symbols or so. The HF channel is modeled at baseband as a tapped delay line with time-varying coefficients followed by additive zero mean white Gaussian noise (WGN), n(t), with variance a2. The tapped delay line has taps spaced at the symbol interval (T) and nonzero tap coefficients corresponding to discrete multipath propagation. The tap coefficients are assumed to be independent complex Gaussian random variables {fi, i = 0, . . . , L} with zero mean and fixed

(4.1)
(4.2)
Unknown M Symbols
Known N Symbols
aN-I
. . .

a2N-1

aN+IaN

bM_1

bibo
I{

alaO

1 Frame

1 Frame

Decision Block

Figure 1. Signal Structure of Data-Directed Estimator

For example, if we use 80-PSK modulation, 2,400 keying rate and set M and N equal to 32 and 16, respectively, then the percentage of training is 33 /3 % and the source data rate is 4,800 bps. Table 1 lists some possible modulations and data rates.

b) Channel Equations The HF radio channel can be modeled as a discrete-time channel model as given in Section III. Generally, the channel weights can be written in vector form as
f' =fL fL- I
.

fo ]

(4.3)

where the tap spacing is one symbol interval, T, LT is the multipath spread of the channel (N > L) and t denotes the transpose. Since

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the channel is very slowly time-varying, we may assume that the channel is fixed in a decision block. Then the received signals without additive noise are given by
ft

fo fl

fo

M+L
(4.11)

ft
ft

Al
fL-1 fL-2
B

fO
.
.
.

(4.4)

I
(4.12)

A3t = [aN-LaN -L+1

aN-1J

ft

A2

and A4t =[aN

aN+L .
. .

aN +L-1]

(4.13)

where

Alt
Bt

=
=
=

[ao a,

aN- 1]

(4.5)
(4.6)

[bob,

bM-1]
.
.
.

A2t

[aNa N+1

a2N-11

(4.7)

In (4.8), M1I M2 and M3 are the channel matrices which depend the channel parameters (weights). These matrices are known once the channel is estimated from the data symbols. In (4.8), M2A3 and M3A4 are postcursors and precursors, respectively, due to the training symbols. These terms can be substracted from the received signals. If the white noise is added to (4.8), then the channel equations become
on

r' is a column vector with M + 2N - L elements and 0 represents elements with zero values.
In (4.4), the equations with a's and b's are given by (4.8) _11= MIB + M2 A3 + M3 A4

r= -M1B +

M2A3

M3A4

+n

(4.14)

where n1t
=

[nN-L nN-L+t

nM+N-11

(4.15)

where

The channel equations are used for solving the data symbols.
1fo

,|

c) Channel Parameters Estimation For a time-varying channel, the received signal can be represented as
rk
=

fI fo

fki

Ik + nk

(4.16)

where
f fL fL-I fL
.

fo

fil k

[fL (k) fL-l (k)

[Ik k+l .
.

fo (k) I

(4.17) (4.18)

fI fo
f2

fL

fI fo

M+L

(4.9)

Ik=

.k+L]

fL 4'

fI

fo 0

k represents the symbol time and I stands for a or b. The channel parameters (weights) can be updated by a least-squares algorithm. The least-squares criterion for choosing fk is to minimize the mean square error which is given by

El
fI fL- I

[ Irk

rk

(4.19)

fL

where
rk
=

fk1 Ik

(4.20)

M42 fL
=

fL 1 .

fL
L

f2l
. f

J
M+L
l

(4.10)

fL

bk is the symbol decision of the source data, for training and source data symbols, respectively. The symbol decision, bk, which is obtained by the data estimator, may be assumed to be equal to bk. Clearly, errors in the detection of the data sequence (i.e., bk * bk) will

signal. The symbol estimate, Ik, is equivalent to ak and bk, where

represents an ensemble average and Ik is an estimate of the data

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result in degraded performance of the channel estimator. The channel weights can be estimated by a steepest-descent adaptive method given by
-fk
=

with respect to B yields to

B
=

(Ml* Ml)-l Mi*tC

(4.27)

fk-1 + AekIk

(4.21)

where
ek = rk - rk

Equation (4.27) may also be obtained by the orthogonality principle given as

Mi* (M1B-)
=

(4.22)

(4.28)

In (4.21) and (4.22), ek is the error signal and A is a small constant 0 < A < < 1. During the estimation of the data sequence, { bk, k = 0,1, . . ., M-1}, the channel weights are frozen temporarily. The channel weights can be updated again once the unknown symbols are determined. Based on simplified models, the Differential Doppler can be tracked independently. The term "Differential Doppler" refers to the difference in mean Doppler shift between the paths. The term "Doppler Spread" refers to the RMS bandwidth of the Rayleigh fading process associated with each path. The Differential Doppler phase shifts {{e, e=0,1, . . . , L} can be estimated adaptively by

Both Ml and C are known, given the channel parameters attained from the channel estimators. Therefore, the data, B, can be obtained by using (4.27). However, the matrix pseudo-inverse shown in (4.27) is burdensome in terms of computation.
To avoid this problem, let us define the channel correlation matrix as

RM

Ml*tMl

(4.29)

and substituting (4.9) into (4.29), we have

RM

To T1 T2
T

.
.

I'f,k Of, k-i

=

+
.

61 'm (fe, k I

ek)

(4.23)

To

1 *.

T (4.30)

f=o,

1, . .

, L

where Im (x) denotes the imaginary part of x and Al is a small constant 0<A1 < <1. The channels weights, {ftek f=0,1, . . . ,L}, can be estimated by least squares method with Differential Doppler correction as given by f'
= -k f k

ei frk f=0,1, . f,k .=0 .l

(4.24)

where
L F,

where {fek' f=0,1, . . . ,L} are the channel weights estimated according to (4.21).

d) Linear Data-Directed Estimator Once the channel has been synthesized we may use the channel information for solving the unknown symbols. The data can be estimated by using the least mean square error (LMSE) criterion. In (4.14), if the precursors and postcursors introduced by the training symbols are subtracted from the received signals, then the channel equations become

To0=
lTi
=

i=O
L-1

If, 12
fi+ifi
(4.31)

i=O

r1

M2A3 - M3A4

= =

M1B
C

+ n1

(4.25)

Minimization of the

mean square error

(MSE) defined

TL =fLf O
as

Te
(4.26)

= 0 for f > L

E2

(MlAB,

5)*t (Ml B-O

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The matrix RM is a Toeplitz matrix. Equation (4.27) can be rewritten as

bM-2,M-2

RM BM
where

GM

(4.32)
bM -1,M-I
=

gm

[TI T2 T0o- [T1T2

...

TM-j T TM-I]

bM-2,0
M-2,0

--4

(4.43)

GM

M1 *tC
[g1 92
.
. .

(4.33)

G'M
Ct
and

=
=

gM]
.
. .

(4.34)

0 M-2,M-2

[CN-L CN-L+1
L

CM+N-1]

(4.35)

e) Nonlinear Data-Directed Estimator

It is well known that multipath radio channels frequently possess nulls in their time-variant spectral characteristics. A linear filter (or estimator) would be inadequate to mitigate the intersymbol interference on these channels. Frequently, the estimates

i=O
L

fi* CN-L+i
(4.36)

BM

[130b1

bM-1]

(4.44)

92

i=O

E fi* CN-L+I+i

lgM

i=O

fi* CM+N-L-+

obtained by linear data-directed estimation (LDDE) indeed have a nonuniform variance distribution. The variance of the estimates of the end symbols (i.e., bo and bM_l) is sometimes a hundred times smaller than that of the middle symbol estimate (i.e., bM/2). Usually, the variance peaks at the middle symbol and decreases at both ends symmetrically. Because the intersymbol interference due to training symbols is subtracted from the simultaneous equations as given in (4.25), the end symbols, bo and bM-1, do not have postcursors and precursors, respectively. For clarity, (4.25) is rewritten as

If the order of simultaneous equations given in (4.32) is reversed, then (4.32) becomes

C-n,

fobo

fobI

f1bo
flbL-I
+ +
.
.

RMBIM
where

GM,

(4.37)

(Gr)t

= [g_ gM1
=

* g1o
.
. .

(4.38)

fObL fobL+l
fobM-i

.
.

.
.

flbL

+ +

fLbo

fLbl

(4.45)
+

(GMr)

[gM gM_1

g1]

(4.39)

flbM-2

and r denotes the order reverse. Eqs. (4.37) can be solved recursively by the Levinson algorithm as given by

flbM

+ 1 +

*
.

. + fLbM-L-1
.

fLbM-L

OM-2,k

OM-3,k

FM-2,M-2 X M-3,M-3-k

k=0, 1, . . . ,M-3
E'M-3,M-3

(4.40)

fLbM-I
It is clear that bo and bM-l should have the best estimates in the LMSE solutions. Therefore, it is proposed that only bo and bM-l alone are kept and b1 to bM-2 discarded in the first step of the estimation procedure. The estimates, bo and bM-1 are then quantized to the nearest symbols, and bm-1, respectively. The decisions, bo and bM-1, are subtracted from (4.45) The new channel equations are given by

M2,M -2 f

M
=

TM-I

[T1 T2

*. TM-2]
* 'M-2]

OM-3,0
M-3,0

.0

tr- [rr2 *

(4.41)

M1(M 2) BM-2
L

n1(M 2)

CM-2

(4.46)

M-3,M-3

bM-

1k

=bM-2,k -bM-,M-1 M-2,M-k-2, k=O,

* *,

M-2

(4.42)

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_1(M-2) is a noise vector with (M-2) elements and

CM-2 =
N-L+I C'N +
C

where M1(M-2) is a (M+L-2)-by-(M-2) matrix given as (4.9),

Consequently, the NDDE ensures that the performance will not be degraded in each step of estimation if the feedback symbol decisions are correct.
V. COMPUTATIONAL COMPLEXITY OF THE DATADIRECTED ESTIMATORS In the DDE techniques both channel and data are computed by using data-directed symbols - training symbols or information symbols in the form of symbol decisions.

C'N-L+2

CN-L+2 -f2b

CN-L+l -f1O

C'N cN C N+l

CN CN CN+I
CM+N_ L-1 CM+N- -L
CM+N-2
-

(4.47)

C M+N-L

C'M+N-L-I

fObM-1

If the channel is estimated by the steepest descent method (4.21) in the DDE techniques, then the computational requirements per block (M + N symbols) of the DDE techniques are listed in Table 2.
TABLE 2. Computational Requirements of the DDE Techniques
Complex Multiplication

flbM-1

Reciprocal
M

Storage
3M + 3L

C'M+N-2

fL-1bM-1

LDDE

M2 + 6LM + 3M + 2LN + 2N
1

The solution of BM-2 according to LMSE criterion is given by

2
NDDE

LM2
+

4
8

L2M
+

+ 9

M2

+ 1

12 M3 + M
4

R* RM-2 BM-2 = GM-2

where R is given in (4.30),

(4.48)

12

I1

IL2

23 LM
4

+ 2LN +

1 M2+5M+3L

2 12 12 M + 2N--1L

BM'2
and

[b'1 b'2

bM-2]
L E i=O L v,

(4.49)

GM-2

f*C'N-L+l+i i
{

VI. THE MINIMUM MSE PERFORMANCE OF THE DATADIRECTED ESTIMATORS The theoretical minimum mean square error (MSE) performance for the data-directed estimators (DDE'S), linear equalizer (LE) and decision-feedback equalizer (DFE) can be evaluated. It is shown in (4.27) that the solution of the data symbols is given by
B
=

i=O

c,N-L+2+i

(4.50)

(MI

*tM)- M1*I

(6.1)

where
C
=

M1B + n1

(6.2)

The square errors of a decision block may be expressed as

L

g M-2

i=O

fi*CM+N-L-2+i

PM

= (B -B)*1 (B
=

B)

nl*'M1 (M,*tM )-l (Ml*tM_)-l Ml*tnl

(6.3)

Equations (4.48) can be solved by the Levinson algorithm given in (4.40) to (4.43) again. It should be mentioned that only G given in (4.50) and B given in (4.42) and (4.43) should be recomputed in this step. The other terms are unchanged and need not be computed again. The procedure described here is used recursively until all the unknown symbols are obtained.
The method proposed above is actually a nonlinear data-directed estimation (NDDE) technique. Since the amount of intersymbol interference is reduced in each step of estimation, the variance of b1 (or bM-2) is either equivalent to or less than that of bo (or bM-1).

The square errors given in (6.3) may be rewritten as

PM
where

= e e

(6.4)

et=

[eoeI
(M1

em-1]
M1

(6.5)

and
e
=

*t4MI)

*n

(6.6)

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Suppose that the inverse of the channel correlation matrix is denoted as

M)1-= (MI*1M1) p

used to indicate M unknown symbols in the LDDE. Table 3 clearly indicates that the estimation variance of the symbols in each block has a bell-shaped distribution. Usually, the variance peaks at the middle symbol (or symbols) and decreases to both ends symmetrically. The variation of TABLE 3. The Minimum MSE of Each Symbol in the LDDE (20) at SNR = 20 dB

-1

11

-1

12

1,M

-1

P-1

21

p -1
"22

p
.
.

2,M

-1

(6.7)
,

Symbol Number
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

MSE

Symbol Number
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

MSE
3.32 3.16 2.85 2.42 1.93 1.41 .916 .506 .212 .0498

-1

P-1

M,1

M,2

M,M
be expressed
as

-1

Then the minimum MSE of the first symbol

E2 (eo) =

can

[Ieo 21 ]
t [ P1 -M *tnl CL -lMl*tn,) *t ]
(6.8)

.0498 .212 .506 .916 1.41 1.93 2.42 2.85 3.16 3.32

where
p

-1

-1

=[

11

12 X

-1

1,M]

-1

(6.9)

Equation (6.8)
E2

can

be rewritten
[

as

(eo)

= P11

Ml*'

n,nl*t ]

M1 P1 *t

a2 P-1 R*

M -1

P -I*t

(6.10)
o

variance in each block could be very large. In Table 3, the variance of symbol #1 is 66.7 times smaller than that of symbol #10. Consequently, the linear DDE will not perform well in typical HF radio channel conditions. If the NDDE (20) is used in the same channel conditions as given in (6.12), then the minimum MSE of each symbol in the block at SNR = 20 dB is listed in Table 4. The variance in the NDDE (20) is computed by assuming that the feedback symbol decision is correct. Errors in the detection of the end symbols will result in degraded performance of the NDDE. Table 4 clearly shows that the variance of the NDDE has a bowl-shaped distribution. The variance peaks at both ends and decreases to the middle symbol symmetrically. Clearly, the nonlinear data-directed estimator outperforms

the linear counterpart greatly.

=

Or2 [ 1, O, O
a2 P-1

] PI-I*t

TABLE 4. The Minimum MSE of Each Symbol in the NDDE (20) at SNR = 20 dB

11

where a2 is the noise variance. Similarly, the minimum MSE of the ith symbol can be obtained as
E2

Symbol Number
1

MSE
.0498 .0489 .0477 .0463 .0446 .0423 .0393 .0350 .0286 .0180

Symbol Number
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

MSE

(ei-1)

a2

Pii

(6.11)

The minimum MSE of the DDE can be computed easily if the channel is given. For example, let us use a maximum dispersive channel [2] as given by

[c

'

32
c
c

(6.12)

Then the minimum MSE of each symbol in the LDDE (20) at SNR = 20 dB is listed in Table 3. The shorthand notation LDDE (M) is

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

.0180 .0286 .0350 .0393 .0423 .0446 .0463 .0477 .0489

.0498

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The minimum MSE of the linear and decision feedback equalizers can also be evaluated. [3] It is shown that the corresponding minimum MSE obtained with the LE is given by K E2 (2K+1) = 1 - E cjf j=-K

and the DFE has (N+1) feedforward and L feedback taps. Equation (6.18) can be expressed as E2 (N+1) = 1 - f* (RN+1 + a2 - H*tH)-1 fD
fDt = [fo f1 * * *,

(6.21)

(6.13)

(N+1),elements
fL, 0,
.

. . .,
.
.

0]

(6.22)

where
K E cjAmj j=-K
L
Amj =
=

fl f2

fm*, m = -K, .

,-1, 0, 1, .

(6.14)
,K

f2 f3

.
-

fL 0 * fIFL 0 0
.

.
.

0 0

fL 0 . . . 0 0... .
.

.0 .0

(6.23)

i=O

f,*Mfj_m+.

+ U2

bjm

(6.15) 0 0... .0.

and
. .

and 2K+1 is the total number of taps. Equation (6.13) can be rewritten as

.O

E2 (2K+1) = 1 - f*r (R2K+1 a2I)

where
-L => * * * "0, elements K

IL

(6.16)

(2K+1) elements
"

fo f1
.

fL '

(6.17)

R2K+I is a (2K+1) -by- (2K+l) matrix given in (4.30) and I is an identity matrix.
For a DFE, the corresponding minimum MSE is given by
E2

(N+1)

j=0

N E

ajfj

(6.18)

RN+1 is a (N+1) -by- (N+1) matrix given in (4.30). The minimum MSE performance of a LDDE(M), a NDDE(M), a DFE(M,N) and a LE(M) is shown in Figures 2 to 7. For simplicity the shorthand notation LDDE(M) is used to indicate M unknown symbols (size of source data block) in the LDDE, the NDDE(M) indicates M unknown symbols in the NDDE, the DFE(M,N) indicates M forward taps and N feedback taps in the DFE, and the LE(M) indicates M total taps in the LE. In Figures 2 to 7, the same maximum dispersive channel given in (6.12) is used except two different tap spacings of the channel are shown in these figures. In general, the performance of four techniques discussed in this paper depends on the tap spacing, the number of taps in the equalizers or block sizes in the estimators. The linear equalizer and linear data-directed estimator perform poorly in a maximum dispersive channel (with spectral null in channel characteristics). On the other hand, the nonlinear equalizer (DFE) and nonlinear data-directed estimator perform superbly in the same maximum dispersive channel. The NDDE can achieve performance equivalent to the DFE.

where
N
,

j=O

ajBmj
m

fm*, m=0, 1, . . ., N

(6.19)

Bmj = E i=O

+ fti fi+j-m

a2 jm

(6.20)

12.4.8
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us
0

0
cr
r 4

a: a:
wJ

'a
z
,,

4n

SNR (dB)

7193-82

SNR (dB)

7195-82

Figure 2. LE (5), DFE (5, 2) and LDDE (5)

Figure 4. LE (21), DFE (21, 2), and LDDE (21)

*u

cr

4 cr

ct
a 4)
z
a

z
:

Z.

5-

SNR (dB)

7194 82

SNR (dB)

7196-82

Figure 3. LE (11), DFE (11, 10). and LDDE (11)

Figure 5. LE (21), DFE (21, 2), and LDDE (21)

12.4.9
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g
o

lo-1

LuL

5 0
w

cJ

a: a

0-

z S

ioz

SNR (dB) SNR (dB)

71 97-82

7198-82

Figure 6. LE (21), DFE (21, 2), and NDDE (20)

VII. CONCLUSIONS Both linear and nonlinear data-directed estimators (DDE) for digital communication over dispersive channels are investigated in this paper. The proposed schemes use single carrier (or tone) transmission and least-squares adaptive techniques for dealing with fading and multipath. However, in contrast with earlier methods, which use decisionfeedback equalization (DFE) [4], [5] and symbol-by-symbol equalizer adaptation, the DDE techniques are based upon direct estimation of channel parameters and data blocks using data-directed signals. Training data is imbedded into the transmission in the form of training blocks alternated with source data blocks at a fixed (though selectable) fraction of the transmission.
As with a linear equalizer, the linear DDE lacks the ability to cope with the fading dispersive HF radio channels. However, the nonlinear DDE (NDDE) works well under the same channel conditions.

Figure 7. LE (21), DFE (21, 2), and NDDE (20)

conjectured that the channel estimator used in the DDE techniques will converge faster than the DFE if a similar adaptive algorithm is utilized. A single tone HF modem based on the DDE techniques has been implemented on a digital signal processor at GTE.
References [1.] Anderson, P.H., Hsu, F.M. and Sandler, M.N., "A New Adaptive Modem for Long Haul HF Digital Communications at Data Rates Greater Than 1 bps/Hz," MILCOM, Boston, Mass. 17 Oct. 1982. [2.] Austin, M.E., "Decision-Feedback Equalization for Digital Communication Over Dispersive Channels," Lincoln Lab. Technical Report 437, 11 Aug. 1967. [3.] Proakis, J.G., "Advances in Equalization for Intersymbol Interference," in Advances in Communication Systems, Theory and Applications, edited by Viterbi, A.J., Academic Press, 1975. [4.] Hsu, F.M., "Square-Root Kalman Filtering for High-Speed Data Received Over Fading Dispersive HF Channel," IEEE Trans. Inf. Thy., Sept. 1982. [5.] Giordano, A.A., and Hsu, F.M., Least Squares Estimation with Applications to Digital Signal Processing, John Wiley & Sons, 1985.

perform as well as the DFE with known channel conditions. It is recognized [3] that the spread of eigenvalues of the channel correlation matrix may slow down the convergence of a DFE. However, there is no spread in the DDE case if uncorrelated data is used. It is

The minimum MSE calculation indicates that the NDDE will

12.4.10
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