Adaptive Channel Equalization using Radial Basis Function Networks and MLP

Abstract

One of the major practical problems in digital communication systems is channel distortion which causes errors due to intersymbol interference. Since the source signal is in general broadband, the various frequency components experience different steady state amplitude and phase changes as they pass through the channel, causing distortion in the received message. This distortion translates into errors in the received sequence. Our problem as communication engineers is to restore the transmitted sequence or, equivalently, to identify the inverse of the channel, given the observed sequence at the channel output. This task is accomplished by adaptive equalizers. Typically, adaptive equalizers used in digital communications require an initial training period, during which a known data sequence is transmitted. A replica of this sequence is made available at the receiver in proper synchronism with the transmitter, thereby making it possible for adjustments to be made to the equalizer coefficients in accordance with the adaptive filtering algorithm employed in the equalizer design. When the training is completed, the equalizer is switched to its decision directed mode. Decision feedback equalizers are used extensively in practical communication systems. They are more powerful than linear equalizers especially for severe inter-symbol interference (ISI) channels without as much noise enhancement as the linear equalizers. This thesis addresses the problem of adaptive channel equalization in environments where the interfering noise exhibits Gaussian behavior. In this thesis, radial basis function (RBF) network is used to implement DFE. Advantages and problems of this system are discussed and its results are then compared with DFE using multi layer perceptron net (MLP).Results indicate that the implemented system outperforms both the least-mean square(LMS) algorithm and MLP, given the same signal-to-noise ratio as it offers minimum mean square error. The learning rate of the implemented system is also faster than both LMS and the multilayered case.