Probability of Error, Digital Signaling on a Fading Channel

And Equalization Schemes for ISI

Wireless Communications Technologies Spring 2005 Lectures 11&12 R1
Department of Electrical Engineering, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
Instructor: Dr. Narayan Mandayam
Summary by Randy Mitch

Abstract This document discusses the probability of error for non-coherent FSK and
DPSK. Digital signaling on a frequency selective channel will be reviewed as well as
equalization schemes to eliminate ISI.

1.0 Probability of Error for non-coherent BFSK

Recall from the last lecture that we have Binary FSK orthogonal modulation. When a
1 is selected then S1(t) is transmitted and when a 0 is selected then S2(t)is transmitted.
S1(t) and S2(t) are orthogonal. The received signal is g1(t) if S1(t) was transmitted and
g2(t) if S2(t) is transmitted. The received signals g1(t) and g2(t) are also orthogonal. The
receiver structure is shown in figure 1.

Filter t=T
Matched to Envelope
l1
S1(t) Detector
l1 l2 1
X(t)
Compare

l2 l1 0
Filter Envelope l2
Matched to Detector
S2(t) t=T

Figure 1. Non-coherent Receiver for BFSK

Let S1(t) be transmitted, then an error occurs if l2 > l1.

l2 xI 2 xQ2

Where XI2 and XQ2 are both Gaussian with zero mean and psd = N0/2.

2l2 l2 2
exp , l2 0
f l2 (l2 ) N 0 N 0

0 , otherwise

1

Pr obability of error Pe1 Pr l2 l1 Pr l2 1 l1 f l1 l1 dl1
0

l 2
Pr l2 1 l1 f l2 l2 dl2 exp 1
l1 N 0
N N
where l1 xI1 xQ1 , xI1 : N E , 0 and xQ1 : N 0, 0
2 2


xI1 E
2
1

f xI xI1
N0
exp
N0



xQ
2
1

f xQ xQ1
N0
exp 1
N 0


Pr obability of error Pe1 p error xI1 xQ1 f xI xQ dxI1 dxQ1 1 1

2


xQ1 2 xI1 2 x I1 E
x Q1
2

Pe1 exp exp exp dxI1 dxQ1

N 0 N0 N 0

E
2 2
Rewriting xQ1 xI1 xI1 E xQ1 2 xI1 E 2 xQ1
2 2 2

2
E

2
xQ1 2
Pe1
1
N0
exp
2 N
exp
2
N
x I1 E I1
dx exp dxQ1
N 0
0 0
1 E
Pe1
exp
2 2 N 0
2.0 Probability of error for non-coherent M-ary FSK

In general for M-ary FSK with non-coherent detection:

1 M i 1 kEb
1
i
Pe exp
2 m 1 i2 iN 0
Where k log 2 M

A non-coherent receiver for M-ary FSK is shown in Figure 2. As with the binary FSK
receiver a comparison of the output of the envelope detectors selects the appropriate
branch.

Figure 3 illustrates the probability of bit error for various values of M. As M increases
the bandwidth efficiency decreases but the power efficiency increases. More
constellations require more chunks of orthogonal spaces.

2
 Filter t=T
Matched to Envelope
S1(t) Detector

t=T
Filter
Envelope
Matched to
X(t) Detector
S2(t)
Compare

t=T
Filter
Envelope
Matched to
Detector
Sm(t)

Figure 2. Non-coherent Receiver for M-ary FSK

Figure 3. Non-coherent M-ary FSK BER

3
3.0 Differential Phase Shift Keying

If information is keyed onto the phase, PSK, it cannot be detected by non-coherent

methods. Use phase difference between two consecutive waveforms to carry the
information.

Assumption: It works provided the unknown phase introduced by the channel varies
slowly (i.e. slow enough to be considered constant over 2 bit intervals). Consider input
sequence {mk}. Generate differentially encoded sequence {dk} from {mk} as follows:

1. Sum dk-1 and mk Modulo 2.

2. Set dk to be the complement of the result from 1 above.
3. Use dk to phase shift a carrier as follows:

dk = 1 =0

dk = 0 =

Example: if m k 10010011
d k 1 11011011
d k 10110111
0 00 000

Observe: Symbol d k is unchanged from previous symbol if incoming symbol is 1.

Symbol d k is toggled from previous symbol if incoming symbol is 0.

4.0 - DQPSK
4

Exploit the above observation to derive the probability of error. Let the DPSK signal in 0
Eb
t Tb be cos 2 f c t . If the next bit (in the interval Tb t 2 Tb) is 1, then the
2Tb
phase is unchanged. If the next bit is 0, then the phase is shifted by .

4
 Eb
cos 2 f c t , 0 t Tb
2Tb
S1 t
Eb
cos 2 f c t , Tb t 2T b
2Tb

Eb
cos 2 f c t , 0 t Tb
2Tb
S2 t
Eb
cos 2 f c t , Tb t 2T b
2Tb

It is possible to consider S1 t and S 2 t as similar to non-coherent orthogonal

modulation over a 2 bit interval, 0 t 2Tb.

1 E
Pe exp
2 N 0

Figure 4 compares the BER for DPSK and FSK. Observe that DPSK BER is
approximately 3 dB better than non-coherent FSK.

Figure 4 BER Comparisons of DPSK and FSK

5
5.0 Digital Signaling on Frequency Selective Fading Channels

Modeling: Recall any modulated signal is given as v(t ) A b t kT , x

x k . We restrict
k
ourselves to linear modulation.

b t, x
x k xk ha t xk complex symbol sequence
]
amplitude sampling pulse
The above signal is transmitted through a channel c(t) that results in the received signal
w(t).

w(t ) xk h t kT z (t )
k 0

]
zero-mean AWGN

h(t ) h ( )c(t )d .

a

For causal channels h(t ) ha ( )c (t )d , t 0 .
0

We also assume h(t) = 0 for t 0 and h(t) = 0 for t LT. L is some real positive integer.

x (t nT )
n
u (t )
k
ha (t ) c (t ) h * (t ) y (n)

t T
z (t )
h (t )
Figure 5. Matched Filter Receiver in AWGN Channel

If we know h(t), we can implement a matched filter as above.

y (t ) x
k
k f (t kT ) v(t )

]
Filter noise

6

f (t ) h h( t )d .
*

f (t ) is the overall pulse response and it accounts for transient filter, channel and receive
filters.

yn y (nt ) x f (nT kT ) v(nT )
k
k

x f vk nk n
k

xn f 0 x
k
k f n 2 vn
k n

]
called intersymbol interference(ISI)

ISI is caused by the channel so if we can eliminate it then we can treat the channel as
AWGN channel. Therefore to achieve the same performance as on a AWGN channel, we

require x
k
k f n 2 0 . In order to do this we must make f = 0. Alternately,
n2
k n

0 if i j
f k k0 f 0 where ij .
1 if i j
Equally in the frequency domain

1 n
F f f0
T n T
, F ( f ) F f (t )

It can be shown that f(t) can be any function that has equally spaced zero crossings.
What is the optimum receiver? We must express w(t ) lim wn n (t ) using the n

Karhunen-Loeve expansion.

T
hnk h(t kT ) n* (t )dt
0
T
zn z (t ) n* (t )dt
0

w w1 , w2 , ... wn is a multivariate Gaussian distribution because z(t) is Gaussian.

N
1 1 2

p ( w x, H ) exp wn xk hnk
n 1 N 0 N 0 k

7
where H h1 , h 2 , h3 , ... ,hn and hn (...., hn 3 , hn 2 , hn 1 , h0 )

Therefore the optimum receiver is the Maximum Likelihood receiver, for the case of
AWGN it reduces to

N 2
arg max u ( x) wn xk hnk
x
n 1 k

The bottom line is:

1. We need knowledge of f n to understand the channel response and knowledge of
cn
in order to perfectly eliminate ISI. Therefore we need to estimate the
channel in order to equalize it.

2. An additional problem results as well by observing the following:

y (t ) x
k
k f (t kT ) v(t )

where the noise function is

v(t ) h ( ) z(t )d
*

is still Gaussian but is not white. Therefore the noise samples at the output are
correlated. In this case we can obtain a discrete time white noise model as
follows.

x (t nT )
n
k
ha (t ) c (t ) h * ( t ) Whitening
Filter
vk

t T
z (t )
h (t )
Figure 6. Whitening Filter with Matched Filter Receiver

The output of the whitening filter vk is given by

L
vk g n xk n k
n 0

where g n is the overall filter for the channel and the whitening filter and k is the
white noise process.

8
 3. Another important consideration is the design of ISI equalizing filters is
extremely sensitive to timing information. We can solve this sensitivity in two
ways.
a. Use pulse shaping. Raised cosine pulse shaping allows us to derive the
length of the pulse by sampling at even points.
b. Use fractional sampling. Sample the output y(t) at a rate higher than 2/T.
Although we will still have correlated noise and will need a whitening
filter the overall pulse shape will be less sensitive to timing errors.

6.0 Equalization Schemes

There are two types of equalization schemes.

1. Symbol by symbol equalizers that can be linear or non-linear.
2. Sequence estimation equalizers that are non-linear.

6.1 Symbol-by-Symbol Equalizers

We consider the discrete time white noise model shown in figure 7. Where an is the
input signal, L is the memory of the channel, n is the additive noise and
g ( g 0 , g1, .....,gl )T is the channel vector that describes the overall channel impulse
response.

an T T ... T

g0 X g1 X gL X

rn g k an k n
k 0

n
Figure 7. Discrete Time White Noise Model

9
Linear equalizers estimate the nth transmitted symbol an as
M

cr Where c j M is the equalizer filter of (2M+1) taps. M is a

M
an j n j
j M

design choice and C is the chosen number of taps to estimate an .

6.2 Zero Forcing Equalizer

The Zero Forcing Equalizer combines the channel and equalizer impulse response to
force to zero at all but one of the taps in the TDL filter. The tap coefficients, c, are chosen
to zero-out the ISI. Given the channel vector, g , we can select the tap coefficients, c,
to get the desired response q (0, 0, 0,......, qn , 0,...) . The Zero Forcing Equalizer zeros
out all but the desired result qn . The tap coefficients are calculated using the relationship
T
qn c g n . Zero forcing equalizers can perfectly eliminate ISI as M but it also
enhances the noise. In practice, the receiver does not know the channel vector and finite
length training sequences are used to choose the tap coefficients.

6.3 Minimum Mean Square Equalizer (MMSE)

The MMSE is another symbol-by-symbol equalizer but is superior to the zero forcing
equalizer in performance. The MSME utilizes the mean square error criterion to adjust
the tap coefficients. We define an estimation error:

n an an

Where an is the symbol sent and an is the estimated symbol. The function to be
minimized is:

J min E n 2 min E
(an an ) 2
c c

M 2

min E (an c j rn j )
c
j M
The error is minimized by choosing c j so as to make the error sequence orthogonal to
the signal sequence rn l , for l M , i.e. E n rn l 0 , l M . The optimum c is
obtained by solving the following set of equations.

c E r
j M
j r
n j n l E an rn l , l M

Define the following functions.

10
 @E rn j rnl , j l , M ,...., M

and b E an rn m E an rn m 1 ........E an rn m
then c opt 1 b

To implement the MSME we need to us adaptive algorithms because the channel

response is not readily known. Typically, we use the steepest descent algorithm.

1 E n
2

c j (n 1) c j (n) , j M ....... M
2 c j
Where is a positive number.
Note:
E 2 n (n)
2 E ( n ) 2 E (n)rn j 2 Rer ( j )
c j c j

The term Rer is the cross correlation between the input and the error. The equalizer taps
can be obtained by implementing a stochastic gradient algorithm.

1
c j (n 1) c j (n) (n)rn j
2
To evaluate ( n ) in this algorithm we use a training sequence.

6.4 Decision Feedback Equalizer (DFE)

A DFE is a nonlinear equalizer that consists of a feed forward section and a feedback
section. DFEs are very effective in frequency selective channels because they mitigate
the effects of noise enhancements that degrade the performance of linear equalizers. The
DFE uses previous decisions to eliminate ISI caused by previously detected symbols on
current symbols. The output of the equalizer can be expressed as:

0 M2
an c j rn j
j M1

j 1
c j a%
n j
1 4 2 43 14 2 43
feed forwad filter M 1 1 taps feedback filter M 2 taps

Where a% %
n 1 , a %
n 2 , ....., an M 2 are earlier detected symbols. Both the feed forward loop

and the feedback loop need adaptation to adjust the coefficients.

6.5 Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation (MLSE)

11
Recall the discrete-time white noise channel model.

L
rn g m an m n
m 0

Assume k symbols are transmitted over the channel. Then after receiving the sequence
rn n1 , the ML receiver decides in favor of the sequence an n 1 that maximizes the
k k

likelihood function

log rk , rk 1, ..., r1 ak , ak 1 ,..., a1

Since the noise samples are independent and rn depends only on the L most recent
transmitted symbols.

log rk , rk 1, ..., r1 ak , ak 1 ,..., a1 log rk ak , ak 1 ,., ak l log rk 1 , rk 2, .., r1 ak 1, ak 2 ,.., a1
1 4 4 4 4 4 2 4 4 4 4 43

This has already been calculated

where ak L 0 for k L 0

Since the 2nd term has been calculated at the previous time (k-1), only the first term needs
to be computed at time k for each incoming signal rk . The Veterbi algorithm can be used
to implement the MLSE equalizer. Adaptive MLSE is used in GSM.

References:

[1] N. Mandayam, Wireless Communication Technologies, course notes.

[2] T. Rappaport, Wireless Communications. Principles and Practice. 2nd Edition,
Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: 1996.
[3] J. Proakis, Digital Communications, 3rd Edition, McGraw-Hill, NY: 1995.
[4] G. Stuber, Principles of Mobile Communication, 2nd Edition, Kluwer Academic
Publishers, Norwell, MA: 2001.
[5] B. Sklar, Digital Communications. Fundamentals and Applications, Prentice-Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: 1988.
[6] D. Wu, Wireless Communication Technologies, Rutgers University, Piscataway,
NJ: 2002

12