A hybrid adaptive blind equalization algorithm for QAM signals in wireless communications

A hybrid adaptive channel equalization technique for quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals is proposed. The proposed algorithm, which is referred to as the modified constant modulus algorithm (MCMA), minimizes an error cost function that includes both amplitude and phase of the equalizer output. In addition to the amplitude-dependent term that is provided by the conventional constant modulus algorithm (CMA), the cost function includes an additive signal constellation matched error (CME) term. This term can be designed to satisfy a set of desirable properties. The MCMA is compared with the CMA for blind equalization. The performance is measured for wireless channels using both transient and steady-state behavior of the mean square error (MSE). It is shown that MCMA is superior and more robust in low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) environments. Simulation results demonstrate that using MCMA improves adaptive channel equalization by increasing the convergence rate and decreasing the steady-state mean square error.