Length- and cost-dependent local minima of unconstrained blind channel equalizers

Baud-rate linear blind equalizers may converge to undesirable stable equilibria due to different mechanisms. One such mechanism is the use of linear FIR filters as equalizers. It is shown that this type of local minima exist for all unconstrained blind equalizers whose cost functions satisfy two general conditions. The local minima generated by this mechanism are thus called length-dependent local minima. Another mechanism is generated by the cost function adopted by the blind algorithm itself. This type of local minima are called cost-dependent local minima. It is shown that several well-designed algorithms do not have cost-dependent local minimum, whereas other algorithms, such as the decision-directed equalizer and the stop-and-go algorithm (SGA), do. Unlike many existing convergence analysis, the convergence of the Godard (1980) algorithms (GAs) and standard cumulant algorithms (SCAs) under Gaussian noise is also presented. Computer simulations are used to verify the analytical results