Decision Feedback Equalization for Multipath Induced Interference in Digital Microwave LOS Links

The performance of a 49-QPRS, 90 Mbit/s digital radio receiver equipped with a decision feedback equalizer (DFE) to counter multipath fading is investigated via computer simulation. The simulation includes the transmitted data, multipath fade model, receiver model, and DFE. The results indicate that a DFE equipped with five forward and five feedback taps can adequately compensate a 40 dB minimum-phase fade anywhere in the receiver passband. The study is extended to other receiver configurations including the use of space diversity and/or slope equalizers and the use of a transversal equalizer (TE) with the same delay-span in place of the DFE. The results indicate that the DFE equipped receiver outperforms the TE receiver and that still better performance may be achieved using a combination of space diversity and DFE.