IP Library Granted Patent US 8,611,410
Granted Patent B2
US 8,611,410 · App. 12/977,467 · Granted Dec 17, 2013

Variable modulus mechanism for performing equalization without a priori knowledge of modulation type or constellation order

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,611,410
App. No.
12/977,467
Granted
Dec 17, 2013
Kind
B2
Abstract

A system, method and memory medium for performing blind equalization. A block {u n } of the baseband samples is received. A function J of a vector f is minimized to determine a minimizer f MIN . The function J depends on vector f according to J(f)=Σ(|y n | 2 −γ) 2 . The summation Σ corresponds to a sequence {y n } of equalized samples. The sequence {y n } of equalized samples is related to the block {u n } according to a convolution relation {y n }={u n }*f. Parameter γ is a current modulus value. The current modulus value γ is updated to equal a ratio of a fourth moment of the sequence {y n } to a second moment of the sequence {y n }. The minimization and parameter update operations are repeated for a series of received blocks of baseband samples. The minimizer f MIN from a last of the repetitions is used to determine final equalized samples.

Claims (55)

1. A method for performing blind equalization on received samples, the method comprising:

(a) receiving at a computer system a block {u n } of the received samples;

(b) minimizing a function J of a vector argument f to determine a minimizing vector f MIN , wherein said minimizing is performed by the computer system, wherein the function J depends on the vector argument f according to the expression J(f)=Σ(|y n | 2 −γ) 2 , wherein the summation Σ corresponds to a sequence {y n } of equalized samples, wherein the sequence {y n } of equalized samples is related to the block {u n } of received samples according to a convolution relation {y n }={u n }*f, wherein γ is a current modulus parameter value;

(c) computing a fourth moment of the sequence {y n } corresponding to the minimizing vector f MIN , wherein said computing the fourth moment is performed by the computer system;

(d) computing a second moment of the sequence {y n } corresponding to the minimizing vector f MIN , wherein said computing the second moment is performed by the computer system;

(e) updating the current modulus parameter value γ to be equal to a ratio of the fourth moment to the second moment, wherein said updating the current modulus parameter value γ is performed by the computer system;

repeating (a) through (e) until a termination condition is satisfied, wherein said repeating is performed by the computer system;

convolving the received samples with the minimizing vector f MIN from a last of said repetitions of (a) through (e) to determine final equalized samples, wherein said convolving is performed by the computer system.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the termination condition is the condition that a change in the current modulus parameter value y between successive repetitions of (a) through (e) is smaller than a predetermined threshold.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

displaying a constellation plot of the final equalized samples via a display device.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

receiving user input identifying a modulation type and constellation order after said displaying the constellation plot;

demodulating the final equalized samples based on the identified modulation type and identified constellation order in order to obtain a bit sequence.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

performing a cluster analysis on the final equalized samples to determine a constellation order implicit in the received samples; and

displaying an indication of the constellation order via the display device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said minimizing the function J comprises performing a stochastic gradient descent algorithm.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said method operates without any a priori knowledge of the modulation type used to form the received samples.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein a next repetition of said minimizing starts with the minimizing vector f MIN determined in a current repetition of said minimizing.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable memory medium having stored thereon program instructions executable by a computer system, wherein the program instructions, when executed by the computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method of blind equalization on received samples, the method comprising:

(a) receiving a block {u n } of the received samples;

(b) minimizing a function J of a vector argument f to determine a minimizing vector f MIN , wherein the function J depends on the vector argument f according to the expression

J ( f )=Σ(| y n | 2 −γ) 2 ,

wherein the summation Σ corresponds to a sequence {y n } of equalized samples, wherein the sequence {y n } of equalized samples is related to the block {u n } of received samples according to a convolution relation {y n }={u n }*f, wherein γ is a current modulus parameter value;

(c) computing a fourth moment of the sequence {y n } corresponding to the minimizing vector f MIN ;

(d) computing a second moment of the sequence {y n } corresponding to the minimizing vector f MIN ;

(e) updating the current modulus parameter value γ to be equal to a ratio of the fourth moment to the second moment;

repeating (a) through (e) until a termination condition is satisfied;

convolving the received samples with the minimizing vector f MIN from a last of said repetitions of (a) through (e) to determine final equalized samples.

10. The memory medium of claim 9 , wherein the termination condition is the condition that a change in the current modulus parameter value y between successive repetitions of (a) through (e) is smaller than a predetermined threshold.

11. The memory medium of claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises:

displaying a constellation plot of the final equalized samples via a display device.

12. The memory medium of claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:

receiving user input identifying a modulation type and constellation order after said displaying the constellation plot;

demodulating the final equalized samples based on the identified modulation type and identified constellation order in order to obtain a bit sequence.

13. The memory medium of claim 9 , wherein said minimizing the function J comprises performing a stochastic gradient descent algorithm.

14. The memory medium of claim 9 , wherein a next repetition of said minimizing starts with the minimizing vector f MIN determined in a current repetition of said minimizing.

15. A computer system for performing blind equalization on received samples, the computer system comprising:

a processor; and

memory storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

(a) receive a block {u n } of the received samples;

(b) minimize a function J of a vector argument f to determine a minimizing vector f MIN , wherein the function J depends on the vector argument f according to the expression

J ( f )=Σ(| y n | 2 −γ) 2 ,

wherein the summation Σ corresponds to a sequence {y n } of equalized samples, wherein the sequence {y n } of equalized samples is related to the block {u n } of received samples according to a convolution relation {y n }={u n }*f, wherein γ is a current modulus parameter value;

(c) compute a fourth moment of the sequence {y n } corresponding to the minimizing vector f MIN ;

(d) compute a second moment of the sequence {y n } corresponding to the minimizing vector f MIN ;

(e) update the current modulus parameter value γ to be equal to a ratio of the fourth moment to the second moment;

repeat (a) through (e) until a termination condition is satisfied;

convolve the received samples with the minimizing vector f MIN from a last of said repetitions of (a) through (e) to determine final equalized samples.

16. The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the termination condition is the condition that a change in the current modulus parameter value y between successive repetitions of (a) through (e) is smaller than a predetermined threshold.

17. The computer system of claim 15 , further comprising a display device, wherein the program instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to display a constellation plot of the final equalized samples via the display device.

18. The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the processor includes a programmable hardware element.

19. The computer system of claim 15 , wherein said minimize the function J comprises performing a stochastic gradient descent algorithm.

20. The computer system of claim 15 , wherein a next repetition of said minimize starts with the minimizing vector f MIN determined in a current repetition of said minimizing.

Assignments (4)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS (REEL/FRAME 057280/0028) Recorded Oct 13, 2023
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 065231/0466 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS (REEL/FRAME 052935/0001) Recorded Oct 13, 2023
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS CORPORATION; PHASE MATRIX, INC.
Reel/Frame 065653/0463 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 18, 2021
From: NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS CORPORATION
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 057280/0028 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 14, 2020
From: NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS CORPORATION; PHASE MATRIX, INC.
To: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Reel/Frame 052935/0001 →