Equalization of a hard-limited slowly-fading multipath signal using a phase equalizer with time-reversal structure

Describes a low-complexity equalization technique for improving the reliability of portable radio links in the presence of multipath time delay spread. A technique that operates on hard-limited received signals, with only the phase information available, is presented. Suboptimum receivers based on a maximum likelihood estimation criterion are discussed, including a sequence estimator and a decision feedback phase detector. A low-complexity adaptive phase equalizer structure using decision-directed phase tracking is proposed. The equalizer does not require the multiplication operations required in most conventional equalization algorithms. The author also proposes a receiver that includes a time-reversal structure and a joint estimator for optimum timing recovery and equalizer training. The time-reversal structure plays a crucial role in maximizing the compensation capability of the phase equalizer. The combined use of phase equalization and diversity reception is also considered. >