A new reduced-complexity algorithm for multiple-symbol differential detection

Although multiple-symbol differential detection (MSDD) provides much better error performance than conventional differential detection, its complexity is much higher. We propose a reduced-complexity algorithm for MSDD. Our simulations show that the performance of the reduced complexity receiver is nearly identical to that of the original receiver, but with typical parameters, the number of phase sequences searched can be reduced by a factor of sixteen for QPSK to over four thousand for 16-PSK thereby leading to significant receiver complexity reduction.