Synchronization of QAM Signals in the Presence of ISI

A data-aided carrier reconstruction method is described for quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) data communications over narrow-band transmission channels. Previous analyses of this problem have assumed an "infinite" bandwidth of the communication link, so that negligible intersymbol interference (ISI) resulted. On the contrary, when ISI takes place, a different structure must be used which operates on sampled data. The performance of this structure is expressed analytically as a function of 1) the statistics of the message symbols, 2) the characteristics of the channel, and 3) the parameters of the tracking system. Excellent agreement has been found between the theory and the results of a computer simulation.