Enhanced blind maximum ratio combining using channel tap masking for broadcasting applications

In this work, we propose a new algorithm to exploit the communication channel sparseness via channel tap masking for blind channel identification using multi-channel frequency least mean squares algorithm (MCFLMS). The proposed technique has the advantage of significantly enhancing the tracking capability of MCFLMS and making it robust against channel order overestimation. In order to correctly assess the performance of MCFLMS in the context of blind maximum ratio combining (BMRC), we propose a new assessment criterion that is independent of inherent channel estimation ambiguities. We provide BER simulation results for a 1×2 SIMO DVB-T2 system which show the effectiveness of the tap masking on BMRC using MCFLMS, especially when synchronization information is not available in the BMRC block.