MMSE Equalization of Interference on Fading Diversity Channels

Adaptive equalization is used in digital transmission systems with parallel fading channels. The equalization combines the diversity channels and reduces intersymbol interference due to multipath returns. When interference is present and correlated from channel to channel, the equalizer can also reduce its effect on the quality of information transfer, important applications for interference cancellation occur in diversity troposcatter systems in the presence of jamming, diversity high frequency (HF) systems which must cope with interfering skywaves, and space diversity line-of-sight (LOS) radio systems where adjacent channel interference is a problem. In this paper we develop the general formulation for minimum mean square error (MMSE) equalization of interference in digital transmission diversity systems. The problem formulation includes the use of available receiver decisions to assist in MMSE processing. The effects of intersymhol interference are included in the analysis through a critical approximation which assumes sufficient processor capability to reduce ISI effects to levels small enough for satisfactory communication. The analysis also develops he concept of additional implicit or intrinsic diversity which results from channel multipath dispersion. It shows how the MMSE processor sacrifices diversity to suppress interference even when the interference arrives in the main beams of the receiver antenna patterns. The condition of near synchronous same-path interference is also addressed. Because the spatial angle of arrival of the interference may result in delay differences between interference signals in different antenna channels, interference delay compensation may be required. We show that this effect is compensated for with a small number of appropriately spaced equalizer taps.