Robust multimodulus blind equalization algorithm for multilevel QAM signals in impulsive noise

As a blind equalization algorithm, the fractional lower-order statistics based multimodulus algorithm (FLOS-MMA) is suitable for equalizing multilevel quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals in impulsive noise. However, the equalization performance of FLOS-MMA is severely degraded in strong impulsive noise because the first-order gradient of the cost function constrains the ability of FLOS to suppress large outliers in the equalizer output signal and is sensitive to large outliers in the equalizer input signal. To enhance the robustness of multimodulus blind equalization algorithm against impulsive noise, a FLOS based momentum fractional-order multimodulus algorithm (FLOS-MFOMMA) is proposed in this paper. The proposed algorithm mitigates the adverse effects of impulsive noise on the updating of equalizer coefficients by utilizing the fractional-order gradient and accelerates the convergence speed by incorporating a momentum term. Then, the steady-state excess mean square error and the computational complexity of FLOS-MFOMMA are analyzed theoretically. Finally, numerical simulations, for equalizing 16-QAM signals under impulsive noise environments, show that the proposed algorithm is superior to FLOS-MMA in terms of robustness and convergence speed.