Non-Coherent Sequence Detection of M -ary PSK

Giulio Colavolpe and Riccardo Raheli

Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione
Universita di Parma, Viale delle Scienze, 43100 Parma, Italy
E-mail: colavolpe@com.unipr.it, raheli@com.unipr.it

Abstract | In this paper, we present new non-coherent although this aspect is not directly addressed in [3].
sequence detection algorithms for M -ary phase shift keying In this paper, we rst consider the problem of optimal de-
(M -PSK) signals transmitted over additive white Gaussian tection in the presence of an unknown channel phase mod-
noise (AWGN) channels. We rst consider the problem of eled as stochastic with uniform distribution in the interval
optimal sequence detection in the presence of an unknown [0; 2) and constant during the entire transmission. Opti-
channel phase modeled as stochastic with uniform distribu-
tion and constant during the entire transmission. In this
case, the complexity of the optimal receiver depends expo-
nentially on the duration of the transmission. We then intro-
duce some approximations in order to realize simple subopti-
mal detection schemes based on the Viterbi algorithm (VA)
whose performance approaches that of coherent detection.
Besides being realizable, the proposed suboptimal schemes
have the convenient feature of allowing us to remove the as-
sumption of constant phase during transmission. We show
that our detection schemes compare favorably with other
solutions previously proposed in the literature for both dif-
ferentially and non-coherent coded modulations.
1. Introduction
Non-coherent detection of digital signals is an attractive
strategy in situations where carrier phase recovery is dif-
mality is here dened in the sense of minimum probability of
erroneously detecting the entire information sequence. The
realization of this detection strategy entails a maximization
of a suitable sequence metric by an exhaustive method. Al-
ternatively, this maximization may be performed by a tree
search algorithm, whose computational load grows exponen-
tially with time. We then introduce some approximations in
order to derive a detection scheme suitable to be realized by
the VA. The introduced approximations allow us to remove
the assumption of constant phase during the transmission,
which, in fact, must be constant in a proper observation
window only.
By means of computer simulations, we show that the
asymptotic behavior of the proposed detection schemes, for
increasing complexity, approaches that of optimal coherent
receivers. Furthermore, appreciable performance gain may
be obtained with respect to existing schemes, with accept-
cult because most of the drawbacks of phase-locked loop able complexity. Being non-coherent, these schemes are very
(PLL) circuits, used to approximately implement coherent robust in the presence of phase jitter. The eects of fre-
detection, may be avoided. Specically, typical problems of
PLLs such as false-lock, phase slips or loss of lock caused by
severe fading or oscillator frequency instabilities are simply
by-passed.
Early non-coherent receivers, namely dierential detec-
tors, are frequently employed to detect PSK modulations,
with good performance only in the case of binary signal-
ing (BPSK) [1]. The performance of ideal coherent detec-
tion may be approached by more complex non-coherent re-
ceivers based on multiple-symbol dierential detection [2].
quency osets are also investigated.
We analyze explicitly the case of dierentially and non-
coherent coded PSK, in which the problem of impossible
recovery of an absolute phase reference is by-passed associ-
ating the information to the phase dierence between ad-
jacent symbols. As an alternative to dierential encoding,
this problem may also be avoided using a pilot symbol pe-
riodically introduced in the transmitted data stream. The
extension of our receivers to non-coherent detection using
pilot symbols is straightforward and not pursued here.
In [3], convolutional codes specically tailored for constant
envelope modulations and non-coherent detection were pro-
posed. Non-coherent receivers therein utilized make use of
the VA and are based on maximally overlapped observa-
tions [3]. As the author explicitly says in the derivation
of the detection algorithm, maximally overlapped observa-
tions are assumed independent even if they are not so. This
approximation is expected to limit the receiver performance
This work was performed within a research cooperation between
the Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell'Informazione, Universita di Parma,
Italy and Italtel S.p.A., Milano, Italy.
2. Non-coherent sequence detection
The complex envelope of the received signal may be mod-
eled, assuming perfect knowledge of symbol timing, as
r(t) = s(t; c)ej + w(t) (1)
where s(t; c) is the information bearing signal, c =
(c0 ; c1 ; : : : ; cK 1 ) is the transmitted encoded sequence of
length K assumed derived by means of some coding rule
from an information sequence a composed of independent
and identically distributed symbols fak g,  is an unknown
phase shift introduced by the channel and w(t) is a complex-
valued Gaussian white noise process with independent com-
ponents, each with two-sided power spectral density N0 .
Symbols ak ; ck 2 A, where A = 4 fejk ;  = 2m ; m =
k M
0; 1; : : : ; M 1g is the alphabet of M -PSK symbols.
The optimal non-coherent detection strategy may be ob-
tained as described in [1, appendix 4C]. The resulting metric
of sequence c~ may be expressed as
 Z  rule ck = ck 1ak . The metric (6) may be exactly maxi-
(~c) = exp 2N1 js(t; ~c)j2 dt

continuous-time received signal r(t) over an observation in-
terval T0 suciently longer than the message length KT .
As a consequence, the conceptual viewpoint is here dierent
since in [2] (6) was obtained starting from a discrete signal
model and with a limited observation window.
2.1 Detection of dierentially encoded PSK
In this section, we assume that symbols fck g are derived
from symbols fak g by means of the dierential encoding
mized by an exhaustive method whose complexity increases
 Z T0
0  exponentially with K . We now wish to obtain an approx-

I0 N1  r(t)s(t; ~c) dt
 imate recursive metric which may be maximized by means
(2)
0 T0 of a VA. Rearranging (6), we may write
where I0 (x) is the zeroth order modied Bessel function of K 1 2 K 1 K 1
X 
the rst kind and T0 is the observation interval. For M -PSK 
 xn c
~   = X X xn x c~ c~m : (7)
 n=0 n  m n
signals the information bearing signal may be expressed as n=0 m=0
r KX1 This expression is the sum of all the elements of a K  K
s(t; c) = 2ET S cn h(t nT ) (3) matrix whose elements are xn xm c~n c~m . Since this matrix is
n=0 Hermitian we may write
where ES is the symbol energy, T is the symbol interval K 1 2 K 1 (K 1 nX1 )
X  X X
and h(t) is the properly normalized overall impulse response    2 2
x a~  = jxn j jc~n j +2Re  
xn c~n xm c~m :

of transmission lter and channel. Substituting the signal  n=0 n n  n=0 n=1 m=0
model (3) in (2), assuming a long enough observation inter- (8)
val (T0 ! 1) and absence of inter-symbol interference (ISI), Being jc~n j2 = 1, the rst sum is independent of the data
i.e., h(t)
h( t)jt=kT = Tk (
denotes convolution and k sequence. Thus, the maximization of metric (6) is equivalent
is the Kronecker delta), after some straightforward manip- to ( "K 1 nX1 #)
ulations the optimal detection strategy may be expressed X
as ^c = argmax Re
~c
 
xn c~n xm c~m : (9)
n=1 m=0
(
^c = argmax (~c) = argmax ES KX1 jc~ j2 + This maximization may be implemented recursively by a
~c ~c N0 n=0 n search on a tree diagram.
"  #) An approximation of (9) can be conceived, aimed at
2E KX1  searching a trellis diagram by means of a VA. To this end,
+ log I0 N  xnc~n 
S (4) the inner sum in (9) may be truncated to the most recent
0 n=0
N 1 symbols, N  K being an integer, yielding
where xn is the output, sampled at time t = nT , of a lter ( "K 1
X nX1 #)
matched to the pulse h(t), i.e., ^c ' argmax xnc~ x c~m : (10)
4 p 1 r(t)
h( t)j
~c Re n=1
n
m=n N +1
m
xn = t=nT (5)
2ES T The maximization (10) may be performed recursively on a
and the normalization constant is such that the signal com- trellis diagram in which the following branch metrics may
ponent of xn is cn ej . Observing that for PSK modulations be dened
( )
jc~n j = 1 and the function log[I0 (x)] is monotonically in- nX1
creasing with x, the receiver strategy (4) is equivalent to n = Re xn c~n xmc~m =
the following m=n N +1
(N 1 )
K 1 2 X
X


 
= Re xn xn ic~n c~n i =
^c = argmax  xn
~c  n=0  c
~ n : (6) i=1
(N 1 )
X iY1
The metric (6) is used as point of departure for the deriva- = Re xn xn i ~an m (11)
i=1 m=0
tion of the proposed non-coherent detection schemes. Al-
though this metric is formally identical to that in [2], it where the encoded symbols fcn g have been expressed
is here obtained under the assumption of observing the in terms of the information symbols fan g as cn cn i =
 i 1 a , using the encoding rule cn = cn 1 an . Ac- of previous symbols which aid an implicit per-survivor
m=0 n m
cording to (11) a trellis state may be properly dened as
n = (~an 1; a~n 2 ; : : : ; a~n N +2 ). The number of states
S = M N 2 depends exponentially on N . A VA with branch
metrics (11) also implements dierential decoding. We will
see that even using small values of N (a few units) we may
obtain a performance very close to that of coherent detection
of dierentially encoded PSK. Furthermore, it is also possi-
ble to use techniques for complexity reduction described in
phase estimator and is intimately related to the deni-
tion of trellis state. In the following, we refer to N as
implicit phase memory parameter.
 There is an analogy between the proposed receiver and
the multiple-symbol dierential receiver for M -PSK [2].
In [2] the receiver is based on an exhaustive search on
a block of N symbols according to
section 2.4 to limit the number of states without excessively  k
 X
2

reducing the value of N . ^cN (k) = arg~cmax 
 x c
~   (13)
n n 
2.2 Interpretation of the proposed receiver N (k) n=k N +1
In this section we provide some interpretations for the re- where cN (k) is the k-th block. Manipulating this ex-
ceiver whose branch metrics are expressed by (11). pression as in (8), equation (13) may be written as
 As we have already seen, this receiver has been obtained ( " k nX1 #)
X
from the optimal non-coherent receiver by means of an ^cN (k) = arg~cmax Re 
xn c~n 
xm c~m :
approximation aimed at transforming a tree in a trellis N (k ) n=k N +2 m=k N +1
search. (14)
As we have seen, the inner sum may be interpreted
 A coherent receiver for dierentially encoded M -PSK as a phase estimate based on a number of samples xm
selects the sequence f cn g which maximizes the sum of which increases from 1 to N 1 as long as the index
metrics Re xn c~n e j in which  is the correct chan- n scans the block from beginning to end. In our algo-
nel phase (by denition this receiver perfectly knows
the value of ). Consider the problem of maximum
likelihood (ML) data-aided estimation of the phasor
e j based on the observation of the discrete samples
xk = ck ej + nk given by (5), where k = 0; 1; : : : ; n 1
rithm, we extend this number of terms to its maximum
value N 1 for each n (i.e., we are not constrained
inside the block) and we extend the outer sum to the
whole transmission. We intuitively expect that our al-
gorithm performs better when its phase memory equals
and nk are noise samples obtained by ltering w(t) by the block length of the receiver in [2], since its implicit
the lter p2E1 S T h( t). It is easy to verify that this phase estimate is more accurate. This will be conrmed
data-aided estimator is given by by computer simulation.
nX1 2.3 Detection of non-coherent coded modu-
xm cm nX1 lations
edj = m
n 1
X
=0 
 ' n1 xmcm (12) In [3], the problem of non-coherent sequence detection is ap-
 x c 
 m 
m=0 proximately solved by a search on a trellis diagram whose
m=0 m  branch metrics are heuristically dened similarly to those
where the last approximation holds for low noise be-
cause the denominator is a constant. The approxima-
tion (12) can be recognized as proportional to the inner
sum in (9) for the correct sequence. As a consequence,
this inner sum may be interpreted as a data-aided ML
estimate of the phasor e j based on per-survivor pro-
cessing (PSP) [4]. Therefore, the approximation (10)
aects the quality of the phase estimate which is im-
plicit in the expression of the branch metrics (11). As
shown in section 3, the resulting performance loss is
limited. We thus have an intuitive understanding of
the fact that for N ! +1 the performance tends to
that of coherent detection. On the other hand if the
channel phase varies, an estimation based on the last
N 1 received samples has a greater accuracy than one
based on all past samples. Thus, with this approxima-
tion, the channel phase has only to be constant in a
window of N symbols. Integer N aects the number
in [2]. The resulting sequence metric is composed of max-
imally overlapped observations|admittedly, a suboptimal
choice because these observations are not independent. Un-
der this suboptimal assumption on the detection scheme,
optimal convolutional codes for M -PSK signaling were de-
rived in [3] by an exhaustive search. The resulting scheme
is called non-coherent coded modulation.
We here approach the detection and decoding of non-
coherent coded modulations by extending the schemes pre-
viously described for uncoded modulations. We assume the
encoder structure described in [3]. Let  be the constraint
length and  the number of coded symbols per information
symbol. We consider encoder structures which consist of
only one shift register with code rate 1=. Other rates are
possible by using multiple shift registers but are not con-
sider here as in [3]. Each information symbol ak generates 
coded symbols fck+l g with l = 0; 1; : : : ;  1: Information
and coded symbols belong to the M -PSK alphabet A. The
number of code states is Sc = M  1.
 -1
10

-2
10
-2
10
BER

BER
-3
10
-3
10 Coherent receiver
N=2 (diff. detector) S=16, receiver in [3]
Receiver in [2] for N=3 S=64, receiver in [3]
-4
Receiver in [2] for N=4 10 S=1024, receiver in [3]
N=3 (S=4) S=16
N=4(S=16) S=64
N=5 (S=64) S=256
-4 N=7, Q=4 (S=16+PSP) -5 S=1024
10 10
2 4 6 8 10 2 3 4 5
Eb/N0 [dB] Eb/N0 [dB]
Figure 1: Comparison between the proposed receivers (white Figure 2: Comparison, for non-coherent coded QPSK, be-
marks) and the receivers in [2] (black marks) for dieren- tween the proposed receivers (white marks) and the receivers
tially encoded QPSK. in [3] (black marks) for L = 4. The code is the best code for
the receiver in [3] with  = 2 and  = 3. The performance
In this coded case, index n in (10) may be expressed as of the receiver in [3] for S = 1024 may be found in [5].
n = k + j where k runs over information symbols and j
scans the coded symbols associated to the k-th information 3. Numerical results
symbol. A similar expression can be used for index m. As a The performance of the proposed receivers is assessed by
consequence, the detection strategy may be expressed simi- computer simulations in terms of bit error rate (BER) ver-
larly to (10) by four summations sus Eb =N0 , Eb being the received signal energy per infor-
8 9 mation bit. We analyze dierentially encoded QPSK mod-
X 1 X1
<K= kX1 X1 = ulation (M = 4) with various values of phase memory pa-
^c = argmax Re : xk+j c~k+j xi+l c~i+l; rameter N . Besides \full-complexity" receivers using a VA
~c k=1 j =0 i=k L+1 l=0 with S = M P states, reduced-complexity receivers have also
(15) been analyzed.
where L = N= is the phase memory parameter in terms of In Fig. 1, we compare the performance of the proposed
information symbols, and the branch metrics become receiver with that of the multiple-symbol dierential receiver
8 9 in [2] for various values of N . As we have already ob-
<LX1 X1 X1 = served based on intuitive remarks, our receiver performs
k = Re : xk+j x(k i)+lc~k+j c~(k i)+l; : better when its phase memory equals the block length of
i=1 j =0 l=0 the receiver in [2] (both parameters are denoted by N in
(16)
The number of states of the Viterbi receiver is now
S = ScM L 1 .
2.4 Complexity reduction techniques based
on PSP
The state complexity of the proposed detection schemes
may be reduced using PSP techniques [4]. Considering
the gures). For N = 2, both receivers become the clas-
sical dierential receiver and their performance coincides.
In the computer simulation, the channel phase is assumed
constant at a value 0 . Only receivers with a state number
lower than S = 64 are considered: to further increase the
phase memory N we apply the previously described PSP
techniques. We may note that at high signal-to-noise ra-
tios, the bit error probability tends, for increasing values of
a trellis state dened in terms of P information symbols N , to that of coherent detection with dierential encoding.
as n = (~an 1; a~n 2 ; : : : ; a~n P ), the number of states is We may also observe that the performance tends to that
S = M P . A reduced state 0n = (~an 1 ; a~n 2 ; : : : ; a~n Q ) of coherent detection with a rate which is independent of
with Q < P may be dened. The resulting number of states
is reduced to S = M Q < M P . In order to run the proposed
detection algorithms based on the branch metrics (11) and
(16) by searching a reduced trellis, the necessary symbols
an Q 1; :::; an P may be found in the survivor history ac-
cording to the PSP technique.
the signal-to-noise ratio. For an acceptable complexity (16
states) the performance degradation with respect to ideal
coherent detection is negligible (0.2 dB at a BER of 10 4).
We have also compared our non-coherent receiver with
that proposed in [3]. Both receivers have the same perfor-
mance for M -PSK modulations with dierential encoding.
 -1 -1
10 10

BER

BER
-2 -2
10 10

fT=0
-3
=0 degrees fT=5x10
-2
-3
=3 degrees -3
fT=10
-2
10 =5 degrees 10 fT=2x10
-2
=10 degrees fT=3x10
-2
fT=4x10

-4
10
0 2 4 6 8 10
Eb/N0 [dB]
Figure 3: BER of the proposed receiver for dierentially
encoded QPSK with N = 4 for various values of phase jitter
standard deviation.
However, our receiver has better performance for convolu-
tionally coded PSK modulations. In [3], the optimal code
generators for the metrics therein presented are reported.
Here, we have just adopted from [3] the optimal code for
QPSK modulation with  = 3 and  = 2 (then Sc = 16).
The code generators are g1 = (1; 3; 3) and g2 = (2; 3; 1) [3].
Thus we have compared our receiver with that in [3] for a
phase memory of L = 4 information symbols. For both re-
ceivers, the number of states of the VA is S = 1024. We
have simulated not only the full-complexity receivers but
-4
10
0 2 4 6 8 10
Eb/N0 [dB]
Figure 4: BER of the proposed receiver for dierentially
encoded QPSK with N = 4 for various values of frequency
oset.
entail appreciable degradation.
4. Conclusions
In this paper, we introduced new non-coherent sequence de-
tection algorithms for M -ary PSK modulations. These algo-
rithms are derived from the optimal non-coherent receiver by
means of an approximation which allows us to perform the
detection using the Viterbi algorithm. The approximation
quality, and hence performance and complexity, depends on
the value of an implicit phase memory parameter. Specif-
ically, in the case of dierentially encoded QPSK the pro-
also simplied ones using the PSP technique. As we can see
from Fig. 2, the proposed receivers perform better for equal
complexity. A similar behavior has been observed for other
convolutional codes and modulation formats.
The performance under dynamic channel conditions has
also been investigated assuming the transmitter and re-
posed trellis-based schemes exhibit a loss of only 0.2 dB with
respect to coherent detection with acceptable complexity (16
states). For larger complexity the performance approaches
that of coherent detection.
The proposed detection schemes compare favorably with
other solutions previously proposed in the literature. As an
ceiver lters have square-root raised-cosine frequency re-
sponse with roll-o 0.5. Our non-coherent receiver is robust
to phase jitter as may be observed from Fig. 3 for dieren-
tially encoded QPSK modulation and N = 4. The phase 
of the received signal is modeled as a Wiener process accord-
ing to n+1 = n +
n , where
n are zero-mean independent
Gaussian random variables with variance 
2 . This model is
frequently used [6] for its good agreement with experimental
data. A jitter standard deviation up to 5 degrees does not
example, in applications to the detection of non-coherent
coded modulations, appreciable gains are obtained with re-
spect to previously proposed schemes for given number of
states.
References
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[2] D. Divsalar and M. K. Simon \Multiple-symbol dieren-
tial detection of MPSK," IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. 38,
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The behavior of the proposed receiver in the presence of
frequency osets has also been investigated. In Fig. 4, the
performance of the receiver with N = 4 for dierentially en-
coded QPSK is shown for dierent values of the frequency
oset
f normalized to the symbol frequency 1=T . The
receiver sensitivity increases obviously with the phase mem-
pp.300-308, March 1990.
[3] D. Raphaeli, \Noncoherent coded modulation," IEEE
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