Real-Time Estimation of Amplitude and Group Delay Distortion in a PSK Line-of-Sight Communications Channel.

Linear transmission distortion is a malady which is common to communication transmission systems of all types. Compensating for - or equalizing - this form of distortion is essential in order to realize the maximum possible error-free transmission of information. There are many established techniques for negating the effects of linear distortion with no regard to the type or severity of distortion present. The object of the research described by this thesis is the development of an on-line technique for estimating linear transmission distortion parameters which are common to narrowband line-of-sight terrestrial microwave communication systems employing M-ary PSK modulation. The parameters of interest are represented as coefficients of a polynomial channel model in order to indicate the degree of amplitude and group delay distortion present in the channel. This new approach employs an algorithm which first estimates the discrete channel pulse response, then determines the amount of amplitude and group delay distortion present in the estimated channel pulse response.