ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY

Software-based Implementation of
Digital Communication System
including Equalization, Synchronization,
and Symbol Detection.

by
Leul Wuletaw
Supervisor
Dr.-Ing. Dereje Hailemariam

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the

degree of Bachelor of Science

in the
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

June 2017
—————————————————————-

ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY

Abstract
Addis Ababa Institute of Technology
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Bachelor of Science

by Leul Wuletaw

The role of digital communication system in our day-to-day life is drastically increas-
ing. State of the art technologies are being deployed now and then to cope up with
the increasing data rate and high quality of service demands of users. Fulfilling these
demands, in turn, require having digital communication systems that are more reliable
and pervasive. For digital communication to be feasible and applicable in the real world,
care must be taken of processes occurring between the transmitter and receiver. Hence,
this thesis tries to examine major blocks present in digital communication system and
develops an easy-to-use GUI (Graphical User Interface) for designing such systems. The
communication system consists of source encoder and modulator from the transmitter
side and synchronization (both time and frequency), equalization and detection in the
receiver side. Moreover, the channel considered is frequency selective with Additive
White Gaussian Noise. In the channel equalization, where existing algorithms are re-
viewed and implemented to compensate for signal distortions caused by the channel.
Then synchronization techniques are used to accurately estimate carrier and symbol
timing offsets of the received signal. Finally, symbol detection mechanisms are utilized
in order to make an optimal decision of incoming symbols and output a decoded binary
1s and 0s for further processing.
 Acknowledgements
My greatest gratitude from the depth of my heart goes to God for endowing me with
courage, strength as well as health through-out my journey. I would like to express my
deep gratitude to Dr.-Ing. Dereje Hailemariam for his patient guidance, enthusiastic
suggestions and useful critiques for the last three semesters of project work. I would
also like to thank Tewodros Amsalu for his advice and technical assistance during the
implementation stage of the thesis. Finally, I wish to thank my family and friends for
their support and encouragement throughout my study.

ii
Contents

Abstract i

Acknowledgements ii

List of Figures v

Abbreviations vi

1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.1 Historical Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.2 System Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.2.1 Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.2.2 Demodulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.2.3 Carrier and Symbol Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.2.4 Channel Equalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2.2.5 Symbol Detection Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Problem Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.1 General Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.2 Specific Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.5 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5.1 Literature review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5.2 System modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5.3 Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5.3.1 Carrier Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5.3.2 Symbol Timing Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.5.4 Equalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.5.5 Channel Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.5.6 Symbol Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.5.7 Simulation and Practical Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.5.8 Performance comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2 RESULT AND EVALUATION 22

2.1 Equalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

iii
Contents iv

2.1.1 Constant Modulus Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

2.1.1.1 Measured Channel Impulse Response . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.1.1.2 Joint Technical Committee Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.1.1.3 Phase Shift Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.1.1.4 BER Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.1.1.5 Complexity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.1.2 Multi Modulus Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.1.2.1 Measured Channel Impulse Response . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.1.2.2 Joint Technical Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.1.2.3 Phase Shift Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.1.2.4 BER Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.1.2.5 Complexity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.2 Carrier Recovery Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.2.1 PLL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.2.2 Costas Loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.2.3 Squaring Loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.3 Symbol Timing Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.3.1 Early-Late Gate Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.3.2 Gradient Based Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.4 Graphical User Interface (GUI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

3 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORKS 45

3.1 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.2 Future Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

A App Designer 47
A.1 Interactive Design Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
A.2 Built-In Editor Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Bibliography 50
List of Figures

1.1 Functional block diagram of typical digital communication system. . . . . 2

1.2 Functional block diagram of digital communication system. . . . . . . . . 11
1.3 Phase Locked Loop [1] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.4 Block diagram of Costas Loop [1] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.5 Squaring Loop [1] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.6 Early-late timing error computation [2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.7 Gradient based timing error computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.8 CMA Implementation flow chart [3]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.9 MMA Implementation flow chart [3]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.10 Channel impulse response for raised cosine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.11 Raised cosine pulse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

2.1 CMA Equalizer for measured channel response. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

2.2 CMA Equalizer for JTC channel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.3 CMA Equalizer for a complex channel at 13 dB SNR. . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.4 BER vs SNR for CMA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.5 MMA Equalizer for measured channel response. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.6 MMA Equalizer for JTC channel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.7 MMA Equalizer for a complex channel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.8 BER vs SNR for MMA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.9 PLL carrier tracking for different loop coefficients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.10 PLL carrier tracking for different LPF cutoff frequency. . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.11 Costas loop carrier tracking for different loop coefficients. . . . . . . . . . 33
2.12 Costas loop carrier tracking for different LPF cutoff frequency. . . . . . . 34
2.13 Squaring loop carrier tracking for different loop coefficients. . . . . . . . . 35
2.14 Squaring loop carrier tracking for different LPF cutoff frequency. . . . . . 35
2.15 Error signal of early late gate for different step size. . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.16 Error signal of early late gate for different step size in AWGN. . . . . . . 37
2.17 Error signal of early late gate for different timing phase deviation. . . . . 38
2.18 Error signal of early late gate for different timing phase deviation in AWGN. 39
2.19 Error signal of gradient based for different step size. . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.20 Error signal of gradient based for different step size in AWGN. . . . . . . 41
2.21 Main tab of the Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.22 Design and Transmission Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.23 Performance Analysis Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

A.1 App designer interactive design environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

A.2 App designer built-in editor integration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

v
Abbreviations

AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise

BER Bit Error Rate
BPF Band Pass Filter
BPSK Binary Phase Shift Keying
CMA Constant Modulus Algorithm
DFE Decision Feedback Equalizer
FSA Fractionally Spaced Algorithm
GUI Graphical User Interface
ISI Inter Symbol Interference
JTC Joint Technical Committee
LS Least Squares
MAP Maximum Aposteriori Probability
ML Maximum Likleihood
MLSE Maximum Likleihood Sequence Estimation
MMA Multi Modulus Algorithm
MMSE Minimum Mean Square Error
PAM Pulse Amplitude Modulation
PCM Pulse-Code Modulation
PD Phase-Detector
PLL Phase Locked Loop
QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
QPSK Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
SGD Stochastic Gradient Descent
SNR Signal power-to-Noise Ratio
SRCA Signal Reduced Constellation Algorithm

vi
Abbreviations vii

SRRC Square Root Raised Cosine Filter

VCO Voltage Controlled Oscillator
ZF Zero Forcing
Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

A communication system delivers information between a source and destination that

are some distance apart. In the same token, a digital communication system is used to
convey information digitally.

A digital communication system has achieved wider applications than its analog coun-
terpart. Now a day, it is used pervasively from mobile handsets in our hand to high
bandwidth satellite communication, mainly due to reasons such as robustness to noise
and interference, reliability and cost of implementation. Moreover, it also supports fea-
tures such as encryption making it more secure than analog systems. Figure 1.1 shows
a functional block diagram representation of digital communication.

Initial blocks present at the transmitter side are encoder and modulator where source
analog signals are sampled and converted in to digital data and transmitted using a
specific modulation scheme. The channel has a statistical behavior that introduces
distortion to signal transmitted towards the receiver. It presents noise, fading and delay
through which the transmitted signal passes. Finally, equalization, synchronization,
demodulation and decoding are performed to reverse the transmission effects and retrieve
the transmitted information at the receiver.

Despite the tremendous impact and wide applications they have, digital communication
systems are still on the infant stage, especially in developing countries like Ethiopia,

1
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 2

as these countries play insignificant role in system development. This is due to lack of
a broad understanding of the design of digital systems and analysis of various factors
arising in and out of the functional entities. Some of these factors are where and when
the digital communication system is to be deployed, type of source to be transmitted,
available signal-to-noise power ratio (SNR), type of channel, so and so forth. For this
reasons, a communication system design and analysis tools are deemed necessary for
testing and building user specific systems as per own requirement.

The main subject of this thesis lies on three entities of a digital communication system,
i.e. carrier and symbol timing recovery, equalization, and symbol detection.

Figure 1.1: Functional block diagram of typical digital communication system.

Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 3

1.2 Literature Review

1.2.1 Historical Background

The practical application of digital systems started immediately before the period of
World War II, through the landmark invention of pulse-code modulation (PCM) by
Alex Reeves [4]. He used this technique for digital encoding of speech signals and was
further developed during the war to enable the encryption of speech signals. But the
theoretical foundation for signal transmission was laid prior to the war, a classic paper
being published in 1928 by Harry Nyquist. He developed mechanism for the successful
reception of transmitted signal over dispersive channel [5].

The turning point in digital communication system was the invention of transistor, which
stimulated the application of electronics to switching and digital communications, such
as [5]:

• A stored program control system was placed at Bell Laboratories in March 1958.

• The first digital switch based commercial telephone service began in Morris, Illi-
nois, in June 1960.

• Again Bell Laboratories founded the first T-1 carrier system transmission in 1962.

In 1943, D. O. North devised the famous matched filter used for optimizing the signal
power to noise ratio. The same result was independently reached by J. H. Van Vleck
and D. Middleton, who coined the term matched filter [5].

A major breakthrough providing a theoretical foundation of digital communications

were laid by Claude Shannon in a classic paper entitled A Mathematical Theory of
Communication in 1948, later amended to The Mathematical Theory of Communica-
tions. He disproved that increasing information rate doesnt necessarily result increase
in the probability of error, provided that the channel capacity is not exceeded [5].

Following Shannons paper [5]:

• Error correcting codes were developed by M. J. E Golay and Richard W. Hamming

in 1950.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 4

• Turbo codes were developed by C. Berrou, A. Glavieux, and P. Thitimajshima

1993.

Communication between computers and terminals becomes possible at low speed (300
to 1200 bits/sec) in the early 1950s. Furthermore, Robert Lucky and G. Ungerboek
pioneered adaptive equalization and efficient modulation techniques to increase this data
rate. In tandem with error-control methods by Viterbi, this gave birth to high speed
digital communication. This was further extended to the provision of the internet,
satellite communication, and optical communication [4].

1.2.2 System Model

Most digital communication systems encode and modulate the source data prior to
transmission. The physical channels through which this modulated signals are trans-
mitted are usually bandlimited and causes dispersion of the signal in time domain. As
a result gives rise to a phenomenon known as inter-symbol interference (ISI). ISI causes
the channel to be frequency selective in frequency domain. The severity of ISI depends
on the operating environment (channel bandwidth) and the application at hand (coher-
ence bandwidth), i.e. narrowband or broadband. At the receiver channel equalization
is needed to mitigate the effect of the ISI induced by a dispersive channel [1][6].

Propagation delay in the channel can produce phase and frequency shifts. Moreover,
clocks and oscillators at the transmitter and receiver are free running, which in addition
to the delay causes loss of timing and synchronization [1]. Hence, synchronization is
one major task of the receiver and must take account for the phase, frequency and time
shifts as well as synchronizing the clocks and oscillators at the transmitter and receiver.

The core purpose of the demodulator is to perform decisions, i.e. symbol detection of
the transmitted symbols.

1.2.2.1 Channel

Two phenomena are observed in wireless communication. Primarily, due to the presence
of scatters in the environment, there is a delayed and scaled arrival of signals which
leads to ISI. Consequently, ISI causes the channel to be selective in frequency. Secondly,
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 5

mobility of transmitter, receiver, or objects in the environment results in Doppler spread

which in turn causes the channel to be time-selective [6]. Both ISI and Doppler spread
severely degrade the performance of the wireless communication.
In addition to the fading, receiver thermal noise is the commonest impairment in most
communication systems to the transmission medium itself. Hence, good channel models
are critical to the design of efficient communication systems.

1.2.2.2 Demodulator

Consider that the transmitted signal waveforms are generated from N orthonormal basis
functions. The demodulator is used at the baseband to convert incoming corrupted
signal waveform in to an N-dimensional vector. It can be performed using N correlators
or N-linear matched filters. The correlator uses basis functions to compute the received
signals projection. On the other hand, matched filters use filters whose impulse response
is matched to the basis functions [1].
In an alternative approach, the tasks of the demodulator may include synchronization,
channel equalization, and detector that are explained in the subsequent sections.

1.2.2.3 Carrier and Symbol Synchronization

In digital communication received signal at the demodulator must be periodically sam-

pled once every symbol interval in order to recover the transmitted information. Nonethe-
less, the unknown propagation delay between the transmitter and receiver distort the
timing and also results in phase offset. Additionally, further carrier offsets may result
from drifting in time between the oscillators at the transmitter and receiver. Hence, the
symbol timing and carrier offset must be estimated and corrected for proper sampling
and coherent reception of the received signal.
Two methods for carrier phase estimation are [1]:

• Training based estimation: Use of pilot signal that allows the receiver to extract
the carrier frequency and delay of the received signal. Pilot signal is unmodulated
carrier component that is tracked by a Phase Locked Loop (PLL) which is designed
to be narrowband.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 6

• Derive the carrier phase estimate directly from the modulated signal. This is a
blind estimation technique that requires no training sequence. This is a widely
used practice and the total transmitter power is used to transmit the information
bearing signal only.

1.2.2.4 Channel Equalization

Equalizer is an optimal inverse filter that compensates for the ISI effects on the received
signal.
The filter is used to collect back the dispersed symbol energy as a result of the chan-
nel. Viewed in the frequency domain, the equalizer enhances the frequency components
with small amplitudes and attenuates those with large amplitudes. The main target
of equalization is to satisfy the zero-ISI condition, for which the combined effect of the
pulse shaping filters, channel filter and equalizer filter will be a flat composite-received
frequency response and linear phase [1]. Matching the equalizer filter to the cascade of
the pulse shaping filters and channel filter guarantees optimality.

The non-stationarity and time varying characteristics of the wireless channel poses a
problem in incorporating filters to remove the channel effect. This is when adaptive
equalizer comes in to the picture for which no knowledge of the channel is sought.

Equalizers can be realized in a number of ways; some of the common ones are Maxi-
mum likelihood sequence estimation (MLSE), Linear transverse filter equalizer, Decision
Feedback Equalizer (DFE), and Adaptive equalizers [1]. All except adaptive equalizers
are based on a priori information about channel impulse response.
Adaptive equalizer is based on the adaptation of the filter coefficients as it processes
the data to attain some specified performance value. Adaptive equalizer can either
be linear or decision-feedback equalizers type. Adaptive equalizer is based on training
period or blind equalization. In the training sequence based equalization, a training
sequence (i.e. data sequence in the training period), which is known to the equalizer is
transmitted. Based on the least squares criterion (LS) criterion, the equalizer adaptively
adjusts the filter coefficients to minimize the mean square error. On the other side, blind
equalization methods come to rescue the bandwidth wasted on transmitting the training
signals, which makes them viable solution for achieving high spectral efficiency. This
method solely depends on the knowledge of signal structure and statistics to perform
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 7

equalization. Some of the algorithms are Constant Modulus Algorithm (CMA), Multi
Modulo Algorithm (MMA), Fractionally Spaced Algorithm (FSA), and Signed Reduced
Constellation Algorithm (SRCA).

1.2.2.5 Symbol Detection Techniques

Once the effect of the time-varying wireless channel is known and possibly compensated
by using mitigation techniques, further symbol detection schemes are required to discern
between signal, on one hand, and random noise and interference, on the other hand.

In the simpler case that the signal is corrupted by noise only, the detector decides
in each symbol interval based on the observation from demodulator (correlator or the
matched filter type). An optimal detector is implemented based on either the maximum
a posteriori probability (MAP) criterion or the maximum likelihood (ML) criterion [1].

A range of symbol detection techniques exist and can broadly be classified as linear
and non-linear detection schemes. Linear symbol detection is the simplest form of sym-
bol detection that treats all transmitted signals as interferences except for the desired
stream from the target user. Typical examples are based on zero forcing (ZF) or Min-
imum Mean-Square Error (MMSE) criterion. On the other hand, non-linear detection
schemes include ML detection which checks through all vector constellations for the
most probable transmitted signal vector and estimates according to the Maximum Like-
lihood principle. It is considered the optimal detector since it minimizes the probability
of error.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 8

1.3 Problem Statement

Increasing demand of digital communication systems locally necessitates the use of effi-
cient schemes and techniques subject to the requirement of the designer (vendor). As a
result, various schemes may be put forward as a candidate. But selecting the one that
suits best for a given application requires thorough investigation. And this all requires
conducting a broad survey of the available schemes.

There is lack of a customized digital communication system designed in a developing or

third world countries. Almost all of the products in the market are costly, making their
adoption very difficult.

Despite availability of independent implementations and analysis of specific algorithms

and blocks (entities) of digital communication system conducted by experts, there is
lack of an end-to-end performance analysis made which would serve as a platform for
comparing various schemes and techniques.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 9

1.4 Objectives

1.4.1 General Objective

The general objective of this research thesis is to design and implement channel equaliza-
tion, synchronization and symbol detection techniques for digitally modulated signals.

1.4.2 Specific Objectives

More specifically the objectives are broken down as:

Channel Equalizer

• Review linear, nonlinear and blind channel equalization techniques and algorithms;

• Investigate the performance of the reviewed algorithms and select appropriate

equalization technique and see its implementation in software.

Time and carrier synchronization

• Review available time and carrier synchronization techniques (i.e., blind and non-
blind) and algorithms;

• Select appropriate estimation techniques and implementation in software.

Demodulation

• Identify modulation scheme and order;

• Possible modulation types are: Phase modulation (BPSK, QPSK), Quadrature

amplitude modulation.

Symbol detection techniques

• Review and select a symbol detection technique;

• Implement the selected detection technique for various modulation type and order,
e.g., PAM, 4QAM;
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 10

• The symbol detector accepts symbols from subsequent units and generates binary
0s and 1s.

Final implementations

• Implement relevant techniques to retrieve information from a recorded practical

signal and image. Decision on which blocks to include depends on the prior infor-
mation about the recorded signal and implementation considerations.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 11

1.5 Methodology

The methods employed to achieve the objectives of this thesis are:

1.5.1 Literature review

Includes reading books, journals, articles, simulation tools and other resources related to
synchronization, channel equalization, symbol detection, and practical implementation.

1.5.2 System modeling

Involves modeling of the system under study including the information source, modu-
lator at the transmitter, transmission channel with AWGN and equalization, synchro-
nization, demodulation and symbol detection at the receiver. Figure 1.2 presents below
the modeling of a digital communication system.

Figure 1.2: Functional block diagram of digital communication system.

1.5.3 Synchronization

1.5.3.1 Carrier Recovery

Of all the various techniques available to track the incoming carrier, Phase Locked Loop
(PLL), Costas loop, and Squaring loop were analyzed.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 12

• PLL: - is used to follow an unmodulated carrier. As shown in Figure 1.3, a con-

ventional PLL consists of three elements, namely, phase detector (PD), loop filter,
and voltage controlled oscillator (VCO). It uses a feedback loop to keep track of
the phase of the incoming signal. The loop filter transfer function is given by [1]:

(1 + τ2 s)
G(s) = k ∗ (1.1)
(1 + τ1 s)

Where k is loop filter gain, τ1 and τ2 are design parameters. The closed loop
transfer function of the PLL is [1]:

kG(s)/s
H(s) = k ∗ (1.2)
1 + kG(s)/s

The denominator of H(s) is expressed in standard form as [1]:

D(s) = ωn2 + 2ξωn + ξ 2 (1.3)

Where ξ is called the loop damping factor and ωn is the natural frequency of the
loop, and are given by [1]:
p
ωn = k/τ1 (1.4)

ξ = ωn (τ2 + 1/k) (1.5)

Where ξ < 1 results in underdamped response,

ξ = 1 results in critically damped response, and
ξ > 1 produces in overdamped response.
The one-sided noise equivalent bandwidth of the loop is [1]:

1 + τ2 ωn2
Beq = (1.6)
8ξ/ωn

Equation (1.6) describes the tradeoff involved between the speed of response and
noise in the phase estimate during the selection of the bandwidth of the PLL.

• Costas loop: - is sufficiently capable of tracking modulated suppressed carrier

which was the main drawback of conventional PLL. Figure 1.4 presents the Costas
loop which uses the same elements of PLL, but in a different way.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 13

Figure 1.3: Phase Locked Loop [1]

Figure 1.4: Block diagram of Costas Loop [1]

As can be seen from Figure 1.4, each quadrature outputs from the VCO are fed
in the phase detectors. The incoming received signal is applied to both phase
detectors and passed through low-pass filter. A third PD is used to multiply the
outputs from PDs and generates an output which is scaled and filtered through a
loop filter to control the VCO. Costas loop has a phase ambiguity of 1800, hence it
must be used with differential encoding at the transmitter and differential decoding
at the receiver.

• Squaring loop: - it squares the received signal for tracking. As shown in Figure
1.5, it employs a bandpass filter to pass the double frequency component of the
squared signal [1].

Additionally, Squaring loop contains a frequency divider, which is used to output a

signal at the same frequency as the initial received signal. The same to Costas loop,
a Squaring loop requires the use of differential encoding and differential decoding
to avoid phase ambiguity.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 14

Figure 1.5: Squaring Loop [1]

1.5.3.2 Symbol Timing Recovery

Early-late gate and gradient based algorithms are designed and implemented to perform
the timing synchronization. They belong to the class of non-decision directed (blind)
recovery, i.e. they do not rely on any knowledge of the modulation symbols [1].

• Early-late gate: - one of the most common method which takes advantage of the
symmetrical property of the received symbols about the peak sample of the symbol.
From Figure 1.6, one can understand that the center of the symbols is an optimum
timing phase for maximum signal power to noise ratio (SNR) [2].

Figure 1.6: Early-late timing error computation [2]

This timing recovery algorithm generates its error by using samples that are early
and late compared to the ideal sampling point. The generation of the error requires
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 15

at least three samples per symbol. The samples indicate the direction towards to
the center of the symbol. The error signal is computed using the following equation:

e = K ∗ (yn2 − yn−1
2
) (1.7)

Where K is the step size parameter and the timing phase deviation between yn
and yn−1 is δ.

• Gradient based: - is an optimized version of the early-late gate algorithm used

for synchronization in digital receivers. From Figure 1.7, we can observe that the
algorithm uses two consecutive samples with an interval of half period. Thus,
requiring a maximum of two samples per symbol.

The error signal for the Gradient based algorithm is computed using the following
equation [2].
e = K ∗ (yn ∗ yn−1 ) (1.8)

Where K is the step size parameter and the timing phase deviation between yn
and yn−1 is T/2 seconds.

Gradient based algorithm has the advantage of being insensitive to carrier offsets
and robustness during symbol transitions.

Figure 1.7: Gradient based timing error computation

1.5.4 Equalization

From a group of equalization techniques reviewed in the literature, blind adaptive equal-
ization technique was of a best interest. It is blind in the sense that it is capable to
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 16

equalize a signal solely from the transmitted data. This ensures that no extra band-
width is necessary for its implementation. Furthermore, ample of blind equalization
algorithms exist out of which CMA and MMA has been selected and implemented in
this thesis, mainly for their computational simplicity and MMAs interesting ability to
simultaneously track phase offsets (carrier recovery) and perform equalization.

• Constant Modulus Algorithm: - it takes advantage of the constant modularity of

a set of random signals. It corrects any deviation of the received signal constant
module caused by distortion in the channel. The cost function for CMA is given
by [7]:
J2 (k) = E[(|y(k)|2 − R2 )2 ] (1.9)

Where y(k) is the equalizers instantaneous output and R2 is called constant mod-
ulus and the constant modulus is defined mathematically as [7]

E[|a(k)|4 ]
R2 (k) = (1.10)
E[|a(k)|2 ]

Where a(k) is the instantaneous transmitted symbol.

The N-tap weighted equalizers output is given by [7]

y(k) = W T ∗ X (1.11)

Where X the input sequence for the equalizer and W the equalizer weight which
can be found using [7]:

X(k) = [x(k), x(k − 1), ., x(k − N + 1)]T (1.12)

W (k) = [w0 (k), w1 (k − 1), ., wN −1 (k − N + 1)]T (1.13)

The equalizer weight is updated using [7]:

W (k + 1) = W (k) − µ 5 J2 (W (k)) (1.14)

Using the SGD algorithm Equation (14) is simplified to [7]:

W (k + 1) = W (k) − µe(k)X ∗ (k)) (1.15)

Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 17

Where e(k) is the instantaneous error and given by:

e(k) = y(k)(|y(k)|2 − R2 ) (1.16)

Figure 1.8: CMA Implementation flow chart [3].

• Multi Modulus Algorithm: -like CMA uses the constant modularity of signals to
minimize dispersions but considers the real and imaginary parts of y(n) separately
in its cost function. This enables it to carry the channel phase distortion [8].
The MMA adjusts the dispersion of yR (k) and yI (k) separately and the cost func-
tion is given by [9]:
JM M A (w) = JR (w) + JI (w) (1.17)

Where JR (w) and JI (w) are the cost functions for the real and imaginary part and
given by [9]:
JR (w) = E[|yR (w)|2 − R2,R
2
] (1.18)

JI (w) = E[|yI (w)|2 − R2,I

2
] (1.19)
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 18

Where R2,R and R2,I are the constant modules for the real and imaginary parts
respectively and can be calculated using [9]:

E[|aR (k)|4 ] E[|aI (k)|4 ]

R2,R (k) = , R2,I (k) = (1.20)
E[|aR (k)|2 ] E[|aI (k)|2 ]

The equalizer weight is updated using [9]:

W (k + 1) = W (k) − µ 5 JM M A (W (k)) (1.21)

Using SGD algorithm Equation (21) is simplified to

W (k + 1) = W (k) − µe(k)X ∗ (k)) (1.22)

Where e(k) is calculated from the real and imaginary error as [9]:

e(k) = eR (k) + eI (k) (1.23)

eR (k) = yR (k)(|yR (k)|2 − R2,R ), and (1.24)

eI (k) = yI (k)(|yI (k)|2 − R2,I ) (1.25)

Then the output of the equalizer can be found using:

y(k) = W T ∗ X (1.26)

Where X is the input sequence for the equalizer and W is the equalizer weight
which can be found using [9]:

X(k) = [x(k), x(k − 1), ., x(k − N + 1)]T (1.27)

W (k) = [w0 (k), w1 (k − 1), ., wN −1 (k − N + 1)]T (1.28)

1.5.5 Channel Models

Three channel models are used in the simulation to evaluate the performance of equal-
ization techniques. Figure 1.10 clearly depicts the channels for raised cosine pulse.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 19

Figure 1.9: MMA Implementation flow chart [3].

1.5.6 Symbol Detection

Of all the possible detection mechanisms, a non-linear detection scheme known as ML

detection is used. It has increased performance when used in conjunction with a raised
cosine pulse shaping filter. A raised cosine filter enhances received SNR when used as a
matched filter.

Figure 1.11 presents the plot of a square root raised cosine filter. Here, the filter has a
roll-off factor of a =1.

Matched in the sense that the shape of the filter is similar with the transmitted signal
pulse. The matched filter is used:

• As a low pass filter to filter off unwanted signal from received data.

• For correlating the received signal with the transmit pulse shape.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 20

Figure 1.10: Channel impulse response for raised cosine.

Figure 1.11: Raised cosine pulse.

1.5.7 Simulation and Practical Implementation

The following specific tasks are performed:

• Simulating the modeled communication system using MAT LAB and then in-
corporating implementations of equalization, synchronization, demodulation and
detection methods into the simulated system.

• Implement all these techniques to retrieve information from a recorded practical

signal and image.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 21

• Develop a customized GUI for designing and simulating a digital communication

system.

1.5.8 Performance comparison

• Evaluating the performance of implemented systems and comparing them.

• Candidate performance metrics are: bit error rate, probability of correct estimation
and complexity analysis.
Chapter 2

RESULT AND EVALUATION

This chapter discusses the results obtained by the MATLAB-based simulation of syn-
chronization and equalization algorithms. The simulations were done for BPSK and
4-QAM constellation with unit energy symbols. The pulse shape used is square root
raised cosine filter (SRRC) pulse with 100 excess bandwidth. SNR used for performing
simulation ranges between 10 and 20dB. A 32-bit, 4GB RAM host computer is used
for testing runtime (complexity) of algorithms. The equalization algorithms are simu-
lated in typical channels representing the transmission environment. The simulation for
synchronization is conducted both in the presence and absence of an AWGN channel.

2.1 Equalization

The simulation results are organized in sections for each equalization technique, which
itself contains subsections for each channel models. Then the results are presented using
three channel models.

2.1.1 Constant Modulus Algorithm

The CMA described in Section 1.5.4 was simulated using MATLAB according to the
flow chart in Figure 1.8.

22
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 23

2.1.1.1 Measured Channel Impulse Response

Simulation is conducted using a randomly generated data and exposed to a measured

channel impulse response shown in Figure 1.10. The received signal and the equalized
signal for different values of SNR are illustrated in Figure 2.1. The concentration of the
equalized signals to the desired value increases as SNR increases.

Figure 2.1: CMA Equalizer for measured channel response.

Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 24

2.1.1.2 Joint Technical Committee Model

Randomly generated data source is transmitted across the JTC channel impulse response
shown in Figure 1.10. From Figure 2.2, one can observe that the constellation of equal-
ized signals become distinct enough at 13dB. We can also observe that the concentration
to the desired value increases as SNR increases.

Figure 2.2: CMA Equalizer for JTC channel.

Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 25

2.1.1.3 Phase Shift Recovery

Figure 2.3 shows that the CMA equalizer do not have capability to recover phase shift.
Exponential channel with phase shift shown in Figure 1.10, is used to introduce phase
shift to the transmitted signal.

Figure 2.3: CMA Equalizer for a complex channel at 13 dB SNR.

2.1.1.4 BER Performance

The BER simulation result when exposed to the three channels is shown in Figure
1.10, the result indicate that the JTC channel poses more bit error rate. Best BER
performance is observed for transmission through measured channel.

Figure 2.4: BER vs SNR for CMA.

Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 26

2.1.1.5 Complexity

The CMA algorithm uses 1 sample per symbol period; it only considers the magnitude
component of parameters in process of finding the equalizer weights, which minimizes
the processing time.

2.1.2 Multi Modulus Algorithm

Based on the flow chart in Figure 1.9, the MMA was simulated in MATLAB. A randomly
generated data is exposed to the three channels.

2.1.2.1 Measured Channel Impulse Response

Simulation is conducted using a randomly generated data and measured channel impulse
response shown in Figure 1.10. The received signal and the equalized signal for different
values of SNR are illustrated in Figure 2.5. The concentration of the equalized signals to
the desired value increases as SNR increases. At 10dB, the equalized signals are distinct
and concentrated in the constellation.

2.1.2.2 Joint Technical Model

Randomly generated data source is transmitted across the JTC channel impulse re-
sponse shown in Figure 1.10. Similar to CMA, one can observe that the constellation of
equalized signals for MMA become distinct enough at 13dB. One can also observe that
the concentration to the desired value increases as SNR increases.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 27

Figure 2.5: MMA Equalizer for measured channel response.

Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 28

Figure 2.6: MMA Equalizer for JTC channel.

Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 29

2.1.2.3 Phase Shift Recovery

Unlike the CMA equalization, the MMA equalization has the capability to recover phase
shift introduced by the exponential channel. The phase shift introduced by the channel
and the equalized signal constellations are illustrated in Figure 2.7.

Figure 2.7: MMA Equalizer for a complex channel.

2.1.2.4 BER Performance

The BER simulation result when exposed to the three channels is shown in Figure 1.10,
the result indicate that the JTC channel poses more bit error rate. Best BER perfor-
mance is observed for transmission through measured channel. The BER performance
of MMA is almost the same to BER performance of CMA shown in Figure 2.4.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 30

Figure 2.8: BER vs SNR for MMA.

2.1.2.5 Complexity

Like CMA algorithm, MMA requires one sample per symbol period. However, it uses
additional parameter to consider the phase component during the process of finding the
equalizer weight which in turn adds complexity.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 31

2.2 Carrier Recovery Techniques

The simulation results are organized in sections for each equalization technique, which
itself contains subsections for each channel models. Then the results are presented using
three channel models.

2.2.1 PLL

The PD, loop filter and VCO blocks shown in Figure 1.3, were used for the complete
system simulations. An unmodulated carrier signal is used for the simulation.

As shown in Figure 2.9, the phase tracking capability of PLL has been simulated for
different values of k. While the fc remains constant at 0.05*. The result implies that as
k increases, the curve reaches rapidly to the desired value but undergoes oscillation be-
fore settling. The PLL achieved convergence before the 150th sample index. It must be
noted that a PLL is not capable of tracking modulated (suppressed) carrier input signal.

Figure 2.10 shows the simulation results of PLL for different values of fc. And the
k is fixed to 0.15. The result shows that as fc increases, the curve undergoes an oscilla-
tion about the desired value. This clearly shows the effect of increased noise in to the
system due to higher fc. From Figure 2.10, one can observe that the PLL converges
before the 30th sample index.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 32

Figure 2.9: PLL carrier tracking for different loop coefficients.

Figure 2.10: PLL carrier tracking for different LPF cutoff frequency.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 33

2.2.2 Costas Loop

The two PDs, loop filter and VCO blocks shown in Figure 1.4, were used for the com-
plete system simulations. The binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation is used for
the simulation of the system.

Figure 2.11 shows the resulting phase tracking capability of Costas loop, which have
been simulated for different values of k. And the fc used for this case remains constant
at 0.05*. What this result implies is that as k increases, the curve reaches rapidly to
the proximity of the desired value but undergoes oscillation. The Costas loop achieved
convergence before the 700th sample index. And it must be noted that a Costas loop is
capable of tracking modulated (suppressed) carrier input signal.

Figure 2.12 shows the simulation results of Costas loop for different values of fc. And
the k is fixed to 0.15. The result implies that as fc increases, the curve tends to be
more inaccurate and undergoes an oscillation about the proximity of the desired value.
This clearly depicts the effect of increased noise in to the system as a result of higher
fc. From Figure 2.12, one can observe that the Costas loop converges before the 200th
sample index.

Figure 2.11: Costas loop carrier tracking for different loop coefficients.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 34

Figure 2.12: Costas loop carrier tracking for different LPF cutoff frequency.

2.2.3 Squaring Loop

The Squaring Law Device, bandpass filter (BPF), loop filter and VCO blocks shown in
Figure 1.5, were used for the complete system simulations. The BPSK modulation is
used for the simulation of the system.

Figure 2.13 depicts the resulting phase tracking capability of Squaring loop, which have
been simulated for different values of k. While the fc remains constant at 0.05*. The
result tells that as k increases, the curve reaches rapidly to the proximity of the desired
value but more inaccurately than Costas loop. The squaring loop achieved convergence
before the 8000th sample index. It must be noted that a squaring loop is capable of
tracking modulated (suppressed) carrier input signal.

The simulation results of Squaring loop is also taken for different values of fc and it
is shown in Figure 2.14. And the k is fixed to 0.5. What the result implies is that as
fc increases, the curve tends to be more inaccurate and undergoes an oscillation. This
clearly depicts the effect of increased noise in to the system as a result of higher fc. From
Figure 2.14, one can observe that the squaring loop converges before the 200th sample
index.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 35

Figure 2.13: Squaring loop carrier tracking for different loop coefficients.

Figure 2.14: Squaring loop carrier tracking for different LPF cutoff frequency.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 36

2.3 Symbol Timing Recovery

2.3.1 Early-Late Gate Algorithm

The error signal described in Section 1.5.3.2 was simulated using MATLAB, and the
following result was obtained. The error signal is the output of the timing detector,
which gives the information about the convergence of the system towards a solution.
The parameters that change in Equation(1.7) are K and . Figures 2.15 and 2.16 show
the error signal curves for different values of K both in the presence and absence of noise
respectively with 0.25T timing phase deviation. In noise less case, one can observe that
the error signal amplitude is convergent for average values of K. For step size between
1.25 and 30, the error signal converges. At 10dB the same pattern is observed. We can
also observe that being initially convergent in the absence of noise, lower values of K
has improved BER and stable performance in the presence of noise. This is illustrated
in Figure 2.16.

Figure 2.15: Error signal of early late gate for different step size.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 37

Figure 2.16: Error signal of early late gate for different step size in AWGN.

Figures 2.17 and 2.18 show the error signal curves for different values both in the
presence and absence of noise respectively. The step size used is 1.25. In noise less case,
one can observe that the error signal amplitude is convergent for between 0.25T and
0.35T. The same pattern resulted at 10dB.

• Complexity

The early-late gate algorithm uses 3 samples per symbol period; it only considers
two of the samples for computing error signal and the center sample for peforming
decision, which inturn adds complexity. Early-late gate takes on average 1.3 ms
to process 10,000 randomly generated data.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 38

Figure 2.17: Error signal of early late gate for different timing phase deviation.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 39

Figure 2.18: Error signal of early late gate for different timing phase deviation in
AWGN.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 40

2.3.2 Gradient Based Algorithm

The error signal described in Section 1.5.3.2 was implemented using MATLAB, and the
following result was obtained. The parameter that varies in Equation(1.8) is K. Figures
2.19 and 2.20 show the error signal curves for different values of K both in the presence
and absence of noise respectively. For a noiseless system, one can observe that the error
signal amplitude converges for step size between 3 and 4. At 10dB lower values of K
start converging. Being initially non-converging in the absence of noise, lower values of
K has improved BER and stable performance in the presence of noise. This is illustrated
in Figure 2.20.

Figure 2.19: Error signal of gradient based for different step size.

• Complexity

The gradient based algorithm uses 2 samples per symbol period for computing error
signal; and considers the latest sample for performing decision, which minimizes the
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 41

Figure 2.20: Error signal of gradient based for different step size in AWGN.

required processing time as compared to early-late gate. Gradient based algorithm

takes on average 1.2 ms to process 10,000 randomly generated data.

2.4 Graphical User Interface (GUI)

A customised GUI has been developed using MAT LAB app designer (see Appendix
A for description of App designer) for simulating an end-to-end digital communication
system. The GUI is used for the simulation of audio and image files trasnmission through
the digital communication entities described in the thesis.

The GUI further enables any user to design and test parameters belonging to specific
blocks in the system. It abstracted the tiresome code development phase during the
design of a digital communication system.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 42

The application makes it easy for users and designers to view not only numerical results
but also their graphical and visual depictions.

As shown in Figure 2.21, the main page gives the general components of the GUI with
its objective.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 43

Figure 2.21: Main tab of the Application

Figure 2.22 shows the design and transmission tab which provides:

• End-to-end simulation using a randomly generated data.

• Users a browsing and transmitting platform for audio and image files selected from
the host computer.

• Easy configuration of blocks present in the transmitter side, channel, and receiver
side.

• A schematic description of signal variation across each block.

Figure 2.23 shows the performance analysis tab where performance of specific algorithms
in equalization, carrier recovery and symbol detection are analyzed based on randomly
generated data.
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 44

Figure 2.22: Design and Transmission Tab

Figure 2.23: Performance Analysis Tab.

Chapter 3

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE

WORKS

3.1 Conclusions

In this thesis, equalization and synchronization techniques in conjunction with symbol

detection mechanism have been discussed. The analysis holds good for any constellation
though the results presented are for BPSK and 4-QAM constellation. The equalization
techniques are discussed when the signals are exposed to three channel models. CMA and
MMA are nearly identical for all performance measuring parameters except the phase
recovery. MMA has the ability to recover transmitted signal without the need for phase
recovery loop. The carrier recovery techniques are compared in terms of their tracking
capability by varying the loop filter constants and low pass filter cutoff frequency. Unlike
PLL, Costas loop can track a modulated signal and exercises better accuracy than
squaring loop. Finally, symbol timing recovery techniques are analyzed using their error
equations and complexity. The early-late gate achieves good BER performance than
the gradient based algorithm, but at the expense of increased complexity. Finally, the
above functional blocks of a digital communication system have been incorporated to a
customized GUI. The GUI simulates the transmission of audio and image files through
the end to end digital communication system and enables performance analysis of the
above specific functional blocks.

45
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 46

3.2 Future Works

The following points are recommended as a future work:

• Upgrading the GUI to include additional blocks of a digital communication, such

as source coder and channel coder in order to make the application all-inclusive.

• Adopting more techniques for each blocks in the digital communication, such as
higher modulation schemes and training based equalization techniques.

• Extending and integrating the thesis by introducing and incorporating related

works from others.

• A schematic description of signal variation across each block.

Appendix A

App Designer

App Designer is an environment for building MATLAB apps. It simplifies the process
of laying out the visual components of a user interface. It includes a full set of standard
user interface components, as well as a set of gauges, knobs, switches, and lamps to
create control panels and human-machine interfaces. Most 2-D plots are also supported.
Use app designer for apps that do not require graphics beyond 2-D plots and images.
App Designer generates code that is structured to facilitate app development and data
sharing across the app.

App Designer integrates the two primary tasks of app building laying out the visual
components and programming app behavior. You can quickly move between visual
design in the canvas and code development in an integrated version of the MATLAB
Editor. The embedded editor allows you to add new properties, callbacks, and other
functions with a single click.

App Designer generates object-oriented code. This format makes it easy to share data
between parts of the app. The compact structure of the code makes it easier to under-
stand and maintain. Apps are stored as a single file containing both layout and code.
You can share apps using this single file, or you can package them with supporting code
and data and install them in the App Gallery.

47
Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 48

A.1 Interactive Design Environment

• Drag and drop visual components from the Component Library to the design
canvas (1).

• Use alignment hints to get a precise layout of user interface components (2).

• Specify common component properties through specialized property sheets (3).

Figure A.1: App designer interactive design environment.

A.2 Built-In Editor Integration

• Edit app code within App Designer using an integrated version of the MATLAB
Editor (1).

• Use the App Layout pane to identify the names of the components in the code (2).

• Use the Component Browser to add callbacks or navigate to existing callbacks (3).

• Use programming alerts to avoid common coding errors (4).

Software-based Implementation of Digital Communication System including
Equalization, Synchronization, and Symbol Detection. 49

Figure A.2: App designer built-in editor integration.

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