Blind iterative channel identification and equalization

We propose an iterative solution to the problem of blindly and jointly identifying the channel response and transmitted symbols in a digital communications system. The proposed algorithm iterates between a symbol estimator, which uses tentative channel estimates to provide soft symbol estimates, and a channel estimator, which uses the symbol estimates to improve the channel estimates. The proposed algorithm shares some similarities with the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm but with lower complexity and better convergence properties. Specifically, the complexity of the proposed scheme is linear in the memory of the equalizer, and it avoids most of the local maxima that trap the EM algorithm.