Communication channel equalization using complex-valued minimal radial basis function neural networks

A complex radial basis function neural network is proposed for equalization of quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals in communication channels. The network utilizes a sequential learning algorithm referred to as complex minimal resource allocation network (CMRAN) and is an extension of the MRAN algorithm originally developed for online learning in real-valued radial basis function (RBF) networks. CMRAN has the ability to grow and prune the (complex) RBF network's hidden neurons to ensure a parsimonious network structure. The performance of the CMRAN equalizer for nonlinear channel equalization problems has been evaluated by comparing it with the functional link artificial neural network (FLANN) equalizer of J.C. Patra et al. (1999) and the Gaussian stochastic gradient (SG) RBF equalizer of I. Cha and S. Kassam (1995). The results clearly show that CMRANs performance is superior in terms of symbol error rates and network complexity.