Undermodeled equalization: a characterization of stationary points for a family of blind criteria

We attack specific problems related to equalizer performance in undermodeled cases in which assumptions of perfect equalizability are dismissed in favor of a more realistic situation in which no equalizer setting may achieve perfect channel equalization. We derive a characterization of candidate convergent points for a family of blind criteria which appeal, tacitly or wittingly, to maximizing the ratio of different sequence norms of the combined channel-equalizer impulse response. This may be accomplished in a practical implementation by using equalizer output cumulants of different orders. The popular Godard and Shalvi-Weinstein schemes are accommodated at one extreme of the family of criteria. We also show that each maximum at the other extreme of the family, involving progressively higher order output cumulants, yields, precisely, a Wiener response. This suggests that blind algorithms using progressively higher order statistics may converge more closely to a Wiener response than those using more modest order statistics. We show, moreover, that the superexponential family of algorithms is also included and establish a convergence proof for undermodeled cases that appeals to no approximation. Finally, some apparently novel bounds on attainable open-eye measures in undermodeled cases are also derived.