Discriminative learning for neural decision feedback equalizers

In this work new Decision-Feedback (DF) Neural Equalizers (DFNE) are introduced and compared with classical DF equalizers and Viterbi demodulators. It is shown that the choice of an innovative cost functional based on the Discriminative Learning (DL) technique, coupled with a fast training paradigm, can provide neural equalizers that outperform standard DF equalizers (DFEs) at practical signal to noise ratio (SNR). In particular, the novel Neural Sequence Detector (NSD) is introduced, which allows to extend the concepts of Viterbi-like sequence estimation to neural architectures. Resulting architectures are competitive with the Viterbi solution from cost-performance aspects, as demonstrated in experimental tests.