Differential Faster-Than-Nyquist Signaling

In this paper, we propose a novel differential faster-than-Nyquist (DFTN) signaling concept that allows us to dispense with any channel estimation at the receiver, while benefiting from a rate boost specific to faster-than-Nyquist (FTN) signaling. More specifically, at the transmitter, differentially modulated phase-shift keying (DPSK) symbols are transmitted with a symbol interval that is smaller than that defined by the Nyquist criterion. The receiver first equalizes the DPSK symbols, which suffer from the effects of FTN-specific inter-symbol interference (ISI), with the aid of frequency-domain equalization (FDE). Then, the equalized symbols are differentially demodulated in a noncoherent manner. This noncoherent detection is enabled, by relying on the fact that FTN-specific ISI is deterministic when the FTN’s symbol packing ratio and the roll-off factor of a shaping filter are known in advance of transmissions. Moreover, we derive an analytical bound on the achievable bit error ratio for the proposed DFTN signaling, based on moment-generating functions. This is achieved by introducing an equivalent signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio for the DPSK symbols after FDE. Our simulation results demonstrate that our DFTN receiver is capable of noncoherently demodulating the DFTN symbols when the symbol packing ratio is not substantially low.