Measuring the amplitudes of the received symbols of the shift keyed radio signals

In high-speed discrete information transmission systems, multi-position signals with various types of phase and amplitude shift keying are widely used. There are multi-level amplitude shift keyed (ASK), amplitude and phase-shift keyed (APSK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals. When demodulating the amplitude code of such signals, the amplitude of the received symbol is determined, and its calibrated value is compared with the specified threshold levels. It is proposed to directly calculate the minimum and maximum amplitudes of the symbols at the output of the demodulator, with a subsequent definition of decision thresholds. It is noteworthy that there is no need to calibrate the amplitude characteristics of the reception path. The logarithmic ratio of the amplitudes of the received and previous symbols is further calculated. And if its value falls within the specified boundaries, independent of the signal and noise, then a decision is made about whether the amplitudes of these symbols belong to the maximum or minimum values. These obtained values are averaged after that and used to set thresholds for decision-making in the demodulator. The results of the statistical simulation confirm the high efficiency of the proposed technical solution.