Robust multiuser detection in non-Gaussian channels

In many wireless systems where multiuser detection techniques may be applied, the ambient channel noise is known through experimental measurements to be decidedly non-Gaussian, due largely to impulsive phenomena. The performance of many multiuser detectors can degrade substantially in the presence of such impulsive ambient noise. We develop robust multiuser detection techniques for combating multiple-access interference and impulsive noise in CDMA communication systems. These techniques are based on the M-estimation method for robust regression. Analytical and simulation results show that the proposed robust techniques offer significant performance gain over linear multiuser detectors in impulsive noise, with little attendant increase in computational complexity. We also develop a subspace-based technique for blind adaptive implementation of the robust multiuser detectors, which requires only the signature waveform and the timing of the desired user in order to demodulate that user's signal. The robust multiuser detection technique and its blind adaptive version can be applied to both synchronous and asynchronous CDMA channels.