Blind Phase Estimation Algorithm for Trellis Coded Modulation over Both AWGN and Rayleigh Flat Fading Channels

Carrier phase offset is known as a serious drawback for trellis coded M-PSK systems. In this paper, we investigate the sensitivity of the 8-PSK-trellis coded modulation (8-PSK-TCM) to carrier phase offset over both additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and Rayleigh flat fading channels. Then, we design a reliable low complexity blind carrier phase recovery algorithm suited for general TCM schemes. The proposed estimation technique is based on a recursive phase metric that exhibits an absolute minimum at the carrier phase offset. Simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed non-data-aided (NDA) estimation technique for both AWGN and Rayleigh fading channels. The Bit Error Rate (BER) curves also exhibit acceptable performance loss compared to coherent schemes.