Machine-Learning-Based Framework for Coding Digital Receiving Array with Few RF Channels

A novel framework for a low-cost coding digital receiving array based on machine learning (ML-CDRA) is proposed in this paper. The received full-array signals are encoded into a few radio frequency (RF) channels, and decoded by an artificial neural network in real-time. The encoding and decoding networks are studied in detail, including the implementation of the encoding network, the loss function and the complexity of the decoding network. A generalized form of loss function is presented by constraint with maximum likelihood, signal sparsity, and noise. Moreover, a feasible loss function is given as an example and the derivations for back propagation are successively derived. In addition, a real-time processing implementation architecture for ML-CDRA is presented based on the commercial chips. It is possible to implement by adding an additional FPGA on the hardware basis of full-channel DRA. ML-CDRA requires fewer RF channels than the traditional full-channel array, while maintaining a similar digital beamforming (DBF) performance. This provides a practical solution to the typical problems in the existing low-cost DBF systems, such as synchronization, moving target compensation, and being disabled at a low signal-to-noise ratio. The performance of ML-CDRA is evaluated in simulations.