Frequency-domain turbo equalization with iterative impulsive noise mitigation for single-carrier power-line communications

Abstract

Power-line communication (PLC) has been recognized as a promising alternative communication technology due to the universal existence of power lines. However, signal transmitted through PLC channel suffers from severe inter-symbol interference (ISI) and strong impulsive noise (IN), degrading the reliability of data transmission. Although multicarrier orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) has been investigated to combat ISI in PLC, the inherent large peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of OFDM signal makes IN detection very difficult, and the OFDM based PLC system may not be the best choice under hostile PLC channels. To combat both ISI and IN, we propose a low complexity scheme based on single-carrier frequency-domain turbo equalization (SC-FDTE) coupled with iterative IN mitigation. Simulation results indicate that, the proposed scheme is able to efficiently mitigate IN in the PLC channel and outperforms the joint clipping and blanking approach for IN mitigation.