Improved salp swarm optimization algorithm: Application in feature weighting for blind modulation identification

Abstract

In modulation identification issues, like in any other classification problem, the performance of the classification task is significantly impacted by the feature characteristics. Feature weighting boosts the performance of machine learning algorithms, particularly the class of instance-based learning algorithms such as the Minimum Distance (MD) classifier, in which the distance measure is highly sensitive to the magnitude of features. In this paper, we propose an improved version of the Salp Swarm optimization Algorithm (SSA), called ISSA, that will be applied to optimize feature weights for an MD classifier. The aim is to improve the performance of a blind digital modulation detection approach in the context of multiple-antenna systems. The improvements introduced to SSA mainly rely on the opposition-based learning technique. Computer simulations show that the ISSA outperforms the SSA as well as the algorithms that derive from it. The ISSA also exhibits the best performance once it is applied for feature weighting in the above context.