Modulation recognition using hierarchical deep neural networks

Abstract

We outline the core components of a modulation recognition system that uses hierarchical deep neural networks to identify data type, modulation class and modulation order. Our system utilizes a flexible front-end detector that performs energy detection, channelization and multi-band reconstruction on wideband data to provide raw narrowband signal snapshots. We automatically extract features from these snapshots using convolutional neural network layers, which produce decision class estimates. Initial experimentation on a small synthetic radio frequency dataset indicates the viability of deep neural networks applied to the communications domain. We plan to demonstrate this system at the Battle of the Mod Recs Workshop at IEEE DySpan 2017.