In this paper, we propose a novel low-complexity single-user noncoherent combining scheme, named as the erasure-supported equal-gain combining assisted detector (ES-EGCD), for signal detection in fast frequency-hopping M -ary frequency-shift keying (FFH/MFSK) systems. In the proposed ES-EGCD, the decision variables are formed based on the principles of equal-gain combining (EGC), after erasing a number of entries having the largest values from each of the rows of a so-called detection matrix formed during detection.
We derive the single-user bit-error rate (BER) of the FFH/MFSK systems employing the ES-EGCD and investigate by simulation the BER performance of the multiuser FFH/MFSK systems employing either the conventional EGC-assisted detector (EGCD) or the proposed ES-EGCD, when assuming communications over Rayleigh fading channels. Both random and optimum FFH addresses are considered in our studies. Our studies and performance results illustrate that the ES-EGCD is capable of significantly outperforming the conventional EGCD in multiuser scenarios. Although the ES-EGCD is a low-complexity singleuser detector, it employs the capability to effectively mitigate multiuser interference (MUI).Index Terms-Fast frequency-hopping, M -ary frequency-shift keying, equal-gain combining, noncoherent detection, multipleaccess.