Hierarchical Feature Integration for Multi-Signal Automatic Modulation Recognition

Abstract: Automatic modulation recognition (AMR) is a crucial step in wireless communication systems, which identifies the modulation scheme from detected signals to provide key information for further processing. However, previous work has mainly focused on the identification of a single signal, overlooking the phenomenon of multiple signal superposition in practical channels and the signal detection procedures that must be conducted beforehand. Considering the susceptibility of radio frequency (RF) signals to noise interference and significant spectral variations, we propose a novel Hierarchical Feature Integration (HIFI)-YOLO framework for multi-signal joint detection and modulation recognition. Our HIFI-YOLO framework, with its unique design of hierarchical feature integration, effectively enhances the representation capability of features in different modules, thereby improving detection performance. We construct a large-scale AMR dataset specifically tailored for scenarios of the coexistence or overlapping of multiple signals transmitted through channels with realistic propagation conditions, consisting of diverse digital and analog modulation schemes. Extensive experiments on our dataset demonstrate the excellent performance of HIFI-YOLO in multi-signal detection and modulation recognition as a joint approach.