Exact expectation analysis of the LMS adaptive filter

In almost all analyses of the least mean square (LMS) adaptive filter, it is assumed that the filter coefficients are statistically independent of the input data currently in filter memory, an assumption that is incorrect for shift-input data. We present a method for deriving a set of linear update equations that can be used to predict the exact statistical behavior of a finite-impulse-response (FIR) LMS adaptive filter operating upon finite-time correlated input data. Using our method, we can derive exact bounds upon the LMS step size to guarantee mean and mean-square convergence. Our equation-deriving procedure is recursive and algorithmic, and we describe a program written in the MAPLE symbolic-manipulation software package that automates the derivation for arbitrarily-long adaptive filters operating on input data with stationary statistics. Using our analysis, we present a search algorithm that determines the exact step size mean-square stability bound for a given filter length and input correlation statistics. Extensive computer simulations indicate that the exact analysis is more accurate than previous analyses in predicting adaptation behavior. Our results also indicate that the exact step size bound is much more stringent than the bound predicted by the independence assumption analysis for correlated input data.