LMMSE channel estimation for OFDM systems with channel correlation function selection

Abstract

Abstract In the linear minimum mean square error (LMMSE) estimation for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, the channel correlation function (CCF) is required. Some methods have been proposed to calculate the CCF. Instead of providing a novel method to obtain the CCF, a scheme is developed for the estimator to select among different CCFs. In this paper, an enhanced LMMSE estimation is proposed that is able to select the best‐matched CCF within a candidate set. To this end, a parameter comparison scheme is proposed, in which the possible channel statistics for the LMMSE estimation can be evaluated using the sampled noise MSE. Analytical expressions are thus derived to indicate the accuracy of the proposed scheme. Furthermore, fuzzy bound is provided as the performance metric, which reflects the resolution of the parameter comparison scheme. As an example of application, the enhanced LMMSE method is used with the block pilot pattern in the OFDM systems, and the possible CCF candidates for typical scenarios are presented. The complexity of the estimator is also analyzed and a simplified parameter comparison algorithm is proposed to reduce the complexity. Finally, the theoretical analysis and performance comparison are demonstrated by simulation experiments.

Keywords

• Interpolation and function approximation (numerical analysis)
• Modulation and coding methods
• Signal processing and detection
• Communication channel equalisation and identification
• Radio links and equipment