Pilot-symbol-assisted channel estimation for space-time coded OFDM systems (Q1607658)

The mobile wireless channel suffers from multipath fading that causes serious disadvantages. Spatial diversity is a technique able to improve the channel performance and reliability. This procedure requires multiple antennas. Traditionally, this technique is implemented at the receiver. Unfortunately, this procedure involves widely-spaced antennas, so that this procedure is impracticable for portable receivers. This is why in past years much attention has been paid to transmitter diversity where multiple antennas are located at the transmitter. Among this kind of procedures Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is well known. Applying this procedure requires channel estimation, which raises many difficulties, and high volume computation. Here, the authors propose a new approach using a bandwidth efficient pilot symbol to facilitate the identification of the temporal response of the channels. Interpolating filters allow for an update of the estimates. The chirp sequences were proven to be convenient pilot symbols. Simulation made on some usual OFDM systems have shown the validity of the proposed method. Comparison with other techniques validates the advantages of this new technique.