Decision-feedback detection for block differential space-time modulation

Time variation on fading channels hinders accurate channel estimation in differential space-time modulation and deteriorates the performance. Decision-feedback differential detection is studied for block differential space-time modulation, and compared with conventional differential space-time modulation. It is observed that the proposed scheme does not suffer effective fading bandwidth expansion, as does the conventional scheme. An improved effective signal-to-noise ratio approach is proposed for analyzing the performance of the proposed scheme in time-varying flat Rayleigh fading. Theoretical analysis and simulations show the improved performance of the proposed scheme over the conventional scheme.     

CM-based channel estimators for space-time block-coded M-PSK and M-QAM systems

A constant modulus (CM)-based channel estimation scheme for space-time block-coded M-PSK and M-QAM transmission systems is derived. Exploiting the orthogonal structure of the space-time block coded transmission model, the analytical solutions to minimize the CM cost function are given for 2/sup k/ PSK (k>2) and 2/sup 2k/-QAM schemes, and used to derive the expressions for the CM-based channel estimators. Illustrative results on the performance are presented.     

Performance analysis of two-branch transmit diversity block-coded OFDM systems in time-varying multipath Rayleigh-fading channels

Based on Alamouti code, Lee and Williams proposed two-branch transmit diversity block-coded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (TDBC-OFDM) systems, namely, space-time block-coded OFDM (STBC-OFDM) and space-frequency block-coded OFDM (SFBC-OFDM). However, they employed the simple maximum-likelihood (SML) detector, which was designed under the assumption that the channel is static over the duration of a space-time/frequency codeword. Therefore, STBC-OFDM/SFBC-OFDM suffers from the high time/frequency selectivity of the wireless mobile fading channel. In this paper, besides the original SML detector, three detectors proposed by Vielmon et al. are applied to improve the two-branch TDBC-OFDM systems. Additionally, assuming sufficient cyclic prefix, the performances of all systems in spatially uncorrelated time-varying multipath Rayleigh-fading channels are evaluated by theoretical derivation and computer simulation, as well. According to the derived bit-error rate (BER), we further derive the bit-error outage (BEO) to provide a more object judgment on the transmission quality within a fading environment. Numerical results have revealed that significant performance improvement can be achieved even when the systems are operated in highly selective channels.     

快时变环境下 OFDM系统中的信道估计

在OFDM系统中,怎样对快时变信道进行较为准确的估计是一个具有挑战性的课题。该文在利用信道基扩展模型的基础上,提出了一种适合于快时变环境下OFDM系统的信道估计方法,并且依据使估计的均方误差最小的准则,推导了相应最优的导频序列,包括最优的导频取值和最优的导频分布。可以证明,最优的导频序列是由一些相邻的等间隔等能量的子序列构成,每个子序列的导频之间满足一定的相位关系。仿真结果表明了所提估计算法在快时变环境下的有效性和采用所推导的最优导频序列进行估计的优越性。     

Turbo processing in transmit antenna diversity systems

We consider turbo-trellis-coded transmission over fading multiple-input-multiple-output (M1M0) channels with transmit diversity using space-time block codes. We give a new view on space-time block codes as a transformation of the fading MIMO channel towards a Gaussian single-input-single-output (siso) channel and provide analytical results on the BER of space-time block codes. Furthermore, we describe the concatenation of Turbo-TCM with a space-time block code and show that in addition to the transmit diversity substantial benefits can be obtained by turbo iterations as long as the channel is time-varying during transmission of a coded block or frequency hopping is applied. Finally, a double iterative scheme for turbo equalization and turbo decoding of the concatenation of Turbo-TCM and space-time block code in frequency-selective MIMO channels is described.     

Robust receiver design for MIMO single-carrier block transmission over time-varying dispersive channels against imperfect channel knowledge

We consider MIMO single-carrier block transmission over time-varying multipath channels, under the assumption that the channel parameters are not exactly known but are estimated via the least-squares training technique. While the channel temporal variation is known to negate the tone-by-tone frequency-domain equalization facility, it is otherwise shown that in the time domain the signal signatures can be arranged into groups of orthogonal components, leading to a very natural yet efficient group-by-group symbol recovery scheme. To realize this figure of merit we propose a constrained-optimization based receiver which also takes into account the mitigation of channel mismatch effects caused by time variation and imperfect estimation. The optimization problem is formulated in an equivalent unconstrained generalized-sidelobe-canceller setup. This enables us to directly model the channel mismatch effect into the system equations through the perturbation technique and, in turn, to further exploit the statistical assumptions on channel temporal variation and estimation errors for deriving a closedform solution. Within the considered framework the proposed robust equalizer can be combined with the successive interference cancellation mechanism for further performance enhancement. Flop count evaluation and numerical simulation are used to evidence the advantages of the proposed scheme.     

Overview and comparison of equalization schemes for space-time-coded signals with application to EDGE

This paper describes and compares several practical equalization schemes for space-time-coded transmissions over broadband wireless channels. For space-time trellis codes (STTCs), we describe and compare two reduced-complexity trellis-based joint equalization and decoding schemes whose performance is further optimized by a front-end finite-impulse response (FIR) channel-shortening prefilter. For space-time block codes, we describe and compare three joint equalization and decoding schemes based on a block-level implementation of the well-known Alamouti scheme either in the time or frequency domains. We consider the third-generation time division multiple access (TDMA) cellular system known as Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) and recommend a promising equalization scheme for space-time trellis-coded and for Alamouti-type space-time block-coded dual-antenna transmissions based on simulation results for typical urban channel conditions where the delay spread is few symbol periods.     

Differential multiple-length transmit diversity

We propose a new bandwidth-efficient differential transmit diversity scheme as an extension of differential space-time block codes from orthogonal designs. The information is coded in both the difference of successive unit-length vectors and the length difference of successive transmit vectors. We derive a simple soft-output detector which does not require knowledge of the channel coefficients or of the noise variance. The new scheme outperforms the existing unit-length approach at high bandwidth-efficiency, particularly in time-varying channels. At the same time the detection complexity is reduced.     

On achievable performance of spatial diversity fading channels

Channel time-variation and frequency selectivity [causing intersymbol interference (ISI)] are two major impairments in transmission for a wireless communication environment. Spatial diversity on the transmitter or the receiver side has been traditionally used to combat multipath fading. Previous results indicate significant gains in using multiple transmitter and receiver antenna diversity. By deriving the mutual information and cutoff rate we characterize the gains on these channels. We show that gains linear in the number of antennas can be achieved either when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) becomes very large or when the number of antennas becomes large. We show that some of these gains can be achieved by lower complexity linear receiver structures. By evaluating the cutoff rate for phase-shift keying (PSK) constellations we further quantify the gains of using spatial diversity at both the transmitter and the receiver. Next, we examine the expected mutual information for slowly fading ISI channels where the channel is assumed to be block time-invariant. We then examine the impact of fast channel time variation (time variation within a transmission block) on multicarrier transmission schemes. We derive the average mutual information for orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) in time-varying ISI environments. Using this we examine the impact of transmitter and receiver diversity on OFDM transmission over time-varying ISI channels. We also study the effect of time variation on OFDM packet-size design     

Iterative Channel Estimators in V-BLAST OFDM Systems

An iterative pilot-symbol aided modulation (PSAM) channel estimation approach is proposed for vertical Bell Laboratories layered space-time (V-BLAST) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing systems operating on frequency-selective fading channels. Since the signals at the receive antennas are the superposition of signals from multiple transmit antennas, accurate channel estimates are crucial for good error performance. Furthermore, the time selectivity of the fading channels leads to inter-carrier interference (ICI). While ICI can be ignored for slow fading channels, it should be mitigated for fast fading channels. This paper proposes an ICI mitigation scheme for time-varying channels. We also propose an iterative channel estimator with low-complexity. Simulation results demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed algorithm on frequency-selective fading channels.     

Iterative receivers for space-time block-coded OFDM systems indispersive fading channels

We consider the design of iterative receivers for space-time block-coded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (STBC-OFDM) systems in unknown wireless dispersive fading channels, with or without outer channel coding. First, we propose a maximum-likelihood (ML) receiver for STBC-OFDM systems based on the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. By assuming that the fading processes remain constant over the duration of one STBC code word and by exploiting the orthogonality property of the STBC as well as the OFDM modulation, we show that the EM-based receiver has a very low computational complexity and that the initialization of the EM receiver is based on the linear minimum mean square error (MMSE) channel estimate for both the pilot and the data transmission. Since the actual fading processes may vary within one STBC code word, we also analyze the effect of a modeling mismatch on the receiver performance and show both analytically and through simulations that the performance degradation due to such a mismatch is negligible for practical Doppler frequencies. We further propose a turbo receiver based on the maximum a posteriori-EM algorithm for STBC-OFDM systems with outer channel coding. Compared with the previous noniterative receiver employing a decision-directed linear channel estimator, the iterative receivers proposed here significantly improve the receiver performance and can approach the ML performance in typical wireless channels with very fast fading, at a reasonable computational complexity well suited for real-time implementations     

A space-time block-coded OFDM scheme for unknownfrequency-selective fading channels

We introduce a space-time block-coded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (STBC-OFDM) selective fading channels which does not require channel knowledge either at the transmitter or at the receiver. The decoding algorithm is based on generalized maximum-likelihood sequence estimation. We investigate the performance of the proposed scheme over two-tap Rayleigh fading channels. Simulation results show the performance to be near optimum     

Equalization and semi-blind channel estimation for space-time block coded signals over a frequency-selective fading channel

In this paper, we investigate the equalization and channel identification for space-time block coded signals over a frequency-selective multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel. The equalization has been considered by taking into account the cyclostationarity of space-time block coded signals. The minimum mean square error (MMSE) solutions have been derived for the linear and decision feedback (DF) equalizers. The channel estimation is required for the equalization. With known symbols (as pilot symbols), MIMO channels can be estimated. In addition, due to the redundancy induced by space-time block code, it is possible to identify MIMO channels blindly using the subspace method. We consider both blind and semi-blind channel estimation for MIMO channels. It is shown that the semi-blind channel estimate has fewer estimation errors, and it results in less (bit error rate) performance degradation of the MMSE linear and DF equalizers.     

Pilot-symbol aided channel estimation for OFDM with fast fading channels

In this paper, we address the problem of estimating a rapidly-varying channel in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. To handle rapid variation within a transmission block, we propose a novel pilot-based estimation scheme which uses channel interpolation. In addition, we develop a simple Doppler frequency estimation scheme. We show that the proposed scheme has better performance in the high-Doppler frequency by simulations.     

Space-Time Trellis Codes Over Rapid Rayleigh Fading Channels With Channel Estimation---Part I: Receiver Design and Performance Analysis

The performance analysis of space-time trellis codes over rapid nonselective Rayleigh fading channels with imperfect channel state information is considered. A pilot-symbol-assisted-modulation scheme is used for channel estimation. The parameters used in this scheme, i.e., pilot spacing and Wiener filter length are chosen in a tradeoff between estimation accuracy, transmission rate/pilot overhead, and receiver complexity. A simple maximum likelihood receiver for M-ary phase shift keying modulation is derived. An exact closed-form pairwise error probability (PEP) expression and explicit PEP bounds are presented. It is shown that the performance loss caused by channel estimation errors increases mainly with the channel fade rate.     

Soft-output demodulator in space-time-coded continuous phase modulation

Space-time coding has shown great promise for digital transmission in wireless communication links, especially when the channel response is known at the receiver. Space time coding combined with continuous phase modulation (CPM) can offer better tradeoffs in bandwidth and power efficiency. Because of the memory inherent in CPM, channel estimation is often harder than for linear modulations. We present an adaptive soft algorithm that performs joint channel estimation and data detection for space-time CPM systems. Properly designed pilot symbols are inserted at the very beginning to give good initial estimates of the channels. This soft receiver is further applied to the interleaved space-time CPM system to yield better performance with moderate complexity through iterative processing. Simulation results show that the receiver can often achieve near-coherent performance in quasistatic fading as well as in time-varying fading.     

Maximuma posteriori fast fading channel estimation for alamouti’s space-time transmit diversity

This paper considers the Alamouti’s two-branch transmit diversity scheme. This scheme supports a maximum likelihood detection based on linear processing at the receiver. When no knowledge of the channel is available — at the transmitter and the receiver- the above scheme requires in general the estimation of the two discrete propagation channels seen from the two transmit antennas. Our objective is to evaluate the Alamouti’s technique of diversity with a realistic estimation algorithm considering a very fast time-varying channel. For a robust channel estimation, we propose an EM-based maximuma posteriori semi-blind algorithm. This algorithm requires a convenient representation of the time-varying fading channel using a discrete version of the Karhunen-Loève expansion theorem. The iterative receiver optimally uses pilot as well as unknown data symbols for improving channel estimation quality. The validity of the proposed algorithm is highlighted by simulation results. Moreover, a complexity evaluation of this algorithm and a comparison is provided for different scenarii.     

Efficient Channel Estimation for MIMO Single-Carrier Block Transmission With Dual Cyclic Timeslot Structure

We investigate channel estimation for timeslot-structured single-carrier block transmission (SCBT) over space-, time-, and frequency-selective fading multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels. A MIMO-SCBT with a dual cyclic timeslot structure is presented first. Then, an optimal channel estimation in the minimal mean square error (MMSE) sense on the timeslot basis is investigated. It is shown that the optimal pilots for the timeslot-based MMSE channel estimation are related to the statistical channel state information in eigenmode. Under the assumption that the transmit correlation is unknown at the transmitter, the optimal pilots satisfy the same condition as reported for the block-based least-square (LS) channel estimation in literature, and the channel estimation can be simplified to initial block-based LS channel estimation followed by space-time postprocessing. Particularly, for spatially uncorrelated channels, the space-time postprocessing can be reduced to pathwise processing. A new design of the pilot sequences is given, which leads to an efficient implementation of the channel estimation. Later on, a more efficient implementation for the initial channel estimation is obtained by using the structure of the pilot sequences, and discrete cosine transform (DCT)-based implementation is developed for the space-time postprocessing to approximate the optimal solution with low implementation complexity. Finally, the performance of the proposed channel estimation is verified via simulations.     

频率选择性信道下单载波空时分组编码传输系统中的信道估计技术

在频率选择性信道下给出了单载波频域均衡系统结合空时分组编码传输基于训练序列的最优信道估计算法。由于选取具有恒幅特性的Chu序列作为训练序列,因此这一算法能够实现信道估计的最小均方误差,并作了理论证明。最后,对本方案的性能进行了仿真比较,仿真的结果证实了本方案的优点。     

Optimal training design for MIMO OFDM systems in mobile wireless channels

This paper describes a least squares (LS) channel estimation scheme for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems based on pilot tones. We first compute the mean square error (MSE) of the LS channel estimate. We then derive optimal pilot sequences and optimal placement of the pilot tones with respect to this MSE. It is shown that the optimal pilot sequences are equipowered, equispaced, and phase shift orthogonal. To reduce the training overhead, an LS channel estimation scheme over multiple OFDM symbols is also discussed. Moreover, to enhance channel estimation, a recursive LS (RLS) algorithm is proposed, for which we derive the optimal forgetting or tracking factor. This factor is found to be a function of both the noise variance and the channel Doppler spread. Through simulations, it is shown that the optimal pilot sequences derived in this paper outperform both the orthogonal and random pilot sequences. It is also shown that a considerable gain in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) can be obtained by using the RLS algorithm, especially in slowly time-varying channels.