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.