Joint detection and channel estimation for MIMO systems with SC-FDE modulations

Abstract

SC modulation (Single-Carrier) with FDE (Frequency-Domain Equalization) allows excellent performance in severely time-dispersive channels, provided that accurate channel estimates are available at the receiver. For this purpose, pilot symbols and/or training sequences are usually multiplexed with data symbols, which lead to spectral degradation. As an alternative, we can use implicit pilots (i.e., pilots superimposed to data). In this paper we consider MIMO SC-FDE systems where the channel estimation is based on either explicit or implicit pilots, for comparison purposes. An iterative receiver with joint equalization, turbo decoding and channel estimation was employed for optimum results, and to reduce the high interference levels between data and pilots (for the implicit pilots). The main differences between the different schemes are discussed and the performance results show that the use of the proposed techniques for channel estimation yield excellent results.