Wireless Information Transmission System Lab.

Channel Estimation

2012/08/13
Institute of Communications Engineering

National Sun Yat-sen University

Outline
Introduction
Channel Estimation Techniques in OFDM Systems
LS Channel Estimation
Linear Interpolation Channel Estimation
MMSE Channel Estimation
MLS Channel Estimation

Pilot Arrangement in OFDM Systems and DecisionFeedback Channel Estimation

Channel Equalization in Timing Varying Channel

Wireless Information Transmission System Lab.

Introduction

Institute of Communications Engineering

National Sun Yat-sen University

Small Scale Fading

Multi-path channel

Channel Impulse Response

A mobile radio channel may be modeled as a linear

filter with a time varying impulse response, where the
time variation is due to receiver motion in space.
The filtering nature of the channel is caused by the
summation of amplitudes and delays of the multiple
arriving waves at any instant of time.
5

Channel Impulse Response

In the absence of noise, the received signal can be expressed as

y (t ) x(t ) h(t )

x( )h(t )d

where
h(t ) is the channel impulse resonse.
x(t ) is the transmitted signal.
y (t ) is the received signal.
After sampling, the discrete received signal is given by
L 1

y[n] x[k ]h[n k ]

k 0

The Multi-Path Channel Effect

The multi-path channel effect
EX:
Data = [1 2 3 4]
Channel = [1 1]
y= 1234
1234
= 13574

1 2 3 4
1 2 3

path1
path2

The Matrix Form of Channel

The wireless stationary channel impulse response is given
by h [h 0 , h 1 ,..., h L 1]T , where L is the total number of
resolvable paths.
We assume that each tap of the channel impulse responses h l ,
0 l L 1 , are independently distributed complex Gaussian
2

random variables with zero-mean and variance hl .

the magnitude

0.5

4
5
the lth tap of the channel

The Matrix Form of Channel

The matrix G is constructed as follows:
h 0
0

h 0

h L 1
h 0
G
h L 1
h 0
0

0
h L 1
0
1
1
Gx
0

EX:
Data = [1 2 3 4]
Channel = [1 1]

h 0

0 0 0 1 1
1 0 0 2 3

1 1 0 3 5

0 1 1 4 7

The Matrix Form of Channel

The matrix G tail is constructed as follows:

G tail

h L 1
0

CP

10

h 1

h L 1

The Matrix Form of Channel

Furthermore, a circular convolution matrix G circular can be
obtained:
G circular =G + G tail
h 0
0

h 0
h 1

h L 1
0
h L 1

h 0

h L 1
11

h L 1
0

h 0

h 1

h L 1

0
h 0

The Transmitted OFDM Signal

After the inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) operation, the
ith transmitted OFDM symbol in time domain can be expressed
by:
xi F H Xi

where X i and F H are an N 1 vector and an N N matrix standing

for modulated symbols and an IDFT matrix.

12

The Received CP-OFDM Symbol

Assuming the synchronization is perfect and CP is adopted, the
received ith OFDM symbol can be expressed as:
ri Gxi G tail xi w i

G circular xi w i
xi N h w i
where N denotes the circular convolution and w i denotes the
additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) vector in the time domain
2

with zero mean and variance w . We note that there is no ICI and
ISI in each OFDM symbol.

13

The Received CP-OFDM Symbol

After DFT operation, the ith received OFDM symbol in the
frequency domain can be expressed as:
R i Fri

F xi N h w i
HXi Wi

where Wi is the AWGN in the frequency domain and H is a N N

diagonal matrix denoting the channel response in frequency
domain.

14

The Received CP-OFDM Symbol

Any circular matrix can be diagonalized by DFT matrix:
FG circular F H H
H 0
0

0
H 1

H N 1
0

The received signal can be expressed as:

Ri Fri F G circular xi w i F G circular FXi w i

FG circular FXi Fwi HXi Wi

15

Wireless Information Transmission System Lab.

Channel Estimation Techniques in OFDM

Systems

Institute of Communications Engineering

National Sun Yat-sen University

Introduction
In general, channel estimation can be cataloged into
three kinds of estimation schemes:
1. Blind 2. Superimposed 3. Pilot-based

The first two structures can obtain some bandwidth

merit, but the computational complexity is usually not
acceptable in practical realization.

17

Introduction
The pilot-based estimation can be cataloged into two
kinds of approaches:
1. The parameters are deterministic but unknown
constant, such as maximum likelihood (ML) estimator
and least square (LS) estimator.
2. The parameters are random variables, such as
minimum mean square error (MMSE) estimator and
maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimator.

18

System architecture

19

System architecture
1

Input to Time Domain

x n IDFT X k
n 0,1,2,..., N 1

Guard Interval
xN n , n N g , N g 1,...,1
x f n
n 0,1,...,N 1
xn,
Guard Removal

y f x f n hn wn

y n y f n n 0,1,..., N 1

Output

Channel

ICI

AWGN

Y k X k H k I k W k
k 0,1,..., N 1

20

Channel

Output to Frequency Domain

Y k DFT y n
k 0,1,2,..., N 1
Channel Estimation Estimated
Channel
Y k
X e k
k 0,1,..., N 1
H e k

System Model
Generally, the pilot symbols are multiplexed into an OFDM
symbol in frequency domain:
Pk , k qT , q 0,1,..., Q 1.
Xk
Sk , others.
In addition, the power allocation of data and pilot symbols are
given by:

k qT , q 0,1,..., Q 1.
Pk Q ,
2

Xk
S 2 1 , others.
k
N Q

: Total Power : Power Allocation Factor

N: Number of Subcarriers
21

System Model
If system is perfectly synchronized, and the CP is added and
removed appropriately, there is no ISI and inter-carrier
interference (ICI). As a result, the ith received OFDM symbol
after DFT can be expressed as:
R i HXi Wi

where H is a N N diagonal channel matrix with the kth element

standing for the channel frequency response of the kth sub-carrier
and W is a complex white Gaussian noise vector with covariance
matrix CW W2 I N .

22

The LS Channel Estimator

M
Define R i1 Ri , where R i denotes the received pilot signal.

The channel estimator based on the LS method is given by:

1R
1 1
H LS
H W
M
M
where denotes a Q Q diagonal matrix whose diagonal
elements are given by
q ,q Pk , k qT , q 0,1,..., Q 1.

23

Linear and Second Order Interpolation

Linear Interpolation H e k H e mL l

l
H p m 1 H p m H p m
L
0l L

Second Order Interpolation [1-2]

H e k H e mL l
c1 H p m 1 c0 H p m c1H p m 1
1

,
c1
2

where c0 1 1 ,

1
,
c1

2
24

l/N

Linear Interpolation
Estimated Channel

(Channel + Noise)s Upper Bound

Real Channel
Pilot Subcarrier
(Channel + Noise)s Lower Bound

Data Subcarrier

Frequency Domain

25

The MMSE Channel Estimator

The MMSE channel estimator is given by [3, 4]

HMMSE RHH p RH p H p ( )
2
W

H 1

HLS

where R HH p represents the cross-correlation between all the

subcarriers and the pilot subcarriers, and RH p H p represents the
autocorrelation matrix between the pilot subcarriers.

26

The Low-Rank MMSE Channel Estimator

A low-rank MMSE channel estimator is given by [1]:
HMMSE UL UH HLS
where L is a diagonal matrix with entries
l l c SNR , l 0,1, 2,..., L 1,
l
0,
l L,..., N 1,

Note that l can be viewed as the attenuation of the lth tap of

the channel impulse response:
2
l hl
and c can be expressed as [3]:
2
2

c E xk E 1 xk

27

The Realization of MMSE Channel

Estimator
In practice, the channel power of the lth transform coefficient l
can be obtained from the results of the LS channel estimation.
First, the estimate of the channel impulse response h can be
acquired by taking the IDFT of the channel frequency response
obtained from the LS channel estimate:
h F H H LS
2
2
2
2

And then the 0 , 1 ,..., L 1 h h0 , h1 ,..., hL 1

is obtained.

28

The Modified LS (MLS) Channel

Estimator
The modified LS (MLS) channel estimator is given by

HMLS FLF H HLS

where L is a diagonal matrix. The entries l of L are:
1, l 0,1,..., L 1.
l
0, l L,..., N 1.
The MLS channel estimator can be considered as a low-pass filter,
which is also termed as DFT-based scheme.

29

Wireless Information Transmission System Lab.

Pilot Arrangement in OFDM Systems [2]

and Decision-Feedback Channel Estimation

Institute of Communications Engineering

National Sun Yat-sen University

Introduction
The channel estimation can be performed by either
inserting pilot tones into all of the subcarriers of OFDM
symbols with a specific period (block type) or inserting
pilot tones into each OFDM symbol (comb type).
Freq.

Comb Type

Block Type

Time
31

LTE Reference Symbol Arrangement

LTE pilot symbol arrangement
1

32

Band Edge
Virtual
subcarriers

DC

Virtual
subcarriers

f
Active Band

Pilot

Data
33

Decision-Feedback Channel Estimation

When the channel is slow fading, the channel estimation inside
the block can be updated using the decision feedback equalizer
at each sub-carrier.
Decision Directed Channel Estimation (DDCE) is one of the
earliest methods studied for OFDM, mainly because of its
popularity in legacy systems. In the earlier studies, DDCE was
applied mostly in training based systems.

34

Decision-Feedback Channel Estimation

The main idea behind DDCE is to use the channel estimation of a
previous OFDM symbol for the data detection of the current
estimation, and thereafter using the newly detected data for the
estimation of the current channel.

For fast fading, the comb-type estimation performs much better.

35

Wireless Information Transmission System Lab.

OFDM Systems in Time-Variant Multipath

Channels

Institute of Communications Engineering

National Sun Yat-sen University

Introduction
Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is generally
known as an effective technique for high bit rate applications such
as DAB, DVB and WiMAX, since it can prevent intersymbol
interference (ISI) by inserting a guard interval and can mitigate
frequency selectivity of a multipath channel using a simple onetap equalizer.

37

Introduction
In an OFDM system, although the degree of channel variation
over the sampling period becomes smaller as data rates increase,
the time variation of a fading channel over an OFDM block
period causes a loss of subchannel orthogonality, resulting in an
error floor that increases with the Doppler frequency.
The performance degradation due to the interchannel
interference (ICI) becomes significant as the carrier frequency,
block size, and vehicle velocity increase.

38

Block Diagram for An OFDM System

The time-domain transmitted signal is given by
N 1

xn X m e j 2 nm N , 0 n N -1
m 0

The time-domain received signal is then given by

L 1

yn hn xn l wn
l 0

Binary Data

Data
Symbol
Modulator

Xm

IDFT

Data
Symbol
Demodulator

Add CP
Channel

H m
Binary Data

xn

Xm

Channel
Estimator

Equalizer

39

Ym

wn
DFT

yn Remove
CP

ICI Analysis
The frequency-domain received signal is then given by
N 1 L 1

Ym X k H l( m k ) e j 2 lk
k 0 l 0

Wm

N 1 L 1
L 1 0 j 2 lm N
( m k ) j 2 lk
H l e
X

X
H
e
m k l
k m l 0
l 0

m X m m Wm , 0 m N 1

Wm

where Wm denotes the frequency-domain noise and H l( m k )

represents the FFT of timing-variant channel, i.e.,
N 1
1
H l( m k ) hn ,l e j ( m k ) N
N n0
40

ICI Analysis
In the general case where the multipath channel cannot be
regarded as time-invariant during a block period, the received
signal can be expressed in vector form as
Y = HX + W
T
where Y = Y0 , Y1,..., YN 1 , X X 0 , X1 ,..., X N 1 , W W0 ,W1,...,WN 1
and
T

a0,0
a
1,0
H

aN 1,0

a0,1
a1,1

aN 1,1

( mk )
( m k ) j k
a

H
e
with m,k
0
1

a0, N 1
a1, N 1

aN 1, N 1

... H L( m1k ) e j k ( L 1) N ,
0 m, k N 1

41

Channel Equalization
After performing channel equalization, the equalized signal can be
expressed as

X H 1Y
X + H 1W
where
a0,0
a
1,0
H 1

aN 1,0

a0,1
a1,1
aN 1,1

a0, N 1
a1, N 1

aN 1, N 1

The inverse operation increases the system computation

complexity.
42

Conclusions
Assuming that the channel is stationary over the period of an
OFDM symbol, the conventional frequency-domain equalizer
with one-tap in an OFDM system compensates the frequencyselectivity of a multipath fading channel.

The one-tap frequency-domain equalizer cannot eliminate ICI for

the case of a time-varying channel.
In time-varying channel, the computation complexity of the
frequency-domain equalizer is increased.

43

References
[1] Sinem Coleri, Mustafa Ergen, Anuj Puri, and Ahmad Bahai, Channel Estimation
Techniques Based on Pilot Arrangement in OFDM Systems, IEEE transactions on
Broadcasting, Vol. 48, No. 3, September 2002.
[2] G.-S. Liu and C.-H. Wei, A new variable fractional sample delay filter with
nonlinear interpolation, IEEE Trans. Circuits and Systems-11: Anulog andDigiral
Signal Processing, vol. 39, no. 2, Feb. 1992.
[3] O. Edfors, M. Sandell, J.-J. van de Beek, S. K. Wilson, and P. O. Borjesson,
OFDM Channel Estimation by Singular Value Decomposition, IEEE
Transactions on Communications, vol. 46, no. 7, pp. 931-939, Jul. 1998.
[4] S. M. Kay, Fundamentals of Statistical Signal Processing: Estimation Theory,
New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1993, pp. 380-382.

44

Appendix A. LMMSE estimator

Y XH W
1
H LMMSE RHY RYY Y

RHY E HH H X H RHH X H
H

RYY E XH W XH W E XHH H X H 2 I N

XRHH X H 2 I N

45

Appendix A. LMMSE estimator

1
H
H
2

H LMMSE RHH X XRHH X I N Y

RHH X
RHH
RHH

X X
H

1 1

XR

X IN
H

HH

X XR X X X
R X X X Y
1

HH

1 1

HH

46

IN X
2

1 1

1 1