Channel estimation joint DOAs and time delay correlation in TD-SCDMA mobile radio systems

An improved channel estimation technique based on the Steiner low-cost channel estimator is proposed, which is widely used in TD-SCDMA (Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) cellular mobile radio systems. TD-SCDMA is also known as third-generation mobile systems where adaptive antennas are employed. As additive noise has a great adverse effect on the performance of the Steiner estimator, the proposed method employs time-correlated post-processing with a threshold filter to reduce channel noise and compensate channel variations. Furthermore, channel estimation combining direction-of-arrivals (DOAs) is performed, which can reduce channel interferences without adding computational complexity, for the information of DOAs has been obtained by the inherent adaptive antenna system. The performance of the improved channel estimator is compared with conventional channel estimation approaches, and numerical results show that the new approach can lead to considerable performance enhancement even in high-speed vehicle propagation environments. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.