Rice Factor Estimation from the Channel Phase

A Rice factor (K) estimator is described which uses simple operations on the phase of the well-defined Rice channel. Multiple receive channels, such as used in MIMO communications, enable spatial sampling which enhances the accuracy. For an example configuration of four uncorrelated receive antennas with a ten wavelength linear trajectory in isotropic scattering, the estimator works well for small to medium K (i.e., K ≲ 7). Limitations of the estimator include an assumption of isotropic scattering and that the angle-of-arrival of the dominant component is fixed and cannot be perpendicular to the mobile trajectory.

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