Performance of the 3GPP LTE Space–Frequency Block Codes in Frequency-Selective Channels With Imperfect Channel Estimation

Linear decoding of space-frequency block codes (SFBCs) based on the Alamouti structure with orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) requires the channel to be constant across two consecutive tones. However, time-dispersive multipath fading channels exhibit frequency-selective behavior wherein the channel across two tones will vary. This paper provides analytical tools for evaluating the performance of SFBCs with OFDM in frequency-selective channels. The analysis uses the average signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) as a sufficient statistic to describe the performance of SFBCs in frequency-selective channels. A unified formula is derived to characterize the channel correlation between two consecutive tones for various frequency-selective channels. A closed-form solution of the average SINR is obtained, which takes into account imperfect channel estimation and frequency selectivity. An interpolation method of the channel estimate is proposed, which is shown to improve the bit-error-rate performance by 3 dB at a high SNR. The accuracy of the theoretical analyses is verified by numerical simulations under multipath channels such as the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) pedestrian and vehicular models.