MMSE estimation of time-varying channels for DVB-T systems with strong co-channel interference

We present a minimum mean-square error (MMSE) channel estimator for a multi-antenna DVB-T receiver in the presence of strong co-channel interference. Based on the scattered pilot symbols contained in the DVB-T transmit signal, our method estimates the time-varying vector channel in an off-line, blockwise fashion. An implementation in the time-delay domain is used to reduce computations and enhance estimation performance. We also propose algorithms for estimating the channel statistics required for the design of the channel estimator. Simulation results show that in the case of strong co-channel interference, the proposed channel estimator achieves a significant performance improvement over a reference method.