Robust pilot-symbol-aided MIMO channel estimation and prediction

We investigate robust pilot-symbol-aided channel estimation and prediction for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems in fast fading environments. First, we derive the design criteria of the optimal pilot blocks for energy, power and bandwidth-limited systems, respectively. Then, in order to exploit channel time correlation sufficiently, we propose a robust minimum mean square error (MMSE) channel estimator. By simply adjusting some parameters, the MMSE estimator can work as an estimator and a predictor simultaneously. Finally, simulation results show the proposed MMSE estimator, with a little additional complexity, is considerably insensitive to channel statistics and significantly outperforms conventional estimators in fast fading environments.