A study of 60 GHz channel estimation techniques using pilot carriers in OFDM systems in a confined area

In recent years, there has been an increased need for digital wireless applications to use high rate data transmission. OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) offers an interesting solution that allows for the exploitation of the 60 GHz band with optimal spectral efficiency, a robustness to frequency selective fading, and a resistance to inter-symbol interference (ISI) that is a major problem in high speed data communications. Transmitted data in an OFDM system is divided on different subcarriers, after applying PSK (phase shift keying) or QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) modulation. The bandwidth of the obtained signal is converted to the time domain by using an IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) in order to transmit it through a wireless channel. To recover the distorted data at the receiver, the effects of the channel must be estimated and compensated by the receiving system [1, 2]. In this paper, the 60 GHz channel estimation methods for OFDM systems based on comb-type pilot arrangement are investigated, as the algorithm of channel estimation based on comb-type is divided into pilot signal estimation and channel interpolation. The pilot signal estimation based on LS (Least Squares) or LMMSE (Linear Minimum Mean Square Error) criteria is studied along with the channel interpolation based on LI (linear interpolation). The performances of various estimation algorithms are evaluated and compared by measuring the Bit Error rate (BER) and Mean Square Error (MSE) where 16-QAM modulation scheme is applied.