Pilot-assisted STAR for increased capacity and coverage on the downlink of wideband CDMA networks

We previously reported on a new uplink array-receiver, referred to as pilot-sign STAR (spatio-temporal array-receiver). This receiver combines an earlier blind version of STAR with the use of a very weak pilot (~1% power/overhead fraction) to resolve the sign ambiguity of the blindly identified channel. In this contribution, we update and exploit the advantages of this receiver on the downlink. Simulations indicate SNR advantages for the new pilot-sign STAR over the conventional pilot-channel version at relatively weak received pilot powers on the downlink. Hence, use of pilot-assisted STAR in both directions increases capacity by reducing the interference power of the pilot and/or improves coverage by maintaining more robust links in the presence of strong near-far ratios