Performance analysis of maximum-likelihood multiuser detection in space-time coded CDMA with imperfect channel estimation

We analyze the performance of maximum-likelihood (ML) multiuser detection in space-time coded CDMA systems with imperfect channel estimation. A K-user synchronous CDMA system which employs orthogonal space-time block codes with M transmit antennas and N receive antennas is considered. A least-squares estimate of the channel matrix is obtained by sending a sequence of pilot bits from each user. The channel matrix is perturbed by an error matrix which depends on the thermal noise as well as the correlation between the signature waveforms of different users. Using the characteristic function of the decision variable, we derive an exact expression, in closed-form, for the pairwise error probability (PEP) of the joint data vector of bits from different users. Using this exact PEP expression, we obtain an upper bound on the average bit error rate (BER). The analytical BER bounds are compared with the BER obtained through simulations. The BER bounds are shown to be increasingly tight for large SNR values. It is shown that the degradation in BER performance due to imperfect channel estimation can be compensated by using more number of transmit/receive antennas.