Low-complexity channel estimation and turbo equalisation for high frequency channels

A low-complexity channel estimation algorithm is proposed to improve performance of two high frequency standardised waveforms: MIL-STD-188-110B Appendix C standard and STANAG 4285. In the proposed estimation algorithm, the channel impulse response is modelled as a linear-time function within a frame and the least square criterion is adopted. With the estimated CIRs, the authors study and compare bit-error-rate (BER) performance and complexity of three turbo equalisation (TEQ) schemes, including the minimum mean-square error (MMSE), the MMSE with decision feedback equalisation (DFE) (MMSE-DFE) and the soft-feedback interference-cancellation (SFIC) turbo receivers. The authors then propose a hybrid TEQ scheme that uses the MMSE-DFE equaliser for the first iteration and the SFIC equaliser for the rest. Simulation results show that the proposed channel estimation algorithm performs well and the TEQ schemes realise a significant performance improvement as compared with a non-iterative receiver. Moreover, the proposed hybrid TEQ scheme achieves the best trade-off between BER and complexity for the MIL-STD-188-110B Appendix C standard, whereas the SFIC-TEQ scheme is optimal for the STANAG 4285 standard.