Combined channel estimation and PAPR reduction technique for MIMO-OFDM systems with null subcarriers

In this article, we address the challenges regarding the provision of channel state information as well as reducing peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of a multiple input multiple output orthogonal frequency multiplexing (MIMO–OFDM) system. The mean squared error (MSE) of the channel estimate is adopted as the optimization criterion to design pilot symbols for channel estimation in MIMO–OFDM systems with null subcarriers. We design the placement and power distribution to the pilot symbols for multiple transmit antennas to minimize the MSE of the least square (LS) channel estimates. To reduce interference of the pilot symbols transmitted from different antennas, an algorithm to guarantee that pilot symbols are disjoint from any other transmitter pilot set is proposed. To efficiently reduce the PAPR of the MIMO–OFDM signals, a method that mixes dummy symbols and phase information of the pilot symbols is presented. Simulation results based on IEEE 802.16e are presented to illustrate the superior performance of our proposed channel estimation method over the existing standard and the partially equi-spaced pilot symbols. We also demonstrate that, by mixing the dummy symbols and phase information of the pilot symbols, the PAPR of the MIMO–OFDM signals can significantly be reduced.