Performance bounds for linear MMSE receivers in CDMA systems with partial channel knowledge

In code division multiple access (CDMA) systems employing linear adaptive receivers, the detector is typically estimated directly from the received signals, based on some partial knowledge about the system, e.g., signature waveforms of one or several users. We derive the Cramér–Rao lower bounds on the covariances of the estimated linear detectors, under three different assumptions on the mechanism for estimating the detectors, namely, a) finite-alphabet-based (FA) blind detectors, b) constant-modulus-based (CM) blind detectors, and c) second-order-moments-based (SO) blind detectors. These bounds translate into the upper bounds on the achievable signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) by the corresponding adaptive receivers. The results are asymptotic in nature, either for high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or for large signal sample size. The effects of unknown multipath channels on these performance bounds are also addressed. Numerical results indicate that while the existing subspace blind or group-blind detectors perform close to the SINR bound for the SO detectors, the SINR bounds for the FA and CM detectors are significantly higher, which suggests potential avenues for developing more powerful adaptive detectors by exploiting more structural information from the system.