Channel Estimation for MIMO-OFDM Systems
Employing Spatial Multiplexing
Jaekyun Moon and Hui Jin
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Minnesota
Abstract— Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communi-
cation methods based on orthogonal frequency division mul-
tiplexing (OFDM) and spatial multiplexing (SM) can lead to
a substantial improvement in the throughput performance of
many existing wireless channels. The main strength of MIMO
systems based on SM is their ability to support very high data
rates. Accurate channel estimation is essential in realizing the
full performance potential of MIMO-OFDM. Channel estimation
also becomes a major challenge as the number of parallel wireless
links increases substantially with the number of antennas at the
transmitter and receiver. In this paper we develop a channel
estimation algorithm well suited for MIMO-OFDM based on the
same preamble and signal field structure of the IEEE 802.11a
standard, the current single-input single-output wireless local
area network (WLAN) standard. This constraint is motivated
by the backward compatibility requirement of the upcoming
IEEE 802.11n standard, the next generation WLAN standard
that is currently being developed. In addition to the training
symbol and the signal field symbol, we make use of the soft
symbol information available in the data portion of the packet
in updating the channel estimate in a sequential and decision
directed fashion. It is shown that when this approach is tested
against a 4×4 (4 transmit antennas and 4 receive antennas)
SM configuration, the channel responses of all sixteen parallel
wireless links can be estimated with sufficient accuracy, starting
with only one OFDM training symbol.
Index Terms—MIMO-OFDM, spatial multiplexing, channel
estimation, soft symbol information
I. I NTRODUCTION
Combining MIMO systems with orthogonal frequency divi-
sion multiplexing (OFDM) can provide high spectral efficiency
in rich scattering environments such as indoor wireless local
area networks. MIMO-OFDM systems can effectively exploit
frequency diversity of frequency selective channels as well
as spatial diversity of uncorrelated parallel wireless links. Bit
interleaved coded modulation (BICM) [1] used in conjunction
with MIMO-OFDM and spatial multiplexing (SM) is particu-
larly effective in exploring both spatial diversity and frequency
selectivity without significant design efforts, and is well-suited
for achieving very high data rates [2]–[4].
Accurate channel estimation is critical in realizing the full
performance potential of MIMO-OFDM systems. In addition,
channel estimation becomes a major challenge as the number
of channel responses that need be characterized increases
substantially as the number of transmit and receive antennas
increases. Previous works exist that identify desirable training
patterns for estimating channel responses for MIMO systems
Taehyun Jeon and Sok-Kyu Lee
Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
[5]–[8]. In this work we develop a channel estimation al-
gorithm for MIMO-OFDM systems with the constraint that
the preamble structure complies with the IEEE 802.11a high
speed WLAN standard [15]. The motivation for this lies in the
development of a modem architecture well suited for the next
generation MIMO-OFDM based WLAN PHY standard that
would be backward-compatible to the legacy IEEE 802.11a
and 802.11g standards [15], [16]. In addition to the use of
the preamble and signal field symbol defined in the 802.11a
PHY standard, soft symbol decisions generated during the
data portion of the packet are used in improving the channel
estimates in a sequential and decision-directed mode. It is
shown that this approach is capable of estimating the channel
responses of all sixteen parallel wireless links associated with
a 4×4 SM configuration with a sufficient accuracy.
II. OFDM WITH S PATIAL M ULTIPLEXING OVER
W IRELESS C HANNELS
A spatial multiplexing system with Nt transmit antennas
and Nr receive antennas utilizing OFDM is shown in Fig. 1.
Both spatial diversity and frequency diversity are exploited
using the convolutional error correction code combined with
bit-level interleaving. The size of the interleaver is dictated
by tradeoff between performance, which is reflected in the
interleaver gain in the iterative demapping and decoding
strategy employed here, and latency/complexity.
t1[n, k ]
s1[n, k ]
IFFT
bl al
cl
ECC Interleaver Modulator S/P converter
t Nt [n,k]
IFFT
s N t [ n, k ]
Fig. 1: Block diagram of a baseband SM-OFDM system
We use the iterative demapping and decoding (IDD) method
described in [9], a turbo-equalization-like strategy that iterates
soft information between the soft-input soft-output (SISO)
demapper and the SISO outer decoder. As shown in Fig. 2, the
difference between the a priori and the a posteriori informa-
tion of the coded bits, which is called extrinsic information, is
passed between the SISO demapper and the SISO decoder. The
details of the channel estimator, the focus of this paper, will be
discussed in the next section. The carrier phase and frequency
recovery scheme is discussed elsewhere in detail [14]. The
rk Phase/CFO
FFT
Compensator Initial Channel
Estimator
Channel Ĥ
Estimator
Decision
Π −1
Soft
Soft Decoder
−
Demapper
−
Π
Fig. 2: Block diagram of a receiver based on IDD and
soft-decision-directed channel estimation
suboptimal soft-demapping scheme is briefly described in this
section.
For the time being, assume that the channel response is
estimated correctly and the carrier frequency and phase offsets
have been compensated. For a given OFDM symbol and a
particular frequency bin, the received signal at the FFT output
T
can be written as z = Hs + n where z = (z1 , z2 , · · · , zNr ) ,
H is the channel response matrix associated with all transmit
and receive antenna pairs with its (i, j)th element correspond-
ing to the channel response between the j th transmit antenna
T
and the ith receive antenna, s = (s1 , s2 , · · · , sNt ) are the
T
transmitted symbols, and n = (n1 , n2 , · · · , nNr ) are additive
white Gaussian noise (AWGN) samples with zero mean and
variance N0 . Assuming Nr ≥ Nt , the Nr × Nt matrix H can
be decomposed using QR factorization as H = QR where Q
is an Nr × Nt unitary matrix such that QQH = I (with the
superscript H denoting the Hermitian transpose), and R is an
Nt × Nt upper triangular matrix. After multiplying z by QH
from left, we get
z0 = QH z = Rs + QH n
where QH n still represents AWGN with the same mean and
variance as n. Since R is an upper triangular matrix, detection
at each antenna can be carried out based on the decision
feedback principle. This is a well-established procedure first
discussed in the context of multiuser detection [10], and is
often referred to as successive interference cancellation or
spatial decision feedback equalization (DFE).
In our demapping strategy, we take advantage of reliable
soft symbol information that is available from the outer SISO
decoder. Specifically, both the mean and variance of the
overall interference are calculated using the a priori symbol
information fed back from the SISO decoder and the estimated
channel state information (CSI) from the previously processed
antennas. The mean and variance so obtained are then used
to compute the likelihood function necessary for the symbol
detection. This particular approach to soft decision feedback
(SDF) has been employed in [13] for detecting symbols in
layered MIMO architecture, and in [12] for turbo equalization
of intersymbol interference channels. To boost performance
beyond what can be achieved by the full SDF method, how-
ever, we combine SDF with the reduced trellis search method
of [12], so that the resulting complexity/performance varies
from that of the optimal maximum a posteriori probability
(MAP) detector to that of the SDF detector, depending on the
depth of the state variable used to control the size of the trellis.
To reduce the latency caused by iteration, we limit the
interleaving and coding to over just one (parallel) OFDM
symbol period. Our simulation experience indicates that this
causes only a small performance loss compared to the ideal
case where interleaving and coding are over the whole packet.
III. C HANNEL E STIMATION
For the channel estimation purposes, we assume that the
carrier frequency/phase offset has already been compensated.
We first discuss initial channel estimation based on the pream-
ble and the signal field symbol. We then show how the channel
estimate can be improved in a sequential and decision-directed
fashion using soft symbol decisions.
A. Initial Channel Estimation Based on Training Symbol
In practical wireless systems, there typically are some
preamble symbols in each transmitted packet to allow initial
channel estimation (as well as estimation of other parameters
such as carrier frequency offset). Here we assume an OFDM
training symbol based on pseudo-random binary phase-shift-
keying (BPSK) symbols as the preamble. The preamble format
assumed here is the same as that of the “long” preamble
pattern used in the current IEEE 802.11a standard [15].
While there are two long preamble symbols specified in the
802.11a standard (for easy channel estimation as well as fine
carrier frequency offset estimation), here we use just one
such symbol in validating our approach. Using one training
symbol versus two apparently leads to a reduced overhead
and thus an improved throughput. However, to allow for
(1)
backward compatibility of the MIMO architecture with the
current 11a standard in the most straightforward way, the
upcoming 802.11n standard might very well incorporate the
same two long OFDM training symbols specified in the 11a
standard. Our view here is that once the proposed channel
estimation approach has been demonstrated to work well with
just one training symbol, it would be clear that the use of
two training symbols can only improve the performance. The
second training symbol can then be used to either reduce the
noise effect in the initial channel estimates obtained with just
one symbol or to increase the number of initially estimated
temporal channel taps for each sub-channel beyond that might
be possible with one training symbol (see below for discussion
on the number of channel taps that can be estimated initially).
Our simulation results presented in this paper assumes just one
BPSK-based preamble symbol. Fine carrier frequency offset
compensation technique based on only one OFDM training
symbol has been discussed in [14].
 With only a small set of training symbols, it is not possible estimated channel vector HˆP :
to obtain the initial channel estimate as described in [7],
where Nt different training symbols are needed to avoid Ĥ = W(QH Q)−1 QH ĤP . (7)
ambiguity among sub-channels. We adopt a straightforward In practical implementation, this interpolation is often ap-
transmission approach of using one antenna at a time (per proximated with only a small number of taps.
modulation symbol) during the training symbol period, and use Note that W(QH Q)−1 QH can be calculated offline and its
all Nt transmit antennas in a cyclic fashion, i.e., transmitter computation will not contribute to the overall complexity.
1, transmitter 2, · · · , transmitter Nt , transmitter 1, and so Note that with the cyclic transmission format of Fig. 3,
forth [17]. Fig. 3 illustrates cyclic transmission of the training 52 × Nr channel coefficients can be estimated at the receiver
symbol for Nt = 4 transmit antennas and 52 subcarriers (12 side, once the whole OFDM training symbol that contains 52
of 64 subcarriers are null carriers at DC as well as at side modulation symbols is transmitted. On the other hand, the
frequencies, following the 802.11a format). total number of temporal channel tap coefficients that need be
estimated is L × Nt × Nr , where L is the number of temporal
channel taps per sub-channel. This would mean that with one
OFDM training symbol, only L = (52 × Nr )/(Nt × Nr ) =
52/Nt taps can be estimated per sub-channel. Thus, for Nt =
4, this reduces to only 13 taps, less than 16 taps typically
assumed as the channel length (same as the cyclic prefix length
Fig. 3: Cyclic transmission of the OFDM training symbol specified for the IEEE 802.11a standard). However, we observe
that an initial channel estimate based only on 13 temporal taps
With this particular transmission format on the training per sub-channel provides a reliable enough starting point in our
symbol, the received signal at the ith antenna corresponding approach, wherein channel estimation continues in a decision-
to the j th transmit antenna at the nth frequency bin and k th directed mode well into the data portion of the packet.
OFDM symbol is
B. Improving Initial Channel Estimation Using the Signal-
zi [n, k] = Hji [n, k]sj [n, k] + ni [n, k] . (2) Field Symbol
In the 802.11a standard, training symbols are followed by
Applying the orthogonality principle, we get the well-known
another BPSK-based OFDM symbol that contains essential
form of the linear minimum mean-squared-error (LMMSE)
header information such as the data rate and packet length that
estimator:
need be decoded before the data portion of the packet can be
s∗j [n, k] processed. Since the signal field is also based on BPSK and
Ĥji [n, k] = zi [n, k] (3)
2
|sj [n, k]| + N0 /|Hji [n, k]|
2 protected by a stronger base code (whose rate is 1/2 whereas
the code rate for the data can be as high as 3/4), it can be
2
where the averaging of |Hji [n, k]| can be over n, k or both. decoded with a relatively high reliability and thus can also
Assume that the signal zi [n, k] is observed only at P particular be used in much the same way as the training symbol. Like
frequency bins with position indices {n1 , n2 , · · · , nP }. Let the extra training symbol available, the signal field symbol
L denote the length of the channel impulse response. Then can be used to either reduce the noise effect in the initial
L0 ≤ L temporal channel taps can be estimated, assuming channel estimates and/or to increase the number of initially
L0 ≤ P , as estimated temporal channel taps for each sub-channel. The
ĥ = (QH Q)−1 QH ĤP , (4) same transmission format of Fig. 3 is assumed for the signal
 T field symbol as well.
where ĤP = Ĥn1 , Ĥn2 , · · · , ĤnP and To utilize additional training symbols and/or the signal
field symbol, a sequential form of the linear minimum mean-
e−j2πn1 /K
e−j2πn1 (L0 −1)/K
 
1 ··· squared-error (LMMSE) algorithm is formed. The sequential
1  1 e−j2πn2 /K
e−j2πn2 (L0 −1)/K 
··· form of the estimator is particularly useful if there is any
Q= √   .
K  ··· ··· ··· ···
 time-varying component in the channel response. To avoid
1 e−j2πnP /K
e−j2πnP (L0 −1)/K
··· the cluttered notation, we drop most subscripts and indices,
(5) with an understanding that we are focused on a specific pair
An interpolation equation can then be formed by re- of transmit and receive antennas and a specific frequency bin.
lating the complete frequency channel vector Ĥ = The channel estimate for the k th OFDM symbol in the packet
  T
Ĥ1 , Ĥ2 , · · · , ĤK to ĥ: can then be written recursively as
Ĥ[k] = Ĥ[k − 1] + K[k](q[k] − Ĥ[k − 1])
Ĥ = Wĥ , (6)
M [k]
K[k] =
where W is the K-point FFT matrix, and thereby forming a M [k] + N0 /|s[k]|2
relationship between the complete Ĥ vector and the original M [k] = (1 − K[k])M [k − 1] , (8)
where Ĥ[0] = 0 and M [0] is an initial estimate for E(|H|2 ). Taking an average over s[k], this equation can be modified as
C. Sequential and Soft-Decision-Directed Channel Update Ĥ[k] = K[k]Ĥo + (1 − K[k])Ĥ[k − 1] , (13)
At the decoding stage, soft symbol information improves the where
the packet error rate (PER) performance. Simulation results X
indicate, as will be shown in the next section, that PER Ĥo = z̃[k]/s[k] · P (s[k]) . (14)
performance improves significantly through IDD iterations. s[k]
Initially, only the BPSK training and signal field symbols It is interesting to recognize that
and the pilot tones are available for channel estimation. After
one iteration soft symbol information fed back from the outer Ĥo = E(H[k]/z̃[k])
X
SISO decoder can be used to further improve upon the initial = E(H[k]/z̃[k], s[k])P (s[k]) , (15)
channel estimates. One difficulty in decision-directed channel s[k]
estimation during the data portion of the received packet is
that the received signal at a given antenna is composed of i.e., Ĥo is an optimal estimator of H given z̃[k] = H[k]s[k] +
symbols transmitted from different antennas and is affected by u[k]. Note that the estimator of (14) is basically a weighted
a multitude of parallel sub-channels. One way of resolving this sum of zero-forcing estimators.
is to cancel interference based on the soft symbol information The second equation of (8), the gain update equation of
and the most recent estimated channel response. For a given the sequential LMMSE estimator, can also be modified to
receive antenna, a specific frequency bin, and a particular incorporate the soft symbol decision:
OFDM symbol within the packet, the observed signal is K[k] = M [k]/ M [k] + σw 2


[k] . (16)
Nt
2
where σw [k] is the variance of the scaled noise u[k]/s[k], and
X
z= Hi si + n . (9)
i=1
can be written as (dropping the index k to reduce the notational
burden),
where si is the transmitted symbol at antenna i and Hi is the X
2
sub-channel coefficient for the link between the ith transmit σw = |u|2 P (s)/|s|2 . (17)
antenna and the assumed receive antenna. To estimate Hi , first s
define When the quality of soft decision is high, we can make an
Nt
approximation:
X
z̃m = z − Ĥi s̄i = Hm sm + um , (10)
X
2
σw = |u|2 P (s)/|s|2
i=1 s
i6=m
!
X
2
where Ĥi is the available up-to-date channel estimate (ei- ≈ |u|2 / P (s)|s|
ther from the initial channel estimation or estimation in the s
previous OFDM symbol period) and s̄i is obtained from = |u|2 /|s|2 . (18)
the “average” decision constructed P from the available soft
symbol information, i.e., s̄i = With this approximation, the gain update equation is modified
si si P (si ), with P (si )’s
approximated by the a posteriori probability set available at the to
 
soft decoder output, and um consists of both the additive noise K[k] = M [k]|s[k]|2 / |s[k]|2 M [k] + |u[k]|2 . (19)
nm and any potential error in the interference cancellation
process. The overall noise variance can be written as A variation of the estimate update equation is possible if
Nt
Ĥo in (13) is replaced by
X
|um |2 = N0 + |Ĥi |2 |si − s̄i |2 ,
 
(11) 2
X
Ĥ = s∗ [k]z̃[k]/ |s[k]|2 + |u[k]|2 /|H[k]| · P (s[k]) ,
i=1
i6=m s[k]
(20)
where the statistical average (·) is based on the a posteriori a LMMSE estimator derived for a fixed s and then averaged
probabilities P (si ). over s according to P (s). Another variation results if a
By using (10), we hope to eliminate the interfering symbols LMMSE estimator is derived assuming s is a random variable:
and sub-channel effects and apply soft channel estimation on  
2
each sub-channel separately. There are different possible ways Ĥ = s̄[k]∗ z̃[k]/ |s[k]|2 + |u[k]|2 /|H[k]| . (21)
to utilize the soft symbol decision for channel estimation
purposes. One possible approach is based on first replacing Our simulation experience indicates that different combina-
q[k] in the estimate update equation of (8) with q̃[k] = tions of the above variations on the current estimator equation
z̃[k]/s[k] to get and the gain update equation do not result in significant
performance differences. For the results reported in this paper,
Ĥ[k] = K[k]q̃[k] + (1 − K[k])Ĥ[k − 1] . (12) we simply choose the channel estimate update equation (13)

along with the current channel estimator (14) and the gain
update equation of (19). When the soft decision quality is
reasonably good, |u|2 in (19) can simply be replaced by N0 ,
as is done here (as will be discussed below, in this report we
incorporated soft decisions in the channel estimation process
only after the second IDD iteration at which time soft decisions
are quite reliable).
Throughout the development of the soft-decision-directed
channel estimation strategies and performance simulation, we
assumed that the channel matrix H is estimated and updated
for every new OFDM symbol in the packet and thus the
matrix UH is also updated for each OFDM symbol with QR
decomposition redone for every new OFDM symbol. However,
in practical implementation, unless the channel varies by a
large scale within a given packet, it would not be necessary
to perform signal decomposition and update UH anew for
every OFDM symbol. A practical and more reasonable strategy
would be to perform the decomposition once and fix UH (i.e.,
the multiplication operation UH × z is based on the fixed
matrix UH that remains the same throughout the received
packet), when the initial channel estimation is done at the end
of the training and signal field symbols. The channel response
update then can be performed on the R channel response
matrix directly.
IV. S IMULATION R ESULTS
Simulation is based on a fixed packet size of 512 bytes. The
OFDM signal format complies with the IEEE 802.11a PHY
standard [15] with K = 64 subcarriers, Ku = 48 modulated
subcarriers, and P = 4 pilot tones. The channel is modelled
PL−1 −jΦ
as hi,j [k] = n=0 αn e δ[k − n] where Φ is uniformly
distributed in [0, 2π) and αn is Rayleigh distributed with an
exponential power profile αn2 = (1 − e−Ts /Trms )e−nTs /Trms .
Here Trms = 50ns, Ts = 50ns, and L = 16. The channel
is assumed uncorrelated across the links established over
different pairs of transmit and receive antennas. As discussed,
we assume one OFDM BPSK-based training symbol and one
BPSK-based OFDM symbol for the signal field before the
data portion of the packet starts in each packet. Initial channel
estimation is based on both the training symbol and the signal
field symbol.
The convolutional code with code rate 3/4 is obtained by
puncturing the industry-standard rate 1/2 code with generator
polynomials g0 = 1338 and g1 = 1718 [15]. The code rate is
1/2 over the signal field, complying with the 802.11a standard.
As for the interleaver, either a pseudo-random interleaver
or a spatial extension of the structured interleaver specified in
[15] performs well. Here we use a pseudo-random interleaver
of [18]. Coding and bit-level interleaving are applied to the
bits contained in a total of Nt × 64 modulations symbols,
including the null subcarriers, at a time. This is equivalent to
all bits transmitted in one full OFDM period.
In Fig. 4, we consider a 2×2 SM system (referred to as 2×2
SM-OFDM) with 16QAM constellation. This system provides
a data rate of 72 Mbps. PER performances with different
channel estimation strategies are shown. The SNR is defined
0
10
iter=3, perfect CSI
iter=0, perfect CSI
iter=3, pilots only
iter=3, pilots+BPSK training
iter=3, using soft symbol info
PER
−1
10
−2
10
12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26
SNR (dB)
Fig. 4: PER performance with different channel estimators in
a 2 × 2 16QAM SM-OFDM system using MAP detection
as the total transmitter power (over all transmit antennas) to
noise ratio. Optimal MAP detection is used in this case since
the required complexity for 2 × 2 is manageable. Up to 3 IDD
iterations are performed in each case. With channel estimation
based on pilots only, the PER performance is about 3dB away,
at 1 percent PER, from the case of perfect CSI.
For simulation of channel estimation based on pilots only,
the following pilot transmission format is used. Assume that
P can be divided by Nt so that P = Np Nt for some natural
number Np . Then the ith transmit antenna only transmits pilot
tones at frequency bins (i−1)K/P, (i−1+Nt )K/P, · · · , (i−
1+(Np −1)Nt )K/P . This guarantees that in a given frequency
bin, only one pilot tone can be transmitted. In this way, each
sub-channel can be estimated separately using (8) and (7) (it is
also proved in [8] that assigning pilots in this way is optimal
in the capacity sense).
By using one BPSK OFDM training symbol for channel
estimation, the performance is improved somewhat, but not by
much. Once the soft information is incorporated in the channel
estimation, the PER performance is improved significantly. In
our simulation, soft symbol information is incorporated into
channel estimation only after the second iteration, when the
reliability of soft information is high.
Also, we see that coding and interleaving over just one
OFDM symbol period do not result in much performance
degradation compared with coding and interleaving over the
whole packet, which is shown as the curve labeled by “perfect
CSI & long interleaver”.
In Fig. 5, we apply a suboptimal reduced-trellis SDF
demapper of depth 1 to a 4 × 4 SM-OFDM with 64QAM
constellation. This configuration delivers a data rate of 216
Mbps. Again we see that with channel estimation based on
pilots only, the PER performance is far from the ideal case. By
using one BPSK training symbol and the BPSK signal field,
the improvement is significant. When soft symbol information
is used in addition, the performance approaches the ideal CSI
case within a fraction of a dB. Again, coding and interleaving
 0
10
iter=3, perfect CSI
iter=0, perfect CSI
of uncorrelated channel coefficients and using a suboptimal
iter=3, pilots only
iter=3, pilots+BPSK training+signal field soft demapping scheme based on a reduced trellis and SDF as
iter=3, using soft symbol info
well as IDD. It is shown that all 16 sub-channels are estimated
with such high accuracy that PER degradation is only a small
fraction of a dB away from the case of perfect CSI.
PER

−1
10

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recovery for MIMO-OFDM,” Globecom 2004, Dallas, TX, Nov. 2004.
One sample realization of the channel estimation process submitted for publication.
is shown in Fig. 6. It is seen that the use of soft symbol [15] Part 11: wireless LAN medium access control (MAC) and physical layer
(PHY) specifications: high-speed physical layer in the 5 GHZ band,
information improves the quality of the channel estimate IEEE Std 802.11a-1999 (Supplement to IEEE Std 802.11-1999).
visibly. [16] Part 11: wireless LAN medium access control (MAC) and physical layer
(PHY) specifications-amendment 4: further higher-speed physical layer
V. C ONCLUSIONS extension in the 2.4 GHz band, IEEE Std 802.11g-2003 (Supplement to
IEEE Std 802.11-1999).
A channel estimation scheme for MIMO-OFDM with spa- [17] I. Barhumi, G. Leus, and M. Moonen, “Optimal training sequences for
tial multiplexing has been proposed that relies on the use of channel estimation in MIMO OFDM systems in mobile wireless chan-
just one OFDM training symbol and the signal field symbol nels,” Proc. Intl. Zurich Seminar on Acess, Transmission, Networking of
Broadband Communications, pp. 44-1–44-6, ETH Zurich, Switzerland,
to get an initial channel estimate. The training and signal Feb., 2002.
field symbols used are specified in the same way as in [18] C. Berrou, A. Glavieux, and P. Thitimajshima, “Near Shannon limit
the existing IEEE 802.11a standard. Soft symbol information error-correcting coding and decoding: turbo codes,” Proc. IEEE Conf.
Communications, pp. 1064-1070, Geneva, Switzerland, May, 1993.
made available by the soft-in soft-out decoder is then used in a
sequential, decision-directed mode to improve upon the initial
estimate. Possible ways of utilizing soft symbol information in
the sequential channel estimation have been discussed. In one
instance, a 4 × 4 SM OFDM system that yields an aggregated
data rate of 216 Mbps has been tested under the assumption