Joint channel estimation and data detection for OFDM systems over doubly selective channels

Abstract—In this paper, a joint channel estimation and data detection algorithm is proposed for OFDM systems under doubly selective channels (DSCs). After representing the DSC using Karhunen-Loève basis expansion model (K-L BEM), the proposed algorithm is developed based on the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. Basically, it is an iterative algo-rithm including two steps at each iteration. In the first step, the unknown coefficients in K-L BEM are first integrated out to obtain a function which only depends on data, and meanwhile, a maximum a posteriori (MAP) channel estimator is obtained. In the second step, data are directly detected by a novel approach based on the function obtained in the first step. Moreover, a Bayesian Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (BCRB) which is valid for any channel estimator is also derived to evaluate the performance of the proposed channel estimator. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is finally corroborated by simulation results. I