Semiblind channel estimation for CDMA systems with parallel data and pilot signals

Semiblind channel estimation combines the methods of channel estimation based on a pilot signal and blind channel estimation based on a data-only conveying signal. Maximum-likelihood (ML)-based semiblind estimators with Gaussian assumptions can provide improvement in performance, compared with channel-estimation schemes using the pilot signal only. This improvement can be even larger when the pilot and the data signals are sent simultaneously, as is the case in the third-generation wideband code-division multiple-access standards. However, the Gaussian ML approach results in very large complexity. Previously proposed semiblind methods with low complexity have been derived for serial pilot and data transmission, and are not suitable for the parallel transmission case. In this paper, algorithms for semiblind channel estimation for the parallel data and training signal case are developed. Approximations which reduce the computational complexity of the Gaussian ML method significantly are proposed. Solutions with iterations with very low attendant complexity are provided. The mean squared error analysis of the proposed method is obtained and compared with that of a method with no approximations. The approximations are justified through simulations, and the performance improvement over estimation schemes using the pilot signal solely is verified.