Real-Time HF Channel Parameter Estimation

An efficient real-time realization for the estimation of the HF channel parameters is presented and the estimation errors are evaluated. The parameters that were chosen are the Doppler spread, multipath spread, Doppler shift and signal-to-noise ratio, which are the dominant ionospheric propagation parameters. The estimation procedures were real-time implemented on a digital signal processor and tested on a real-time HF channel simulator based on the so-called Watterson model. The estimated parameters can be used in numerous ways in adaptive HF communication setups, including real-time channel quality evaluation for link or equipment adaptation.