A channel characterization technique using frequency domain pilot time domain correlation method for DVB-T systems

A new channel characterization technique using frequency-domain pilot time-domain correlation (FPTC) method for DVB-T systems is proposed in this paper. The proposed technique is based on the time-domain correlation between the received signal and the pilot sequence embedded in the DVB-T signal, which is derived from the frequency domain pilots and known to the receiver. Interruption to the broadcasting service can be avoided, since only regular DVB-T signal is needed for channel characterization. In comparison with other digital TV characterization techniques, the major advantages of this proposal are its implementation simplicity, large dynamic range, and the robustness against synchronization errors. Channel impulse responses can be accurately estimated without timing recovery. The impact of the non-perfect carrier recovery is very small, since the correlation is only computed on a short time period of the received signal. The proposed method has been verified through numerical simulations and lab tests. Possible ways of improving the estimation accuracy are also discussed.