Diversity combining with imperfect channel estimation

The optimal diversity-combining technique is investigated for a multipath Rayleigh fading channel with imperfect channel state information at the receiver. Applying minimum mean-square error channel estimation, the channel state can be decomposed into the channel estimator spanned by channel observation, and the estimation error orthogonal to channel observation. The optimal combining weight is obtained from the first principle of maximum a posteriori detection, taking into consideration the imperfect channel estimation. The bit-error performance using the optimal diversity combining is derived and compared with that of the suboptimal application of maximal ratio combining. Numerical results are presented for specific channel models and estimation methods to illustrate the combined effect of channel estimation and detection on bit-error rate performance.