Low-complexity pilot-aided data detection in MC-CDMA systems

In this paper, the performance of a multiuser detection (MUD) receiver is investigated for a multi-carrier-code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) system in an indoor environment. Furthermore, low complexity pilot-aided methods are introduced for estimating channel parameters in an effort to study the resistance of the proposed solution to imperfect channel estimates. Simulation results show that benefits of MC-CDMA schemes, in terms of capacity and probability of error (P_e), are enhanced by means of a selective parallel interference cancellation (S-PIC) receiver (at the expense of moderate increases in overall system complexity). The proposed channel estimation methods, based on a classical mean and a newly adaptive mean square error (AMSE) algorithm, introduce low performance loss, in terms of P_e and throughput, with respect to the ideal channel estimate situation. Moreover, the AMSE shows better accuracy and faster convergence than the mean algorithm.