A low overhead pilot-aided parameter estimation scheme for asymmetric PCMA systems

A pilot-aided scheme for the parameter estimation in Paired Carrier Multiple Access (PCMA) satellite communication systems is proposed in this paper. Recently, the asymmetric application mode of PCMA, which is more efficient and pragmatic than the symmetric mode, has been studied with great interest. In our research, carefully selected pilot sequences have been inserted into the frame in an attempt to achieve better estimation performance with only a very low overhead. The channel estimation method, which is based on Wiener optimal filtering, is also derived with respect to the (quasi-)static selective fading channel environment. Different from the foregoing work, the key result of this paper is the construction of a single module which jointly implements various parameter estimation modules as a whole. As shown in the simulation results, the proposed scheme outperforms the conventional data-aided scheme, especially in the high Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) scenario which is typical in asymmetric PCMA systems.