Optimisation of the pilot-to-data power ratio in the wireless MIMO-OFDM system with low-complexity MMSE channel estimation

Multiple-input-multiple-output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) communication systems are currently being viewed as a main candidate for the next generation broadband wireless access interfaces providing high throughput. However, a considerable potential gain in spectral efficiency is challenged by the receiver’s ability of accurate data symbol identification at the output of the radio channel. Performance of the MIMO detectors strongly depends on both the received signal-to-noise power ratio (SNR) and the retrieved channel state information (CSI), which can be obtained using the channel estimation techniques relying on pilot symbol transmission on the dedicated subcarriers. Necessity to improve channel estimation and detection performance concurrently leads to the dilemma of the optimal power assignment to the data and pilot subcarriers as these are the conflicting requirements under the total transmit power constraint. We derive an analytical solution of the described problem in the form of weak and tight upper bounds on the pilot-to-data power ratio (PDR) given the system design parameters (number of subcarriers, number of pilots, number of transmit antennas, model order of the channel response, SNR). The resultant PDR equations can be applied to OFDM systems with arbitrary arrangement of the pilot subcarriers operating in an arbitrary multipath channel, not just limited to the equispaced optimal pilot pattern and the channel with the uniform sample-spaced power-delay profile as studied in the previous works.In an adaptive system, which is capable to adjust transmit signal configuration (e.g., block length, number of pilot subcarriers or antennas) according to the established channel conditions, an optimal parameter tuning is desirable for each operational mode. The closed-form PDR expressions and their analysis presented in this work are designated to alleviate the challenging task of the on-the-fly system optimisation as they represent relatively simple functional relationships.