UAV Channel Estimation with STBC in MIMO Systems

The combination of coding with spatial diversity opens up new dimensions in wireless communications with emphasize to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and can offer effective solutions for wireless communication channels. Application of Alamouti Space-Time Block Codes (STBCs) with diversity with multiple antennas provide improved performance in faded wireless channels. Alamouti transmit diversity scheme, however, relies on the availability of accurate Channel State Information (CSI). This paper proposes a channel estimation method based on Kalman filter with STBC codes and multiple antenna systems, namely Multiple-Input Single-Output (MISO) and Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems. Simulations have been done in time-varying Rayleigh faded channels for BPSK and QPSK. The proposed technique seems to obtain an error performance closer to that of a known channel information case in severely faded channel considerations.