Preamble-based channel estimation in OFDM/OQAM systems: A review

Filter bank-based multicarrier communications (FBMC) have recently attracted increased interest in both wired (e.g., xDSL, PLC) and wireless (e.g., cognitive radio) applications, due to their enhanced flexibility, higher spectral efficiency, and better spectral containment compared to conventional OFDM. A particular type of FBMC, the so-called FBMC/OQAM or OFDM/OQAM system, consisting of pulse shaped OFDM carrying offset QAM (OQAM) symbols, has received increasing attention due to, among other features, its higher spectral efficiency and implementation simplicity. It suffers, however, from an imaginary inter-carrier/inter-symbol interference that complicates signal processing tasks such as channel estimation. This paper focuses on channel estimation for OFDM/OQAM systems based on a known preamble. A review of the existing preamble structures and associated channel estimation methods is given, for both single- (SISO) and multiple-antenna (MIMO) systems. The various preambles are compared via simulations in both mildly and highly frequency selective channels.