Joint Channel and AoA Estimation in OFDM Systems: One Channel Tap with Multiple AoAs Problem

Recently, a joint channel and angle-of-arrival (AoA) estimation scheme for pilot-assisted multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) systems with digital arrays has been proposed; in that scheme, compressive sensing-based time-domain channel estimation is applied. In the scheme, it is assumed that each channel tap has only one AoA. However, in reality, one channel tap may contain responses from multiple paths with different AoAs. In this letter, we propose an improved approach to solve the aforementioned problem. The underlying concept is to transmit multiple OFDM symbols with different beamforming vectors, rendering the time-invariant channel equivalently time-variant. Subsequently, the correlation matrix, imbedded with AoA information, can be estimated. Finally, subspace-based algorithms, such as multiple signal classification (MUSIC), can be used for AoA estimation. The advantage of the proposed method is that the number of detectable AoAs is much larger than that in conventional MUSIC. The performance of the proposed method was also theoretically analyzed. Simulation results demonstrated that with a small number of OFDM symbols, both channel gains and AoAs could be satisfactorily estimated and the theoretical analysis results were accurate.