Guard sequence optimization for block transmission over linear frequency-selective channels

We show that the optimum length-/spl nu/ guard sequence for block transmission over a linear Gaussian-noise dispersive channel with memory /spl nu/ is a linear combination of the N information symbols of the block. A closed-form expression for the optimum guard sequence is derived subject to a total average energy constraint on the information and guard symbols. The achievable channel block throughput with the optimum guard sequence is compared with that achievable with two common guard sequence types, namely zero stuffing and cyclic prefix.