Cyclic-prefix based noise variance and power delay profile estimation for OFDM systems

In this paper, we derive cyclic-prefix (CP) based parameter estimators for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. Signal correlation due to the use of the CP is exploited without requiring additional pilot symbols. Noise variance, power delay profile, the number of paths and the signal to noise ratio are estimated. The proposed algorithms can be readily used for applications such as minimum mean-square error (MMSE) equalization.