Joint Channel and DOA Estimation for Multicarrier CDMA Uplink Transmissions

The use of antenna arrays in wireless communications makes it possible to estimate the directions of arrival (DOAs) of impinging waveforms. The latter can be exploited to enhance channel estimation accuracy or as an input for advanced mobile positioning systems. In this paper, we consider the uplink of a multicarrier code-division multiple-access (MC-CDMA) network in which the base station is endowed with multiple receiving antennas arranged in a uniform linear array. Transmission takes place over a multipath channel, and the goal is the joint estimation of the channel responses and DOAs of the uplink signals. In doing so, we follow a maximum-likelihood (ML) approach and assume that users transmit orthogonal training sequences to facilitate the task of separating the signals. This way, all unknown parameters are estimated independently of each other with affordable complexity. Theoretical analysis and computer simulations are used to assess the performance of the proposed scheme and make comparisons with existing alternatives.