Optimum pilot pattern for MMSE channel estimation in single-carrier MIMO systems

The minimum mean squared error (MMSE) channel estimator (CE) can provide receiver performance better than the least square (LS) CE. However, the MMSE CE usually uses a pilot pattern optimally designed for the LS CE. In this paper, we derive an optimum pilot pattern for the MMSE CE in single-carrier MIMO systems assuming that both the transmitter and receiver know the average channel information, such as the channel correlation matrix and signal to interference and noise power ratio. Analytic and simulation results show that the MMSE CE with the use of the proposed pilot pattern can reduce the MSE compared to the use of one optimized for the LS CE.