Effect of sample timing on LS channel estimation

As block coding and intelligent receiver combining in multi-antenna systems moves from the theorectical into the physical domain, it is necessary to apply robust analysis to the problems encountered with the development of real radio systems that are often overlooked during theoretical development of methods and processes. One such problem is the lack of synchronization between the transmitter and receiver sampling clocks. This text attempts to analyze the significance of poorly correcting for differences in the transmit and receive sample clocks by simulating the BER of an Alamouti space-time coded system under a variety of sample rates and clock offsets. The results can be used to estimate the impact on link quality by a given sampler's estimation error using the empirical model given.