Channel Estimation Algorithms and Their Impact on Wideband Millimeter Wave Channel Characteristics

The demand for higher data rate has motivated research in millimeter wave (mm-Wave) bands for 5G cellular systems. Accurate channel characterization at mm-Wave bands has gained significant interest in recent years, since it is important for system design and performance evaluation of future communication systems. In this paper, a mm-Wave channel sounding campaign based on a rotational horn and a virtual uniform circular array (UCA) was performed in a line-of-sight (LOS) and obstructed-LOS scenario in an indoor environment. Three channel estimation algorithms were implemented for the UCA data and compared with the horn antenna measurement results. The channel characteristics, e.g. mean angle of arrival, angle spread, mean delay and delay spread were analyzed for different algorithms. The measured results demonstrated the impact of channel estimation algorithms in radio channel parameters.