AoA-based channel estimation for massive MIMO OFDM communication systems on high speed rails

Channel estimation is a well-known challenge for wireless orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication systems with massive antennas on high speed rails (HSRs). This paper investigates this problem and design two practicable uplink and downlink channel estimators for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication systems with massive antenna arrays at base station on HSRs. Specifically, we first use pilots to estimate the initial angle of arrival (AoA) and channel gain information of each uplink path through discrete Fourier transform (DFT), and then refine the estimates via the angle rotation technique and suggested pilot design. Based on the uplink angel estimation, we design a new downlink channel estimator for frequency division duplexing (FDD) systems. Additionally, we derive the Cramér-Rao lower bounds (CRLBs) of the AoA and channel gain estimates. Finally, numerical results are provided to corroborate our proposed studies.