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Virginia Tech

A novel OFDM Blind Equalizer: Analysis and Implementation

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Link adaptation is important to guarantee robust and reliable wireless communications with- out wasting valuable radio resources. This technique has become more feasible with the recent appearance of Software Defined Radios (SDRs), which allow easy reconfiguration of their parameters via software. As the environment changes over time, the transmitter needs to be able to effectively estimate its performance under different radio input parameters to be able to find a close to optimal solution. In most wireless communications, an equalizer is implemented at the receiver to estimate the channel impulse response. This estimate can be fed back to the transmitter via a feedback channel, which can in turn help generate a sub-optimal transmission solution for the current situation. In this thesis, a link adaptation method is proposed that uses Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) in conjunction with blind channel estimation. With the use of OFDM, it can be assumed that the frequency fading at each subcarrier is approximately flat. In addition, under the assumption that the channel is quasi-stationary, the Bit Error Rate (BER) at each subcarrier can be estimated by using the well-known BER formulas for an Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel. However, the effect of imperfect channel estimation must also be taken into account. A novel OFDM blind channel estimator is developed. Finally, both simulations and real over-the-air results are presented.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2012

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Gonzalez Fitch, David E.
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Bose, Tamal
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Amanna, Ashwin E.
  • Pratt, Timothy J.

Subjects

dc:subject × 4

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-08282012-193626
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/34833

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Gonzalez Fitch, David E.. A novel OFDM Blind Equalizer: Analysis and Implementation. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/34833