Impact of MIMO Pilot Sequence Length and Frame Length at Different Frequencies

Successful detection of Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) transmission depends, in part, on access to good channel estimates at the receiver. In a frame-based system, these estimates are generally measured using pilot symbols inserted in the header information of a frame. Several factors contribute to the channel estimation accuracy, including the number of transmitters, the SNR of the received pilot symbols and the number of pilot symbols in the frame header. Imperfect channel estimates are further degraded due to inherent system delays at both the transmitter and receiver, resulting in poorer error performance or reduced capacity.