Integer Programming-based Maximum Likelihood Method for OFDM Parameter Estimation

A problem of signal transmitted and received in OFDM systems is considered. In particular, an efficient solution to the problem of blind channel estimation based on Maximum Likelihood (ML) principle has been investigated. The paper proposes a new upper-bound cost, used in conjunction with a standard branch and bound integer programming technique for solving the ML problem. The tighter upper-bound cost exploits a finite-alphabet property of the transmitted signal. The proposed upper-bound cost was found to greatly speed up the ML algorithm, thus reducing computational complexity. Experimental results and discussion are included.