DFT-based Channel Estimation Techniques for Massive MIMO Systems

In massive MIMO systems, efficient and highly accurate channel state information (CSI) at the base station are essential requirements for tackling the effect of pilot contamination to achieve the potential benefits of the systems. In this paper, we propose two discrete Fourier transform (DFT)-based channel estimation techniques for massive MIMO systems. The proposed methods mitigate the pilot contamination significantly via modifying the DFT-based estimation through iterations and most significant taps (MST) approaches. The simulation results obtained through these approaches demonstrated the effectiveness of the DFT-based channel estimation techniques in alleviate/eliminate the pilot contamination when compared to conventional channel estimators, in terms of channel estimation accuracy and achievable uplink rate.