Alternative threshold-based channel estimation and message-passing-based symbol detection in MIMO-OTFS systems using superimposed pilots

In this work, we investigate the challenging problem of channel estimation in high-mobility environments for advanced mobile communication systems (5G and beyond). First, we propose an iterative algorithm for channel estimation and symbol detection in the delay-Doppler domain for multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal time–frequency space (OTFS) system. The proposed algorithm is based on a superimposed pilot pattern to improve the spectral efficiency of the system. It iterates between data-aided channel estimation and message-passing-aided data detection. The channel estimation step is based on a threshold method. This step considers interference-plus-noise caused by the data symbols and the additive noise to adapt the threshold at each iteration. The data detection step is based on an adapted version of the message-passing algorithm proposed in the literature for uncoded OTFS. Then, to improve the channel estimation efficiency, we suggest an interference cancellation scheme executed at each iteration of the proposed algorithm. Finally, we compare the computational complexity and the achieved performance in terms of normalized mean square error of channel estimation, bit error rate, and spectral efficiency against five state-of the-art methods.