A Review on Preamble-Based Channel Estimation Method for FBMC/OQAM Toward 6G: Advantages, Challenges and Future Works

Abstract

Filter bank multicarrier/offset quadrature amplitude modulation (FBMC/OQAM) is a multicarrier modulation that is expected to replace orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) in future sixth-generation (6G) networks. FBMC/OQAM has high spectrum efficiency, cyclic prefix (CP)-free transmission, decreased out-of-band emission (OOBE), and asynchronous environment robustness. However, the orthogonality criteria of FBMC/OQAM are only in the real field. Therefore, imaginary components of complex-valued OQAM symbols cause imaginary interferences among subcarriers, affecting channel estimation (CE) processing operations. Channel estimation is a critical component of wireless communication systems. Channel estimate allows the receiver to approximate channel impulse response (CIR) to determine the impacts of the communication channel on the sent symbols. So, an accurate channel estimate is critical in FBMC/OQAM. In this review, we focus on the Preamble-based method, one of the basic methods for channel estimation in FBMC. Three preamble-based approaches have been studied: the interference approximation method (IAM), the interference cancellation method (ICM), and pairs of pilots (POP) using a single antenna and multiple input multiple outputs (MIMO). Compare them regarding bit error rate (BER) and mean square error. Also, it compares different interference approximation methods in terms of bit error rate (BER), magnitude, and peak average power ratio (PAPR). The review found the superiority of M-IAM and NPS  in spectrum efficiency and  PAPR. Future work that can help the researcher in this field.