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wlanVHTLTFChannelEstimate

Channel estimation using VHT-LTF

Description

example

chEst = wlanVHTLTFChannelEstimate(demodSig,cfg) returns the channel estimate, using the demodulated VHT-LTF1 signal, demodSig, given the parameters specified in wlanVHTConfig object cfg.

example

chEst = wlanVHTLTFChannelEstimate(demodSig,cbw,numSTS) returns the channel estimate for the specified channel bandwidth, cbw, and the number of space-time streams, numSTS.

[chEst,chEstPilots] = wlanVHTLTFChannelEstimate(___) returns the channel estimate at each pilot subcarrier location for each demodulated VHT-LTF symbol in addition to any input argument combination from the previous syntaxes. The function assumes that there is one space-time stream at the transmitter.

example

chEst = wlanVHTLTFChannelEstimate(___,span) specifies the span of a moving-average filter used to perform frequency smoothing in addition to any argument combination from the previous syntaxes.

Examples

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Display the channel estimate of the data and pilot subcarriers for a VHT format channel using its long training field.

Create a VHT format configuration object. Generate a VHT-LTF based on cfg.

cfg = wlanVHTConfig;
txSig = wlanVHTLTF(cfg);

Multiply the transmitted VHT-LTF signal by 0.3 – 0.15i and pass it through an AWGN channel having a 30 dB signal-to-noise ratio. Demodulate the received signal.

rxSig = awgn(txSig*(0.3-0.15i),30);
demodSig = wlanVHTLTFDemodulate(rxSig,cfg);

Estimate the channel response using the demodulated VHT-LTF signal.

est = wlanVHTLTFChannelEstimate(demodSig,cfg);

Plot the channel estimate.

scatterplot(est)
grid

The channel estimate matches the complex channel multiplier.

Estimate and display the channel coefficients of a 4x2 MIMO channel using the VHT-LTF.

Create a VHT format configuration object for a channel having four spatial streams and four transmit antennas. Transmit a complete VHT waveform.

cfg = wlanVHTConfig('NumTransmitAntennas',4, ...
    'NumSpaceTimeStreams',4,'MCS',5);
txWaveform = wlanWaveformGenerator([1;0;0;1;1;0],cfg);

Set the sampling rate, and then pass the transmitted waveform through a 4x2 TGac channel.

fs = 80e6;
tgacChan = wlanTGacChannel('SampleRate',fs, ...
    'NumTransmitAntennas',4,'NumReceiveAntennas',2);
rxWaveform = tgacChan(txWaveform);

Determine the VHT-LTF field indices and demodulate the VHT-LTF from the received waveform.

indVHTLTF = wlanFieldIndices(cfg,'VHT-LTF');
ltfDemodSig = wlanVHTLTFDemodulate(rxWaveform(indVHTLTF(1):indVHTLTF(2),:),cfg);

Generate the channel estimate by using the demodulated VHT-LTF signal. Specify a smoothing filter span of five subcarriers.

[est,estPilots] = wlanVHTLTFChannelEstimate(ltfDemodSig,cfg,5);

Plot the magnitude response of the first space-time stream for both receive antennas. Due to the random nature of the fading channel, your results may vary.

plot(abs(est(:,1,1)))
hold on
plot(abs(est(:,1,2)))
xlabel('Subcarrier')
ylabel('Magnitude')
legend('Receive Antenna 1','Receive Antenna 2')

Recover bits from the VHT-Data field of a VHT multi-user transmission recovered from a fading MU-MIMO channel by using channel estimation on the VHT-LTF.

This example can return high bit error rates because the transmission does not include precoding to mitigate the interference between space-time streams. However, the example shows a typical VHT signal recovery workflow and appropriate syntax use for the functions.

Configure a VHT transmission with a channel bandwidth of 160 MHz, two users, and four transmit antennas. Assign one space-time stream to the first user and three space-time streams to the second user.

cbw = 'CBW160';
numSTS = [1 3];
cfgVHT = wlanVHTConfig('ChannelBandwidth',cbw,'NumUsers',2, ...
    'NumTransmitAntennas',4,'NumSpaceTimeStreams',numSTS);

Generate a payload of bits for each user. This payload must be in a 1-by-N cell array, where N is the number of users.

psduLength = 8*cfgVHT.PSDULength;
numUsers = cfgVHT.NumUsers;
bits = cell(1,2);
for nu = 1:numUsers
    bits{nu} = randi([0 1],psduLength(nu),1);
end

Generate VHT-LTF and VHT-Data field signals.

txLTF  = wlanVHTLTF(cfgVHT); 
txDataSym = wlanVHTData(bits,cfgVHT);

Pass the VHT-Data field signal for the first user through a 4x1 channel because this signal consists of a single space-time stream. Pass the VHT-Data field for the second user through a 4x3 channel because this signal consists of three space-time streams. Apply AWGN to each signal, assuming an SNR of 15 dB.

snr = 15; 
H{1} = complex(randn(4,1),randn(4,1))/sqrt(2);
H{2} = complex(randn(4,3),randn(4,3))/sqrt(2);
number = zeros(2,1);
ratio = zeros(2,1);
for userIdx = 1:numUsers
    rxDataSym = awgn(txDataSym*H{userIdx},snr,'measured');

Apply the same channel processing to the VHT-LTF for each user.

    rxLTF = awgn(txLTF*H{userIdx},snr,'measured');

Calculate the received signal power for each user and estimate the noise variance.

    powerDB = 10*log10(var(rxDataSym));
    noiseVarEst = mean(10.^(0.1*(powerDB-snr)));

Estimate the channel characteristics by using the VHT-LTF.

    demod = wlanVHTLTFDemodulate(rxLTF,cbw,numSTS);
    chEst = wlanVHTLTFChannelEstimate(demod,cbw,numSTS);

Recover the bits from the received VHT-Data field for each user and determine the bit error rate by comparing the recovered bits with the original payload bits.

    dataBits = wlanVHTDataRecover(rxDataSym,chEst,noiseVarEst,cfgVHT,userIdx);
    [number(userIdx),ratio(userIdx)] = biterr(bits{userIdx},dataBits);
    disp(number(userIdx))
    disp(ratio(userIdx))
end
        4232
    0.5038
        2434
    0.0964

Input Arguments

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Demodulated VHT-LTF signal, specified as an NST-by-NSYM-by-NR array. NST is the number of occupied subcarriers, NSYM is the number of VHT-LTF OFDM symbols, and NR is the number of receive antennas.

Data Types: single | double
Complex Number Support: Yes

Format configuration, specified as a wlanVHTConfig object.

Channel bandwidth, specified as 'CBW20', 'CBW40', 'CBW80', or 'CBW160'. If the transmission has multiple users, the same channel bandwidth applies to all users.

Data Types: char | string

Number of space-time streams in the transmission, specified as a scalar or vector.

  • For a single user, the number of space-time streams is a scalar integer from 1 to 8.

  • For multiple users, the number of space-time streams is a 1-by-NUsers vector of integers from 1 to 4, where the vector length, NUsers, is an integer from 1 to 4.

Example: [1 3 2] indicates that one space-time stream is assigned to user 1, three space-time streams are assigned to user 2, and two space-time streams are assigned to user 3.

Note

The sum of the space-time stream vector elements must not exceed eight.

Data Types: single | double

Filter span of the frequency smoothing filter, specified as a positive odd integer and expressed as a number of subcarriers. The function applies frequency smoothing only when span is greater than one. See Frequency Smoothing.

Data Types: single | double

Output Arguments

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Channel estimate between all combinations of space-time streams and receive antennas, returned as an NST-by-NSTS,total-by-NR array. NST is the number of occupied subcarriers. NSTS,total is the total number of space-time streams for all users. For the single-user case, NSTS,total = NSTS. NR is the number of receive antennas. The channel estimate includes coefficients for both the data and pilot subcarriers.

Data Types: single | double
Complex Number Support: Yes

Channel estimate at each pilot subcarrier location for each VHT-LTF symbol, returned as an NSP-by-NSYM-by-NR array. NSP is the number of pilot subcarriers, NSYM is the number of demodulated VHT-LTF symbols, and NR is the number of receive antennas. The function performs this estimate assuming one space-time stream at the transmitter.

Data Types: single | double
Complex Number Support: Yes

More About

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VHT-LTF

The very high throughput long training field (VHT-LTF) is between the VHT-STF and VHT-SIG-B portion of the VHT packet.

The VHT-LTF in the VHT packet

It is used for MIMO channel estimation and pilot subcarrier tracking. The VHT-LTF includes one VHT long training symbol for each spatial stream indicated by the selected modulation and coding scheme (MCS). Each symbol is 4 μs long. A maximum of eight symbols are permitted in the VHT-LTF.

For a detailed description of the VHT-LTF, see Section 21.3.8.3.5 of IEEE® Std 802.11™-2016.

Frequency Smoothing

Frequency smoothing can improve channel estimation by averaging out noise.

Frequency smoothing is recommended only for cases in which you are using a single transmit antenna. Frequency smoothing consists of applying a moving-average filter that spans multiple adjacent subcarriers. Channel conditions dictate whether frequency smoothing is beneficial.

  • If adjacent subcarriers are highly correlated, frequency smoothing results in significant noise reduction.

  • In a highly frequency-selective channel, smoothing can degrade the quality of the channel estimate.

References

[1] IEEE Std 802.11-2020 (Revision of IEEE Std 802.11-2016). “Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications.” IEEE Standard for Information Technology — Telecommunications and Information Exchange between Systems — Local and Metropolitan Area Networks — Specific Requirements.

[2] IEEE Std 802.11™-2012 IEEE Standard for Information technology — Telecommunications and information exchange between systems — Local and metropolitan area networks — Specific requirements — Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications.

[3] Perahia, E., and R. Stacey. Next Generation Wireless LANs: 802.11n and 802.11ac. 2nd Edition, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation
Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

Version History

Introduced in R2015b

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1 IEEE Std 802.11ac™-2013 Adapted and reprinted with permission from IEEE. Copyright IEEE 2013. All rights reserved.