ABSTRACT
Third generation (3G) cellular communication standards are based on Wideband Code
Division Multiple Access (WCDMA). The wideband signals experience frequency-selective
fading due to multi-path propagation, hence increasing the Multiple Access Interference
(MAI). To combat this effect, an efficient channel estimation algorithm, based on the
Maximum Likelihood (ML) approach is derived. The algorithm handles the situation of multiuser,
and multi-path by estimating a composite Channel Impulse Response (CIR). This
estimation is performed in the reverse link, for each user, without needs of estimating each
individual channel parameters. This has the achievement of reducing the computational
complexity. The efficiency of the proposed channel estimator is measured in terms of Mean
Squared Error (MSE), handling capacity, loss due to estimation, as well as resistance to MAI.