Data-Aided Channel and Doppler Estimation for mMIMO LEO SatComs with Uncompensated Doppler

Abstract

This paper presents a framework for estimating and tracking massive multiple-input multiple-output (mMIMO) low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite channels under uncompensated Doppler. The approach begins with a pilot-based minimum mean square error (MMSE) estimate, followed by Doppler estimation and data-aided channel estimation using either a decision-directed MMSE (DD-MMSE) or an expectation-maximization (EM)-based estimator. The proposed framework achieves improved channel and Doppler estimation accuracy compared to existing methods. Results demonstrate that the DD-MMSE variant offers lower complexity, while the EM variant provides higher estimation accuracy.