Variational Bayes Estimation for Affine-Precoded Superimposed Pilots in Partially Connected Dual-Wideband Tera-Hertz MU-MIMO Systems

Abstract

This work conceives two affine precoding based system models, common precoding with joint channel estimation (CP-JCE) and user-specific precoding for decoupled channel estimation (USPDCE). Considering a dual-wideband effected partially connected architecture, we rigorously model the terahertz (THz) multiple input multiple output (MIMO) channel for each subarray corresponding to each user by incorporating the absorption, reflection, and freespace losses. Next, to address the significant bandwidth overhead associated with conventional pilot-based channel estimation, we employ superimposed pilots. Building on this, we formulate a structured sparse channel model and develop a variational Bayesian inference algorithm that jointly estimates the channel coefficients and learns the underlying sparsity structure through hyperparameter inference, thereby enabling robust and high-precision superimposed pilotbased channel estimation under severe model uncertainty. Lastly, we compare our results for both systems and provide a trade-off analysis between them.