LoS Sensing-based Channel Estimation in UAV-Assisted OFDM Systems

Abstract

In unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-assisted orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, the potential advantage of the line-of-sight (LoS) path, characterized by its high probability of existence, has not been fully harnessed, thereby impeding the improvement of channel estimation (CE) accuracy. Inspired by the ideas of integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), this letter develops a LoS sensing method aimed at detecting the presence of LoS path. Leveraging the prior information obtained from LoS path detection, the detection thresholds for resolvable paths are proposed for LoS and Non-LoS (NLoS) scenarios, respectively. By employing these specifically designed detection thresholds, denoising processing is applied to classical least square (LS) CE, thereby improving the CE accuracy. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method in enhancing CE accuracy and demonstrate its robustness against parameter variations.