Pilot-Aided Channel Estimation on SC-PAM Based Visible Light Communications

Abstract

Estimation of the time‑varying optical wireless channel response is crucial in order to decode received signals coherently. In this work, different interpolation techniques (linear, nearest, spline, and piece‑wise cubic Hermite / pchip) are compared within a pilot‑aided channel estimation framework for SC‑PAM visible light communication. Simulations use realistic time‑varying channel models generated in Zemax, across various modulation orders, pilot symbol periods, and user equipment speeds. Results show that spline and pchip interpolation are more robust under low pilot rates and fast channel variation, while simple linear interpolation suffices when pilot rates are high or channel is slowly varying