Fast start-up channel estimation

A synchronous serial digital data-transmission system operating over a linear channel is considered. It is essential that the receiver obtain a satisfactory estimate of the sampled impulse response of the channel in the shortest possible time at the start of any burst. The present investigation is concerned with a technique which involves the repeated transmission of a pseudorandom sequence which satisfies some particular conditions and the appropriate estimation process at the receiver for the sampled impulse response of the channel. Attention is given to the conditions which must be satisfied by the repeatedly transmitted sequence in order to minimize the mean-square error in the channel estimate.