arXiv AI
Aug 25

DRIFT: Joint Channel Estimation and Prediction Towards Pilotless 6G Non-Terrestrial Networks

The paper introduces DRIFT, a lightweight framework for joint channel estimation and prediction in low Earth orbit non-terrestrial networks, aiming to reduce pilot overhead by using data-driven processing after the initial slot. DRIFT refines data-aided channel estimates and forecasts future channel responses with low computational cost, offering two variants based on convolutional and LSTM layers. Simulations show up to 12% spectral efficiency gain over conventional pilot-based systems, with under 200k multiply-accumulate operations suitable for on-board satellite implementation.

By Bruno De Filippo, Carla Amatetti, Alessandro Vanelli-Coralli