Blind estimation of transmit‐antenna number for non‐Cooperative multiple‐input multiple‐output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing systems

In this study, the authors propose a non‐parametric algorithm to implement the estimation of transmit‐antenna number, which is a prerequisite for blind interception process of multiple‐input multiple‐output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing signals in frequency selective fading. Specifically, a series of test statistics are constructed by exploiting the eigenvalues of the sample covariance matrices from each subcarrier, followed by a combination of these test statistics. As a consequence, the number of transmit antennas can be determined after a serial binary hypothesis testing. The theoretical analysis and simulation results verify the rapid convergence and high reliability of the proposed algorithm at a relatively low signal‐to‐noise ratio.