Semi-Blind Channel Estimation for RIS-Assisted MISO Systems Using Expectation Maximization

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) is a passive antenna array composed of a large number of reflecting elements. In a RIS-assisted communication system, it is a challenging task to acquire accurate channel state information (CSI). In this paper, we propose a semi-blind channel estimation method for a RIS-assisted massive multiple-input single-output (MISO) system. Assuming a Gaussianpriorion the data symbols, an iterative expectation maximization (EM)-based algorithm is developed to obtain the maximum likelihood (ML) estimate of the cascaded RIS channel. Different from existing pilot-based methods, the proposed semi-blind channel estimation method exploits the data symbols for channel estimation enhancement and only a fraction of full-pilot signaling overhead is required. Simulation results verify that the proposed method achieves significant improvement in the accuracy of the channel estimation while it noticeably reduces the training pilot overhead.