  This paper introduces an expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm within a
wavelet domain Bayesian framework for semi-blind channel estimation of
multiband OFDM based UWB communications. A prior distribution is chosen for the
wavelet coefficients of the unknown channel impulse response in order to model
a sparseness property of the wavelet representation. This prior yields, in
maximum a posteriori estimation, a thresholding rule within the EM algorithm.
We particularly focus on reducing the number of estimated parameters by
iteratively discarding ``unsignificant'' wavelet coefficients from the
estimation process. Simulation results using UWB channels issued from both
models and measurements show that under sparsity conditions, the proposed
algorithm outperforms pilot based channel estimation in terms of mean square
error and bit error rate and enhances the estimation accuracy with less
computational complexity than traditional semi-blind methods.
