Channel estimation using a minimized channel prediction interval

A method for channel estimation for use in decoding a current Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) receiving a first OFDM symbol over a plurality of OFDM sub-channels and generating a plurality of demodulated symbols for the first OFDM symbol comprising a demodulated symbol corresponding to each sub-channel;
• b) generating decoder output code symbols from the plurality of demodulated symbols;
• c) determining that a set of the decoder output code symbols comprise a first set of reference symbols corresponding to a portion of the plurality of sub-channels;
• d) generating the first set of reference symbols;
• e) generating, using a first channel estimator having a first prediction interval, a first set of channel estimates based on the first set of reference symbols and a corresponding portion of the plurality of demodulated symbols, for use in decoding a portion of the current OFDM symbol;
• f) generating a second set of reference symbols corresponding to a remaining portion of the plurality of sub-channels;
• and
• g) generating, using a second channel estimator having a second prediction interval that is greater than the first prediction interval, a second set of channel estimates based on the second set of reference symbols and a corresponding set of demodulated symbols, for use in decoding a remaining portion of the current OFDM symbol.

A receiver comprising:

• at least one antenna element for receiving a signal;
• receiver circuitry for generating a baseband signal from the received signal;
• a demodulator for generating output samples from the baseband signal;
• and
• a processor configured for performing the steps of:
• a) receiving a first OFDM symbol over a plurality of OFDM sub-channels and generating a plurality of demodulated symbols for the first OFDM symbol comprising a demodulated symbol corresponding to each sub-channel;
• b) generating decoder output code symbols corresponding to a subset of the plurality of demodulated symbols;
• c) determining that a set of the decoder output code symbols comprise a set of reference symbols corresponding to at least a portion of the subset of the plurality of demodulated symbols;
• d) generating the set of reference symbols;
• e) generating a set of channel estimates based on the set of reference symbols and the at least a portion of the subset of the plurality of demodulated symbols, for use in decoding the current OFDM symbol;
• and
• f) repeating steps b-e until a channel estimate for each demodulated symbol corresponding to the first OFDM symbol has been generated.