Method and apparatus for estimating and reporting the quality of a wireless communication channel

A wireless communication system for estimating the quality of a wireless communication channel, the system comprising:

• (a) at least one wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU);
• and
• (b) at least one Node-B, wherein:
• (i) the Node-B generates a modulated signal by modulating data and a pilot sequence;
• (ii) the WTRU receives the modulated signal from the Node-B via the wireless communication channel;
• (iii) a channel estimator in the WTRU performs a channel estimation on the modulated signal to obtain a channel estimate;
• (iv) a pre-demodulation signal-to-interference (SIR) estimator in the WTRU performs a SIR estimation on the channel estimate to obtain a pre-demodulation SIR estimate;
• (v) a demodulator in the WTRU demodulates the modulated signal based on the channel estimate to obtain a demodulated signal;
• (vi) a post-demodulation SIR estimator in the WTRU performs a SIR estimation on the demodulated signal to obtain a post-demodulation SIR estimate;
• and
• (vii) a channel quality estimator in the WTRU estimates the quality of the wireless communication channel based on the pre-demodulation SIR estimate and the post-demodulation SIR estimate.

A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for estimating the quality of a wireless communication channel, the WTRU comprising:

• (a) a channel estimator for receiving a modulated signal via the wireless communication channel and performing a channel estimation on the modulated signal to obtain a channel estimate;
• (b) a pre-demodulation signal-to-interference (SIR) estimator for performing a pre-demodulation SIR estimation on the channel estimate to obtain a pre-demodulation SIR estimate;
• (c) a demodulator for demodulating the modulated signal based on the channel estimate to obtain a demodulated signal;
• (d) a post-demodulation SIR estimator for performing a SIR estimation on the demodulated signal to obtain a post-demodulation SIR estimate;
• and
• (e) a channel quality estimator for estimating the quality of the wireless communication channel based on the pre-demodulation SIR estimate and the post-demodulation SIR estimate.

An integrated circuit (IC) for estimating the quality of a wireless communication channel, the IC comprising:

• (a) a channel estimator for receiving a modulated signal via the wireless communication channel and performing a channel estimation on the modulated signal to obtain a channel estimate;
• (b) a pre-demodulation signal-to-interference (SIR) estimator for performing a pre-demodulation SIR estimation on the channel estimate to obtain a pre-demodulation SIR estimate;
• (c) a demodulator for demodulating the modulated signal based on the channel estimate to obtain a demodulated signal;
• (d) a post-demodulation SIR estimator for performing a SIR estimation on the demodulated signal to obtain a post-demodulation SIR estimate;
• and
• (e) a channel quality estimator for estimating the quality of the wireless communication channel based on the pre-demodulation SIR estimate and the post-demodulation SIR estimate.