Method and Apparatus for Achieving System Acquisition and Other Signaling Purposes Using the Preamble in an OFDM Based Communications System

A transmitter comprising:

• a first waveform generator to generate a second acquisition pilot (TDM2) based on a first set of information bits;
• a first modulator to shift a first phase of said TDM2 according to other sector interference (OSI) information, wherein a number of angles of said first modulator corresponds to a number of states in said OSI information;
• a second waveform generator to generate a third acquisition pilot (TDM3) based on a second set of information bits;
• a second modulator to shift a second phase of said TDM3 according to said OSI information, wherein a number of angles of said second modulator corresponds to said number of states in said OSI information;
• and
• a time multiplexer to multiplex said phase-shifted TDM2 and TDM3 with one or more additional symbols in a superframe preamble.

A computer program product having a computer readable medium with computer program logic recorded thereon, said computer program product comprising:

• code for receiving a first information from a serving sector related to how to reconstruct a second and third acquisition pilot (TDM2 and TDM3) and a primary broadcast control channel (PBCCH) of a neighboring sector, wherein said TDM2 and TDM3 are phase-shifted according to at least a second information;
• code for reconstructing said TDM2, TDM3, and PBCCH of said neighboring sector using said first information without applying said phase-shifts on said reconstructed TDM2 and TDM3;
• code for receiving said TDM2, TDM3, and PBCCH from said neighboring sector:
• code for correlating said reconstructed TDM2, TDM3, and PBCCH with said received TDM2, TDM3, and PBCCH, respectively;
• code for generating a plurality of phase correlation signals between at least one pair of:
• said correlated PBCCH and said correlated TDM3;
• said correlated PBCCH and said correlated TDM2;
• and
• said correlated TDM2 and said correlated TDM3
• with phase-shifts applied on said correlated TDM2 and said correlated TDM3 for each hypothesized value of said second information according to a set of transmission rules;
• code for combining one or more said phase correlation signals into a combined signal for each hypothesized value of said second information;
• and
• code for determining said second information based on said combined signal.

A method comprising:

• indicating at least timing, channel bandwidth, and system synchronicity in a first acquisition pilot (TDM1);
• sequencing said TDM1 using one of a plurality of time-repeating sequences;
• forming a second and third acquisition pilot (TDM2 and TDM3) using information selected according to said system synchronicity;
• and
• transmitting a superframe preamble including said TDM1, TDM2, and TDM3.

A computer program product having a computer readable medium with computer program logic recorded thereon, said computer program product comprising:

• code for indicating at least timing, channel bandwidth, and system synchronicity in a first acquisition pilot (TDM1);
• code for sequencing said TDM1 using one of a plurality of time-repeating sequences;
• code for forming a second and third acquisition pilot (TDM2 and TDM3) using information selected according to said system synchronicity;
• and
• code for transmitting a superframe preamble including said TDM1, TDM2, and TDM3.

A computer program product having a computer readable medium with computer program logic recorded thereon, said computer program product comprising:

• code for receiving said superframe preamble by a mobile station;
• code for detecting said system synchronicity in said TDM1;
• and
• code for decoding information in said TDM2 and TDM3 according to said detected synchronicity.

A method comprising:

• receiving said superframe preamble by a mobile station;
• detecting said system synchronicity in said TDM1;
• and
• decoding information in said TDM2 and TDM3 according to said detected synchronicity.

A method for detecting a decoding error in one or more acquisition pilots of a superframe preamble, said method comprising:

• repeating a plurality of information bits of one of said one or more acquisition pilots, said repeated plurality of information bits forming a transmit acquisition pilot;
• generating a scrambling sequence using at least one information bit carried by another of said one or more acquisition pilots, wherein said one of said one or more acquisition pilots and said another are not the same;
• scrambling said transmit acquisition pilot using said scrambling sequence;
• and
• transmitting said superframe preamble including said scrambled transmit acquisition pilot.

A computer program product having a computer readable medium with computer program logic recorded thereon, said computer program product comprising:

• code for repeating a plurality of information bits of one of said one or more acquisition pilots, said repeated plurality of information bits forming a transmit acquisition pilot;
• code for generating a scrambling sequence using at least one information bit carried by another of said one or more acquisition pilots, wherein said one of said one or more acquisition pilots and said another are not equal;
• code for scrambling said transmit acquisition pilot using said scrambling sequence;
• and
• code for transmitting said superframe preamble including said scrambled transmit acquisition pilot.

A method comprising:

• receiving a superframe preamble by a mobile station;
• detecting one or more information bits carried on one of said one or more acquisition pilots;
• generating a descrambling sequence based on said one or more information bits;
• descrambling a transmit acquisition pilot using said descrambling sequence, said transmit acquisition pilot comprising:
• a repeated plurality of information bits from another of said one or more acquisition pilots, wherein said one or said one or more acquisition pilots and said another are not the same;
• correlating a first portion of said transmit acquisition pilot with a second portion of said transmit acquisition pilot;
• and
• declaring an error in said detecting said one or more information bits responsive to results of said correlating being less than a predetermined threshold.

A computer program product having a computer readable medium with computer program logic recorded thereon, said computer program product comprising:

• code for receiving a superframe preamble by a mobile station;
• code for detecting one or more information bits carried on one of said one or more acquisition pilots;
• code for generating a descrambling sequence based on said one or more information bits;
• code for descrambling a transmit acquisition pilot using said descrambling sequence, said transmit acquisition pilot comprising:
• a repeated plurality of information bits from another of said one or more acquisition pilots, wherein said one or said one or more acquisition pilots and said another are not the same;
• code for correlating a first portion of said transmit acquisition pilot with a second portion of said transmit acquisition pilot;
• and
• code for declaring an error in said detecting said one or more information bits responsive to results of said code for correlating being less than a predetermined threshold.