SYNCHRONIZATION IN AN UPLINK SPATIAL DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS MODE OF A WiMAX WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

A mobile station operable for synchronization in an uplink spatial division multiple access (UL SDMA) mode of a WiMAX wireless communication system, the mobile station comprising:

• a transmitter operable to send data traffic;
• a receiver operable to receive an allocation of a mixed sequence of first and second tile patterns for uplink slots transmissions and information about a time and/or frequency error from a base station that detects embedded pilot signals in the transmitted data traffic, calculates a first pilot signal phase difference within the first tile pattern and a second pilot signal phase difference within the second tile pattern, and estimates a time and/or frequency error of the pilot signals to be sent to the mobile station;
• and
• a processor coupled to the transmitter and receiver, the processor operable to synchronizing the uplink transmit signals of the mobile station in response to the time and/or frequency error information.

A base station operable to provide synchronization in an uplink spatial division multiple access (UL SDMA) mode of a WiMAX wireless communication system, the base station comprising:

• a receiver operable to receive mobile station data traffic;
• a transmitter operable to send an allocation of a mixed sequence of first and second tile patterns for uplink slots transmissions to a mobile station, and send time and/or frequency error information to the mobile station for synchronization;
• and
• a processor coupled to the receiver and transmitter, the processor operable to determine the allocation of the mixed sequence of first and second tile patterns to be sent to the mobile station, detect embedded pilot signals in the transmitted data traffic from the mobile station, calculate a first pilot signal phase difference within the first tile pattern and a second pilot signal phase difference within the second tile pattern, and estimate a time error and a frequency error of the pilot signals to be transmitted to the mobile station.