Adaptive rate control for OFDM communication system

A method for controlling a rare of a data transmission over a communication channel, comprising:

• estimating a channel transfer function for a communication channel for each of a plurality of time instances,
• estimating a time correlation function for the communication channel based on the estimated channel transfer functions for the plurality of time instances,
• estimating a coherence time based on the estimated time correlation function;
• deriving a plurality of channel metrics of a plurality of types and indicative of a plurality of characteristics of a communication channel used for the data transmission, the plurality of channel characteristics including at least one channel metric related to the estimated coherence time;
• determining an initial rate for the data transmission based on the derived channel metrics;
• updating the channel metrics during the data transmission;
• and
• adjusting the rate based on the updated channel metrics.

A receiver apparatus in a wireless communication system, comprising:

• means for deriving a plurality of channel metrics of a plurality of types and indicative of a plurality of characteristics of a communication channel used for a data transmission and for estimating a frequency selectivity as one of the channel metrics by estimating a coherence bandwidth of the channel based on an estimated frequency correlation function and an estimated frequency correlation function;
• means for determining an initial rate for the data transmission based on the derived channel metrics;
• means for updating the channel metrics during the data transmission;
• and
• means for adjusting the rate based on the updated channel metrics.