Pilot pattern design for a STTD scheme in an OFDM system

A receiving device for receiving signals in a wireless orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) communication system with multiple transmission antennas, comprising:

• a single antenna means for receiving signals transmitted from a first and a second antenna means of a transmitting device of the OFDM communication system, said first and said second antenna means transmitting corresponding first and second pilot symbols respectively,
• wherein said first and said second pilot symbols correspond to one another and have the same frequency and time allocation and a regular distribution in the time and frequency dimension in the OFDM system, and wherein at least some pairs of said first pilot symbols adjacent in the frequency dimension are respectively orthogonal to the corresponding pairs of said second pilot symbols and at least some pairs of said first pilot symbols adjacent in the time dimension are respectively orthogonal to the corresponding pairs of said second pilot symbols;
• and
• processing means for detecting pilot symbols in the received signals, for processing detected pilot symbols and performing a channel estimation on the basis of said processing to separately determine the transmission quality of signals transmitted from each of said first and said second antenna means.

A channel estimation method for performing a channel estimation in a wireless orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) communication system in which a transmitting device comprising a first and a second antenna transmits signals, comprising the steps of:

• transmitting first and second pilot symbols via said first and said second antenna means, respectively, wherein said first and said second pilot symbols correspond to one another and have the same frequency and time allocation and a regular distribution in the time and frequency dimension in the OFDM communication system,
• and wherein at least some pairs said of first pilot symbols adjacent in the frequency dimension are respectively orthogonal to corresponding pairs of said second pilot symbols and at least some pairs of said first pilot symbols adjacent in the time dimension are respectively orthogonal to the corresponding pairs of said second pilot symbols;
• receiving said pilot symbols in a single antenna of a receiving device;
• and
• processing said received pilot symbols and performing a channel estimation on the basis of said processing to separately determine the transmission quality of said signals transmitted from said first and said second antenna means.