Communication system and method for channel estimation and beamforming using a multi-element array antenna

A method comprising:

• receiving an orthogonal-frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) signal through a multi-element antenna, the signal comprising a plurality of subcarriers modulated with at least one symbol;
• estimating an angle-of-arrival AOA for the signal from a subcarrier level of the at least one symbol received by at least two elements of the antenna;
• and
• generating channel coefficients from the estimated angle-of-arrival for processing subsequent symbols of the signal to recover the transmitted data,
• wherein the angle-of-arrival of the received signal is estimated using a plurality of pilot subcarriers spaced apart in a frequency spectrum of the received signal,
• wherein estimating the AOA comprises:
• generating an initial matrix (X) comprising the demodulated pilot subcarriers;
• and
• performing a search function to identify a peak corresponding to the estimated angle-of-arrival, the search function being based on a decomposition of a response matrix (A), and
• wherein the response matrix (A), the initial matrix (X), and uncorrelated noise (N) are related based on the relation X=AD+N in which diagonal matrix (D) has elements comprising known pilot symbols.

A communication system comprising:

• at least one wireless communication device;
• and
• an access point having a multi-element antenna to communicate with the at least one wireless communication device using symbol-modulated orthogonal subcarrier communication signals, and an angle-of-arrival estimator comprising circuitry configured to estimate an angle-of-arrival for the at least one wireless communication device for use in processing subsequent symbols of the communication signals received from the at least one wireless communication device,
• wherein the circuitry of the angle-of-arrival estimator estimates the angle-of-arrival of the received signal using a plurality of pilot subcarriers spaced apart in a frequency spectrum of the received signal,
• wherein the circuitry of the angle-of-arrival estimator is further configured to:
• generate an initial matrix (X) comprising the demodulated pilot subcarriers;
• and
• perform a search function to identify a peak corresponding to the estimated angle-of-arrival, the search function being based on a decomposition of a response matrix (A), and
• wherein the response matrix (A), the initial matrix (X), and uncorrelated noise (N) are related based on the relation X=AD+N in which diagonal matrix (D) has elements comprising known pilot symbols.

A communication system comprising:

• an angle-of-arrival estimator including circuitry to estimate an angle-of-arrival for a received orthogonal-frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) signal from a subcarrier level of at least one symbol received by at least two elements of a multi-element antenna, the received signal being received from a wireless communication device and comprising a plurality of subcarriers modulated with the at least one symbol;
• a channel coefficient generator including circuitry to generate channel coefficients from the estimated angle-of-arrival for processing subsequent symbols;
• and
• a network interface to facilitate communications between the wireless communication device and one or more wireline networks,
• wherein the angle-of-arrival estimator estimates the angle-of-arrival of the received signal using a plurality of pilot subcarriers spaced apart in a frequency spectrum of the received signal,
• wherein the circuitry of the angle-of-arrival estimator is further configured to:
• generate an initial matrix (X) comprising the demodulated pilot subcarriers;
• and
• perform a search function to identify a peak corresponding to the estimated angle-of-arrival, the search function being based on a decomposition of a response matrix (A), and
• wherein the response matrix (A), the initial matrix (X), and uncorrelated noise (N) are related based on the relation X=AD+N in which diagonal matrix (D) has elements comprising known pilot symbols.

A computer-readable storage medium with computer-readable instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions when executed by a computing platform, result in:

• receiving a signal through a multi-element antenna, the signal comprising a plurality of subcarriers modulated with at least one symbol;
• estimating an angle-of-arrival for the signal from a subcarrier level of the at least one symbol received by at least two elements of the antenna;
• and
• generating channel coefficients from the estimated angle-of-arrival for processing subsequent symbols of the signal,
• wherein the angle-of-arrival of the received signal is estimated using a plurality of pilot subcarriers spaced apart in a frequency spectrum of the received signal,
• wherein the angle-of-arrival is estimated by:
• generating an initial matrix (X) comprising the demodulated pilot subcarriers;
• and
• performing a search function to identify a peak corresponding to the estimated angle-of-arrival, the search function being based on a decomposition of a response matrix (A), and
• wherein the response matrix (A), the initial matrix (X), and uncorrelated noise (N) are related based on the relation X=AD+N in which diagonal matrix (D) has elements comprising known pilot symbols.