Wireless channel estimation

A method of classifying a packet sent over a wireless channel comprising:

• receiving a plurality of training symbols sent for the purpose of facilitating channel estimation;
• detecting a phase transition between at least two of the training symbols;
• and
• classifying, using a processor, the packet based on the detected phase transition;
• wherein the classification determines a data rate of a first field included in the packet, wherein the first field contains information about the data rate of a second field in the packet.

A system for estimating the characteristics of a wireless channel comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive a plurality of training symbols sent for the purpose of facilitating channel estimation;
• a processor configured to:
• calculate a phase difference between at least two of the training symbols;
• use the calculated phase difference to coherently combine the training symbols to produce a composite training symbol;
• and
• use the composite training symbol to estimate the channel;
• wherein the phase difference is calculated by computing the cross correlation of each of the at least two training symbols with a known training symbol and computing the self correlation of each of the cross correlations.

A computer program product for estimating the characteristics of a wireless channel, the computer program product being embodied in a computer readable storage medium having a stored computer program comprising computer instructions for:

• receiving a plurality of training symbols sent for the purpose of facilitating channel estimation;
• calculating a phase difference between at least two of the training symbols;
• using the calculated phase difference to coherently combine the training symbols to produce a composite training symbol;
• and
• using the composite training symbol to estimate the channel;
• wherein the phase difference is calculated by computing the cross correlation of each of the at least two training symbols with a known training symbol and computing the self correlation of each of the cross correlations.

A method of classifying a packet sent over a wireless channel comprising:

• receiving a plurality of training symbols sent for the purpose of facilitating channel estimation;
• detecting a phase transition between at least two of the training symbols;
• and
• classifying, using a processor, the packet based on the detected phase transition;
• wherein the classification determines the data rate of a first field included in the packet, wherein the first field contains information about the data rate of a second field in the packet.

A system for classifying a packet sent over a wireless channel comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive a plurality of training symbols sent for the purpose of facilitating channel estimation;
• a processor configured to:
• detect a phase transition between at least two of the training symbols;
• and
• classify the packet based on the detected phase transition;
• wherein the classification determines the data rate of a first field included in the packet, wherein the first field contains information about the data rate of a second field in the packet.

A computer program product for classifying a packet sent over a wireless channel, the computer program product being embodied in a computer readable storage medium having a stored computer program comprising computer instructions for:

• receiving a plurality of training symbols sent for the purpose of facilitating channel estimation;
• calculating a phase difference between at least two of the training symbols;
• comparing the calculated phase difference to a threshold;
• and
• classifying the packet based on the comparison;
• wherein the classification determines the data rate of a first field included in the packet, wherein the first field contains information about the data rate of a second field in the packet.