Radio communication apparatus and radio communication method

A radio communication apparatus configured to receive a reference signal multiplexed with an acknowledgement or a negative acknowledgement from a radio communication counterpart, the acknowledgement indicating that data received by the radio communication counterpart is successfully decoded, the negative acknowledgement indicating that data received by the radio communication counterpart fails to be decoded, comprising:

• a first detector configured to detect the acknowledgement or negative acknowledgement multiplexed in the reference signal using a first detection criterion set such that a false detection rate of the negative acknowledgement becomes lower than a false detection rate of the acknowledgement;
• a second detector configured to detect the acknowledgement or negative acknowledgement multiplexed in the reference signal using a second detection criterion set such that a ratio of the false detection rate of the acknowledgement to the false detection rate of the negative acknowledgement of the second detection criterion is different from a ratio of the false detection rate of the acknowledgement to the false detection rate of the negative acknowledgement of the first detection criterion;
• a retransmission controller configured to perform retransmission control of data to the radio communication counterpart according to a result of detection made by the first detector;
• and
• a channel estimation unit configured to estimate a channel characteristic with the radio communication counterpart using the reference signal from which the acknowledgement or negative acknowledgement is removed according to a result of detection made by the second detector.