Burst noise detection and pilot selection

A method comprising:

• receiving an orthogonal frequency division multiplex transmission including pilots transmitted at different instances of time but on the same subcarrier during a predetermined time interval such that there are a plurality of different pairs of pilots that are on the same subcarriers during the predetermined time interval;
• for each pair of pilots, generating an equalized pilot using received values for first and second pilots of the pair by dividing a received value for the second pilot by the received value for the first pilot;
• computing a signal-to-noise ratio for each equalized pilot;
• determining which pilots, if any, are affected by burst noise by, for each possible pilot pair, determining if the equalized pilot of a pilot pair has a signal-to-noise ratio lower than that of the equalized pilots of other pilot pairs in the plurality of different pairs of pilots;
• and
• performing a channel response computation without any pilots determined to be affected by burst noise.

An apparatus comprising:

• a transform module configured to convert a time-domain receive signal associated with reception of an orthogonal frequency division multiplex transmission into values for a plurality of frequency bins that span a frequency band of interest, the orthogonal frequency division multiplex transmission including pilots transmitted at different instances of time but on the same subcarrier during a predetermined time interval such that there are a plurality of different pairs of pilots that are on the same subcarriers during the predetermined time interval;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• for each possible pair of pilots, generate an equalized pilot using received values for first and second pilots of the pair by dividing a received value for the second pilot by a received value for the first pilot;
• compute a signal-to-noise ratio for each equalized pilot;
• determine which pilots, if any, are affected by burst noise by comparing the signal-to-noise ratio among the plurality of equalized pilots;
• and
• remove from a channel response computation any pilots determined to be affected by burst noise.