Pilot reference transmission for a wireless communication system

摘要

A pilot reference transmission scheme well suited for high data rate wireless communication systems is disclosed. To maximize the amount of interference from transmissions from neighboring transmission sources (e.g., access points or base stations) during the pilot interval, and hence minimize the amount of interference from non-transmitting sources during the data intervals, the pilot references are transmitted in bursts at predetermined time intervals, and the pilot bursts from the access points are synchronized. This results in maximum interference contributions from non-transmitting neighboring access points, facilitating reliable estimation of worst case carrier-to-interference (C/I), and further allows the receiving devices (e.g., access terminals) to easily recognize the bursts as pilot reference. In one embodiment, each access point transmits the pilot bursts at or near its maximum transmit power level and no user-specific data is transmitted during the pilot bursts.

主权项

1. An access terminal for use in a wireless communication system, comprising:
an RF module configured to receive a modulated signal over a wireless communication link and to condition the received signal to generate a conditioned signal; a modem block coupled to the RF module and configured to process the conditioned signal to recover a plurality of pilot references transmitted from a plurality of access points, wherein the pilot reference from each access point is transmitted in pilot bursts that are synchronized with a common system time reference used by each of the plurality of access points and transmitted at a same predetermined time interval during which all of the access points transmit a pilot burst such that at least respective portions of the pilot bursts overlap in time; and a processor configured to determine link conditions based on the pilot references, to determine an access point having a highest signal quality based on the link conditions, and to determine a highest supported data rate for the access point having the highest signal quality.