Apparatus and method for estimating a channel coefficient of a data subchannel of a radio channel

摘要

An apparatus (110) for estimating a channel coefficient (122) of a data subchannel of a radio channel comprises a reliability determiner (110) and a channel coefficient estimator (120). The radio channel comprises a reference subchannel and the data subchannel, wherein a reference symbol (102) is received through the reference subchannel. The reliability determiner (110) determines a reference subchannel reliability coefficient (112) based on the received reference symbol (102). The reference subchannel reliability coefficient (122) indicates a reliability of a correct detection of the received reference symbol (102). Further, the channel coefficient estimator (120) estimates a channel coefficient (122) of the data subchannel and determines a channel coefficient reliability indicator (124) of the channel coefficient (122) based on the reference subchannel reliability coefficient (112) and a detection error coefficient (114). The channel coefficient reliability indicator (124) indicates a reliability of the estimated channel coefficient (122). Further, the detection error coefficient (114) indicates a probability of an erroneous detection of a data symbol received through the data subchannel. The consideration of the detection error coefficient (114) has a decreasing influence on the reliability of the estimated channel coefficient (122) indicated by the channel coefficient reliability indicator (124).