Method and apparatus for correlative estimation of a mobile radio channel

1. A method for correlative estimation of a mobile radio channel on the basis of a training sequence (TS) which is transmitted via the mobile radio channel and has the characteristic that a subsequence of a predetermined length P of the training sequence is orthogonal to subsequences of the training sequence shifted through up to Lt subsequent elements, wherein P and Lt are integers, comprising:

(1) correlating a sequence of P received symbols with the subsequence of length P of the training sequence to calculate a first estimated channel coefficient (ĥ 0 (1) );

(2) correlating the same sequence of P received symbols with at least some of the subsequences of the training sequence (TS) shifted through ±1, ±2, . . . , ±(Lt−1) symbol positions to calculate a number of further estimated channel coefficients (ĥ ±1 (1) ,ĥ ±2 (1) , . . . ,ĥ ±(Lt−1) (1) ), wherein a correlation window defined by the subsequence of the predetermined length P moves over the training sequence in act (2); and

(3) using the estimated channel coefficients (ĥ ±1 (1) ,ĥ ±2 (1) , . . . , ĥ ±(Lt−1) (1) ) to update a channel impulse response of the mobile radio channel.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising correlating a first sequence of P received symbols received one or more symbols earlier than the sequence of P received symbols with the subsequence of length P of the training sequence (TS) shifted through Lt−1 symbol positions in the direction of increasing indices to calculate a first additional channel coefficient (ĥ Lt (1) ) or to calculate two or more second additional channel coefficients.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising correlating a second sequence of P received symbols received one or more symbols later than the sequence of P received symbols with the subsequence of length P of the training sequence (TS) shifted through Lt−1 symbol positions in the direction of decreasing indices to calculate a second additional channel coefficient (ĥ −Lt (1) ) or to calculate two or more second additional channel coefficients.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the training sequence comprises the training sequence defined in the GSM or EDGE Standard with P=16.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein Lt=6.

6. A correlator in a receiver for correlative estimation of a mobile radio channel on the basis of a training sequence (TS) which is transmitted via the mobile radio channel and has the characteristic that a subsequence of a predetermined length P of the training sequence is orthogonal to subsequences of the training sequence shifted through up to Lt subsequent elements, wherein P and Lt are integers, wherein the correlator is i configured to correlate a sequence of P received symbols with the subsequence of length P of the training sequence to calculate a first estimated channel coefficient (ĥ 0 (1) ), and further configured to correlate the same sequence of P received symbols with at least some of the subsequences of the training sequence shifted through ±1, ±2, . . . , ±(Lt-1) symbol positions to calculate a number of further estimated channel coefficients (ĥ ±1 (1) ,ĥ ±2 (1) , ĥ ±3 (1) , . . . , ĥ ±(L- 1) (1) ), wherein a correlation window defined by the subsequence of the predetermined length P moves over the training sequence.

7. The correlator of claim 6 , wherein the correlator is further configured to update a channel impulse response of the mobile radio channel.

8. A method of equalizing a received signal in a mobile radio system, comprising:

receiving a signal transmission in a burst type format, wherein the signal transmission comprises a training sequence, and wherein the training sequence comprises a plurality of bits having a property that a first subsequence thereof having a length P is orthogonal to subsequences of the training sequencing having the length P that are shifted with respect thereto up to an amount Lt, wherein P and Lt are integers;

correlating a sequence of P received symbols from the signal transmission with the first subsequence of the training sequence to calculated a first estimated channel coefficient;

shifting a correlation window, having a size P, with respect to the first subsequence up or down along the training sequence an amount less than Lt to establish a second subsequence of the training sequence;

correlating the sequence of P received symbols from the signal transmission with the second subsequence to calculate a second estimated channel coefficient;

using the estimated channel coefficients to update a channel impulse response of the mobile radio system; and

using the updated channel impulse response for equalization of received signal transmissions.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein shifting the correlation window with respect to the first subsequence comprises moving the correlation window in a first direction along the training sequence one symbol position at a time up to and not including an amount Lt symbol positions.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising correlating the sequence of P received symbols with the subsequences associated with each shifted correlation widow, respectively, thereby generating a plurality of estimated channel coefficients.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein shifting the correlation window with respect to the first subsequence comprises moving the correlation window in a second direction along the training sequence one symbol position at a time up to and not including an amount Lt symbol positions, wherein the first and second directions are opposite directions.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising correlating the sequence of P received symbols with the subsequences associated with each shifted correlation widow, respectively, thereby generating a plurality of estimated channel coefficients.