System and method for improving the performance of OFDM systems

1. A method for improving the performance of an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) system, comprising:

performing channel estimation on a preamble in a received signal to obtain a first estimate;

using a smoothing filter on this first estimate to obtain an improved channel estimate;

performing equalization, demodulation and decoding on the received signal to obtain an estimate of transmitted signal;

performing a decision feedback based correction on the received signal;

assigning a weight to demodulated symbols of the received signal; and

decoding the received signal according to the assigned weight, including weighted channel state information (WCSI) decoding performed on the received signal, where a weighted metric is assigned to said demodulated symbols.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein, said smoothing filter is chosen based on an estimated Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR).

3. A method for improving the performance of an OFDM system, comprising:

performing channel estimation on a preamble in a received signal to obtain a first estimate;

performing equalization, demodulation and decoding on the received signal to obtain a transmitted signal estimate;

performing a decision feedback based correction on equalized symbols of the received signal,

assigning a reliability weight to demodulated symbols of the received signal according a corresponding signal estimate; and

decoding said demodulated symbols according to the assigned reliability weight, including weighted channel state information (WCSI) decoding performed on the received signal, where a weighted metric is assigned to said demodulated symbols.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising selectively using a smoothing filter on the received signal to improve the channel estimate.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

making a decision pertaining to the use/choice of a smoothing filter to improve the channel estimate, wherein one parameter on which the decision is based is an estimated SNR.

6. A method for improving the performance of an OFDM system, comprising:

performing channel estimation on a preamble in a received signal to obtain a first estimate;

using a smoothing filter on this first estimate to obtain an improved channel estimate, wherein, said smoothing filter is chosen based on an estimated Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR);

performing equalization, demodulation and decoding on the received signal to obtain an estimate of transmitted signal, including weighted channel state information (WCSI) decoding performed on the received signal, where a weighted metric is assigned to said demodulated symbols; and

performing a decision feedback based correction on the received signal.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

assigning a weight to demodulated symbols of the received signal, and

decoding the received signal according to the assigned weight.

8. A method for improving an OFDM system performance, comprising:

performing channel estimation on a preamble in a received signal to obtain a first estimate;

making a decision pertaining to selective use/choice of a smoothing filter to improve the first estimate, wherein one parameter on which said decision is based comprises an estimated SNR;

including performing a decision feedback based correction on the received signal; and

including weighted channel state information (WCSI) decoding performed on the received signal, where a weighted metric is assigned to demodulated symbols of a received signal.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

performing equalization, demodulation and decoding on the received signal to obtain a transmitted signal estimate; and

deciding whether to perform a decision feedback based correction on the received signal to further improve the estimate, wherein the decision whether to perform decision feedback based correction is based on a comparison of a data rate of the received signal with a threshold value, in IEEE 802.11a/g applications.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

assigning a reliability weight to demodulated symbols according to a corresponding channel estimate; and

decoding the demodulated symbols according to the assigned reliability weight.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

performing equalization, demodulation and decoding on the received signal to obtain an estimate of the transmitted signal;

performing a decision feedback based correction on the received signal to further improve the estimate;

assigning a reliability weight to demodulated symbols according to a corresponding channel estimate; and

decoding the demodulated symbols according to the assigned reliability weight.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

performing equalization, demodulation and decoding on the received signal to obtain a transmitted signal estimate;

deciding whether to perform decision feedback based correction to improve equalized symbols in the transmitted signal estimate, wherein the decision whether to perform decision feedback based correction is based on a comparison of a data rate of the received signal with a threshold value in IEEE 802.11a/g applications;

assigning a reliability weight to demodulated symbols in the received signal; and

decoding the demodulated symbols according to the assigned reliability weight.

13. An article comprising:

a storage medium having instructions that, when decoded by a computing platform, will result in a method for improving the performance of an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) system, comprising:

performing channel estimation on a preamble in a received signal to obtain a first estimate;

using a smoothing filter on this first estimate to obtain an improved channel estimate;

performing equalization, demodulation and decoding on the received signal to obtain an estimate of transmitted signal; and

performing a decision feedback based correction on the estimate of transmitted signal, wherein the decision feedback based correction is performed to correct the equalized symbols for an error in a previous channel estimate:

assigning a weight to demodulated symbols of the received signal; and decoding the received signal according to the assigned weight, including weighted channel state information (WCSI) decoding performed on the received signal, where a weighted metric is assigned to said demodulated symbols.

14. An article comprising:

a storage medium having instructions that, when decoded by a computing platform, will result in a method for improving the performance of an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) system, comprising:

performing channel estimation on a preamble in a received signal to obtain a first estimate;

making a decision pertaining to selective use/choice of a smoothing filter to improve the first estimate, wherein one parameter on which said decision is based comprises an estimated SNR;

including performing a decision feedback based correction on the received signal; and

including weighted channel state information (WCSI) decoding performed on the received signal, where a weighted metric is assigned to demodulated symbols of a received signal.

15. An article comprising:

a storage medium having instructions that, when decoded by a computing platform, will result in a method for improving the performance of an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) system, comprising:

performing channel estimation on a preamble in a received signal to obtain a channel estimate;

using a smoothing filter on the received signal to improve the channel estimate, wherein the smoothing filter is chosen based on the estimated SNR; and

performing equalization, demodulation and decoding on the received signal to obtain an estimate of transmitted signal, including weighted channel state information (WCSI) decoding performed on the received signal, where a weighted metric is assigned to said demodulated symbols; and

performing a decision feedback based correction on the received signal.