Methods for selecting a coarse frequency offset estimation for an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing modulated signal

1. A method for selecting a coarse frequency offset in the demodulation of a received orthogonal frequency division multiplexing modulated signal, comprising:

selecting a frequency offset search range;

searching within a predefined subset of said frequency offset search range to generate a set of frequency offset candidates having one or more frequency offset candidates, the frequency offset candidates having maximum intercarrier differential correlation (“ICDC”);

searching outside of the predefined subset for additional frequency offset candidates having maximum ICDC and updating the set of frequency offset candidates with these additional frequency offset candidates; and

choosing a frequency offset from the set of frequency offset candidates, as the coarse frequency offset for demodulation of the received signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the first searching step, searching continuously within the predefined subset for frequency offset candidates having maximum ICDC.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the first searching step, searching within the predefined subset for frequency offset candidates having maximum ICDC as a function of their amplitude and phase.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the frequency offset candidates are sorted with respect to amplitude and phase.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the second searching step, searching selectively outside of the predefined subset for frequency offset candidates having maximum ICDC.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the second searching step, searching outside of the predefined subset for frequency offset candidates having maximum ICDC as a function of their amplitude and phase.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the second searching step, only frequency offsets that are integer multiples of a given value are searched.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the chosen frequency offset provides the strongest path power in a corresponding channel impulse response.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the chosen offset is verified using channel impulse response based phase reference sequence verification procedures.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein, after the choosing step, verifying the chosen offset as a function of signal to noise ratio.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein, verifying the chosen offset as a function of ICDC and channel impulse response based procedures.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein, if the chosen offset is not one of the frequency offset candidates from the first searching step, verifying the chosen frequency offset as a function of the path powers of the frequency offset candidates.

13. A method for selecting a coarse frequency offset in the demodulation of a received orthogonal frequency division multiplexing modulated signal, comprising:

selecting a frequency offset search range;

searching continuously within a predefined subset of said frequency offset search range to generate a set of frequency offset candidates having one or more frequency offset candidates, the frequency offset candidates having maximum intercarrier differential correlation (“ICDC”);

searching selectively outside of the predefined subset for additional frequency offset candidates having maximum ICDC and updating the set of frequency offset candidates with these additional frequency offset candidates; and

choosing a frequency offset from the set of frequency offset candidates, as the coarse frequency offset for demodulation of the received signal, wherein the chosen frequency offset provides the strongest path power in the corresponding channel impulse response and as a function of signal to noise ratio.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein in the searching steps, the searched frequency offset candidates have maximum ICDC as a function of their amplitude and phase.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the frequency offset candidates are sorted with respect to amplitude and phase.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein in the second searching step, only frequency offsets that are integer multiples of a given value are searched.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein, if the chosen offset is not one of the frequency offset candidates from the first searching step, verifying the chosen frequency offset as a function of the path powers of the frequency offset candidates.

18. A method for selecting a coarse frequency offset in the demodulation of a received orthogonal frequency division multiplexing modulated signal, comprising:

selecting a frequency offset search range;

searching continuously within a predefined subset of said frequency offset search range to generate a set of frequency offset candidates having one or more frequency offset candidates, the frequency offset candidates having maximum intercarrier differential correlation (“ICDC”) as a function of their amplitude and phase;

searching selectively outside of the predefined subset for additional frequency offset candidates having maximum ICDC as a function of their amplitude and phase, and updating the set of frequency offset candidates with these additional frequency offset candidates, wherein only frequency offsets that are integer multiples of a given value are searched; and

choosing a frequency offset from the set of frequency offset candidates, as the coarse frequency offset for demodulation of the received signal, wherein the chosen frequency offset provides the strongest path power in a corresponding channel impulse response, and wherein the chosen frequency offset is verified using channel impulse response based phase reference sequence verification procedures and as a function of signal to noise ratio.