Method for operating a radio station in a cellular communication network

1. A method for operating a primary station comprising a transceiver for communicating with at least one secondary station, said transceiver including at least two antennas, the method comprising:

the primary station transmitting to a secondary station for a single spatial channel a first set of reference symbols with a first precoding vector applied before transmission, wherein an element of the first precoding vector has a phase established as zero, and at least one second set of reference symbols with a corresponding second precoding vector applied before transmission, wherein an element of the second precoding vector has a phase established as non-zero, the at least one second set of reference symbols being orthogonal to the first set of reference symbols.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising the primary station providing the secondary station with an identifier of at least one of the first and the second sets of reference symbols.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the primary station transmitting to the secondary station for a second single spatial channel a third set of reference symbols with a third precoding vector applied before transmission and at least one fourth set of reference symbols with a corresponding fourth precoding vector applied before transmission, the third set of reference symbols being orthogonal to the first set of reference symbols, the at least one second set of reference symbols and the at least one fourth set sliding mechanism of reference symbols, and the at least one fourth set of reference symbols being orthogonal to the first set of reference symbols and the at least one second set of reference symbols.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the third precoding vector is equal to the first precoding vector and the fourth precoding vector is equal to the second precoding vector.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and the second sets of reference symbols are arranged so that a signal resulting from a sum of the first set of reference symbols precoded with the first precoding vector and of the second set of reference symbols precoded with the second precoding vector is of constant amplitude.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the primary station applies a phase rotation to at least one of: the first set of reference symbols and the second sets of reference symbols wherein a signal resulting from a sum of the first set of reference symbols precoded with the first precoding vector and the second set of reference symbols precoded with the second precoding vector is of constant amplitude across said at least two antennas.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the primary station signals the applied phase rotation to the secondary station.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

at least one of the plurality of primary stations transmitting for a further single spatial channel a third set of reference symbols with a third precoding vector applied before transmission and at least one fourth set of reference symbols with a corresponding fourth precoding vector applied before transmission, wherein the primary station applies a rotation to the third and the fourth precoding vectors so that a transmission power level is the same on each transmitting antenna.

9. A method for operating a plurality of primary stations, each comprising a transceiver for communicating with at least one secondary station, said transceiver including at least two antennas, the method comprising:

a first one of the plurality of the primary stations transmitting to a secondary station for a single spatial channel a first set of reference symbols with a first precoding vector applied before transmission, wherein an element of the first precoding vector has a phase established as zero and a second one of the plurality of the primary stations transmitting to said secondary station at least one second set of reference symbols with a corresponding second precoding vector applied before transmission, wherein an element of the second precoding vector has a phase established as non-zero, the at least one second set of reference symbols being orthogonal to the first set of reference symbols.

10. A method for operating a secondary station, the secondary station comprising a transceiver for communicating with at least one primary station, the method comprising:

receiving from the primary station for a single spatial channel a first set of reference symbols and at least one second set of reference symbols the at least one second set of reference symbols being orthogonal to the first set of reference symbols, and

computing a phase difference between a phase of the received first set of reference symbols and a phase of at least one of the received at least one second set of reference symbols, wherein an element of the first set of reference symbols has a phase established as zero and an element of the second set of reference symbols has a phased established as non-zero.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising the secondary station signaling the phase difference to the at least one primary station.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the computing of the phase difference includes the secondary station making channel estimates for each of the first and the second sets of reference symbols.

13. A primary station comprising:

a transceiver for communicating with a plurality of secondary stations, said transceiver including at least two antennas, the transceiver transmitting to a secondary station for a single spatial channel a first set of reference symbols with a first precoding vector applied before transmission, wherein at least one element has a phase established as zero, and at least one second set of reference symbols with a corresponding second precoding vector applied before transmission, wherein at least one element has a phase established as non-zero, the at least one second set of reference symbols being orthogonal to the first set of reference symbols.

14. A secondary station comprising:

a transceiver communicating with at least one primary station, the transceiver receiving from the primary station for a single spatial channel a first set of reference symbols and at least one second set of reference symbols, the at least one second set of reference symbols being orthogonal to the first set of reference symbols, and

control means:

computing a phase difference between a phase of the received first set of reference symbols and a phase of at least one of the received at least one second set of reference symbols, wherein an element of the first set of reference symbols has a phase established as a zero phase and an element of the second set of reference symbols has a phased established as a non-zero phase, and

transmitting said phase difference to said primary station.

15. A method for operating a primary station comprising a transceiver for communicating with at least one secondary station, said transceiver including at least two antennas, the method comprising:

the primary station transmitting to a secondary station, for a single spatial channel, a first set of reference symbols with a first precoding vector applied before transmission and at least one second set of reference symbols with a corresponding second precoding vector applied before transmission, the at least one second set of reference symbols being orthogonal to the first set of reference symbols, wherein a phase of the first element of the first precoding vector has a phase value established as zero.

16. A method for operating a primary station comprising a transceiver for communicating with at least one secondary station, said transceiver including at least two antennas, the method comprising:

the primary station transmitting to a secondary station, for a single spatial channel, a first set of reference symbols with a first precoding vector applied before transmission and at least one second set of reference symbols with a corresponding second precoding vector applied before transmission, the at least one second set of reference symbols being orthogonal to the first set of reference symbols and the first and the second sets of reference symbols are arranged so that a signal resulting from a sum of the first set of reference symbols precoded with the first precoding vector and of the second set of reference symbols precoded with the second precoding vector is of constant amplitude.

17. A method for operating a primary station comprising a transceiver for communicating with at least one secondary station, said transceiver including at least two antennas, the method comprising:

the primary station transmitting to a secondary station for a single spatial channel a first set of reference symbols with a first precoding vector applied before transmission and at least one second set of reference symbols with a corresponding second precoding vector applied before transmission, the at least one second set of reference symbols being orthogonal to the first set of reference symbols wherein the primary station applies a same first phase rotation to each of the symbols in the first set of reference symbols and a same second phase rotation to each of the symbols in the second set of reference symbols, wherein the phase of a symbol in the first set of symbols is established as a zero phase and the phase of a symbol in the second set of symbols is established as a non-zero phase.