Method and apparatus for transmitting a-priori information in a communication system

1. A method for transmitting a-priori information, the method comprising:

generating, by circuitry of a transmission apparatus, a chirp signal that represents the a-priori information based on a sampling frequency and a channel bandwidth of a signal to be transmitted, the chirp signal including at least one burst with a chirp rate equal to the sampling frequency and with a maximum frequency equal to the channel bandwidth;

appending, by the circuitry, the chirp signal that represents the a-priori information to a data signal; and

transmitting, by a transmitter, the data signal including the appended chirp signal that represents the a-priori information to a reception apparatus.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the chirp signal includes at least two identical bursts.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the chirp signal is appended to a COFDM (coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) frame.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the beginning of one of the at least two identical bursts is detected by a change in frequency between two of the at least two identical bursts.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the chirp signal is appended to a preamble of the COFDM frame.

6. A method for receiving a-priori information, the method comprising:

receiving, by a receiver of a reception apparatus, a transmitted signal, the transmitted signal including a-priori information appended to a data signal;

detecting, by circuitry of the reception apparatus, a chirp signal that represents the a-priori information included in the transmitted signal, the chirp signal including at least one burst with a chirp rate equal to the sampling frequency and with a maximum frequency equal to the channel bandwidth; and

determining, by the circuitry, a sampling frequency and a channel bandwidth associated with the transmitted signal based on the detected chirp signal that represents the a-priori information.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

adjusting a tuner of the receiver that receives the transmitted signal based on the determined channel bandwidth; and

performing analog to digital conversion of the received signal based on the determined sampling frequency.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the step of detecting comprises:

performing FM demodulation of the transmitted signal.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the chirp signal includes at least two identical bursts.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the chirp signal is appended to a COFDM (coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) frame.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the beginning of one of the at least two identical bursts is detected by a change in frequency between two of the at least two identical bursts.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the chirp signal is appended to a preamble of the COFDM frame.

13. A transmission apparatus, comprising:

circuitry configured to:

generate a chirp signal that represents a-priori information based on a sampling frequency and a channel bandwidth of a data signal to be transmitted, the chirp signal including at least one burst with a chirp rate equal to the sampling frequency and with a maximum frequency equal to the channel bandwidth; and

append the chirp signal that represents the a-priori information to the data signal; and

a transmitter configured to transmit the data signal including the appended chirp signal that represents the a-priori information to a reception apparatus.

14. A reception apparatus, comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a transmitted signal, the transmitted signal including a-priori information appended to a data signal; and

circuitry configured to:

detect a chirp signal that represents the a-priori information included in the transmitted signal, the chirp signal including at least one burst with a chirp rate equal to the sampling frequency and with a maximum frequency equal to the channel bandwidth; and

determine a sampling frequency and a channel bandwidth associated with the transmitted signal based on the detected chirp signal that represents the a-priori information.