Method and apparatus for distributed beamforming

1. A method for transmitting a data signal employing a digital beamforming technique comprising:

generating, by a first transmitter, a first symbol in response to the data signal and a first synchronization sequence;

generating, by the first transmitter, a first transmission signal by applying a distributed coding matrix to the first symbol;

generating, by a second transmitter, a second symbol in response to the data signal and a second synchronization sequence;

generating, by the second transmitter, a second transmission signal by applying the distributed coding matrix to the second symbol;

receiving, by a first receiver, the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal,

isolating, by the first receiver, the first transmission signal in response to applying the distributed coding matrix to the first transmission signal;

extracting, by the first receiver, the first symbol from the first transmission signal in response to the first synchronization sequence;

receiving, by a second receiver, the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal;

isolating, by the second receiver, the first transmission signal in response to applying the distributed coding matrix to the second transmission signal;

extracting, by the second receiver, the second symbol in response to the second synchronization sequence; and

estimating, by a processor, the data signal in response to the first symbol and the second symbol.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the distributed coding matrix is a unitary distributed coding matrix wherein each row and column of the unitary distributed coding matrix includes a magnitude and/or phase adjustment term.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first synchronization sequence and the second synchronization sequence form a portion of a joint synchronization-channel estimation scheme.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, by the first receiver, a first correction weight in response to at least one of a first timing offset, a first magnitude offset, a first phase offset and a first frequency offset in response to the first transmission signal;

determining, by the second receiver, a second correction weight in response to at least one of a second timing offset, a second magnitude offset, a second phase offset and a second frequency offset in response to the second transmission signal;

generating an average correction weight in response to the first correction weight and the second correction weight; and

transmitting the average correction weight to the first transmitter and the second transmitter.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein a subsequent first transmission signal is generated in response to the average correction weight and a subsequent second transmission signal is generated in response to the average correction weight.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal are orthogonal frequency division multiplexing modulated signals.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein each row and column of the distributed coding matrix includes a structured magnitude and/or phase term adjustment.

8. A beamforming communications system comprising:

a first transmitter configured for generating a first symbol in response to the data signal and a first training sequence and for generating a first transmission signal by applying a distributed coding matrix to the first symbol;

a second transmitter configured for generating a second symbol in response to the data signal and a second training sequence and for generating a second transmission signal by applying the distributed coding matrix to the second symbol;

a first receiver configured for receiving the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal, for isolating the first transmission signal in response to the distributed coding matrix, and for extracting the first symbol from the first transmission signal in response to applying the first training sequence to the first transmission signal;

a second receiver configured for receiving the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal, isolating the second transmission signal in response to the distributed coding matrix and extracting the second symbol in response to applying the second training sequence to the first transmission signal; and

a processor configured for estimating the data signal in response to the first symbol and the second symbol.

9. The beamforming communications system of claim 8 , wherein the distributed coding matrix is a unitary distributed coding matrix wherein each row and column of the unitary distributed coding matrix includes a structured magnitude and/or phase adjustment term.

10. The beamforming communications system of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the first training sequence and the second training sequence is a pilot signal for estimating a synchronization offset and a channel offset.

11. The beamforming communications system of claim 8 , wherein the first receiver is further configured for determining a first correction weight in response to at least one of a first timing offset, a first magnitude, a first phase offset and a first frequency offset in response to the first transmission signal and the second receiver is further configured for determining a second correction weight in response to at least one of a second timing offset, a second magnitude, a second phase offset and a second frequency offset in response to the second transmission signal and wherein a feedback processor is configured to generate an average correction weight in response to the first correction weight and the second correction weight and to transmit the average correction weight to the first transmitter and the second transmitter.

12. The beamforming communications system of claim 11 , wherein the first transmitter is further configured to generate a subsequent first transmission signal in response to the average correction weight and the second transmitter is further configured to generate a subsequent second transmission signal in response to the average correction weight.

13. The beamforming communications system of claim 8 , wherein the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal are orthogonal frequency division multiplexing modulated signals.

14. The beamforming communications system of claim 8 , wherein each row and column of the distributed coding matrix includes a structured magnitude and/or phase term adjustment.

15. A method of transmitting a data signal comprising:

receiving a data signal;

generating a first sample in response to the data signal and a distributed coding matrix;

generating a second sample in response to the data signal and the distributed coding matrix ;

generating a first transmission signal in response to applying a first synchronization sequence to the first sample;

generating a second transmission signal in response to applying a second synchronization sequence to the second sample;

transmitting the first transmission signal by a first transmitter;

transmitting the second transmission signal by a second transmitter;

receiving the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal;

isolating the first transmission signal in response to the first synchronization sequence;

isolating the second transmission signal in response to the second synchronization sequence;

extracting the first sample by applying the distributed coding matrix to the first transmission signal;

extracting the second sample by applying the distributed coding matrix to the second transmission signal; and

estimating the data signal in response to the first sample and the second sample.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the distributed coding matrix is a unitary distributed coding matrix wherein each row and column of the unitary distributed coding matrix includes structured magnitude and/or phase adjustment terms.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first synchronization sequence and the second synchronization sequence form a portion of a joint synchronization-channel estimation scheme.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

determining, by the first receiver, a first correction weight in response to at least one of a first timing offset, a first magnitude, a first phase offset and a first frequency offset in response to the first transmission signal;

determining, by the second receiver, a second correction weight in response to at least one of a second timing offset, a second magnitude, a second phase offset and a second frequency offset in response to the second transmission signal;

generating an average correction weight in response to the first correction weight and the second correction weight; and

transmitting the average correction weight to the first transmitter and the second transmitter.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein a subsequent first transmission signal is generated in response to the average correction weight and a subsequent second transmission signal is generated in response to the average correction weight.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the first transmission signal and the second transmission signal are orthogonal frequency division multiplexing modulated signals.