Patent ID: 6999520

Claim:
A method for extending a dynamic range of a communication signal used in performing a Fast Fourier Transform (“FFT”) process, comprising the steps of: obtaining a first communication signal comprising a set of data points, the first communication signal having a set of signal characteristics; enabling an output division of the data points at each output stage of the FFT process during a first communication signal transmission; determining a maximum output communication signal sampled during the first communication signal transmission; predicting a maximum output communication signal for a second signal transmission using the signal characteristics of the first communication signal during the first communication signal transmission; calculating a number of unnecessary output divisions for each output stage of the FFT process during the second signal transmission using the number of unnecessary output divisions determined from the predicted maximum output communication signal in the predicting step and the maximum output communication signal sampled during the first communication signal transmission in the determining step; and selectively disabling the output stage division for at least one output stage of the FFT process during the second signal transmission in accordance with the number of unnecessary output divisions determined in the calculating step.