Patent ID: 7139331

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a communication receiver that receives a data signal having a data frame that has a plurality of redundant training tones; and wherein: the communication receiver employs vector orthogonal frequency division multiplexing; the communication receiver is operable to characterize a finite impulse response of a communication channel, the communication channel being a multi-path communication channel; the communication receiver is operable to determine a maximum allowable delay spread using the plurality of redundant training tones, the maximum allowable delay spread corresponding to a maximally dispersed communication path within the multi-path communication channel; the communication receiver transforms the finite impulse response of the communication channel from a frequency domain to a time domain; the communication receiver zeroes a portion of the finite impulse response for the communication channel that is greater than the maximum allowable delay spread; the communication receiver transforms the finite impulse response for the communication channel, having the zeroed portion, back from the time domain to the frequency domain; and the communication receiver employs the plurality of redundant training tones to perform improved channel estimation of the communication channel.