Patent ID: 8842768

Claim:
A method of transmitting data from a first station to a second station, comprising, at the first station: transmitting from the first station in a first time period, a data signal in a first transmission format selected from among a plurality of transmission formats, wherein the transmission of the data signal is discontinuous; transmitting from the first station in said first time period, a pilot signal for channel estimation by the second station, wherein the pilot signal is transmitted during transmission of the data signal in said first time period and during at least some of the time while transmission of the data signal is discontinued; transmitting from the first station in a second time period, a data signal in a second transmission format selected from among said plurality of transmission formats, wherein the transmission of the data signal is discontinuous and the second transmission format is a higher bit rate format than the first transmission format; transmitting from the first station in said second time period, a pilot signal for channel estimation by the second station at a power level that is higher than a power level used to transmit the pilot signal in said first time period, wherein said higher power level of the pilot signal is responsively selected by the first station to compensate for a reduced reliability of transmitting the higher bit rate transmission format of the data signal in said second time period, and wherein the pilot signal is transmitted during transmission of the data signal during said second time period and during at least some of the time while transmission of the data signal is discontinued.