Patent ID: 8638742

Claim:
A method for data transmission on a plurality of subcarrier frequency bands, comprising: determining a number of subcarrier frequency bands allocated for a reference symbol identified as muted; determining whether to mute all of the plurality of subcarrier frequency bands by applying a predetermined rule to the determined number, wherein, if a determination not to mute all of the plurality of subcarrier frequency bands is made, the method further comprising: identifying subcarrier frequency bands available for transmitting data elements; determining a set of pairs of subcarrier frequency bands from said identified available subcarrier frequency bands, each pair including a first subcarrier frequency band and a second subcarrier frequency band adjacent to the first subcarrier frequency band, wherein each subcarrier frequency band is associated with no more than one pair; and simultaneously transmitting each of a plurality of data elements on both of the first and second subcarrier frequency bands in a corresponding pair within the determined set of pairs.