Patent ID: 8094570

Claim:
A method for a first communication station receiving data through orthogonal resources, while hopping between the orthogonal resources, from a plurality of second communication stations located within a cell region provided by the first communication station, the method comprising: determining whether a hopping pattern collision has occurred with respect to whether at least two different second communication stations of the plurality of second communication stations transmit the data at the same time using the same orthogonal resources; and detecting data transmitted from the at least two second communication stations whose hopping patterns have collided against each other based on wireless channel characteristics estimated with respect to the collided second communication stations when the hopping pattern collision is sensed, wherein detecting the data comprises: forming a constellation with respect to data signals received from the at least two collided second communication stations by reference to the estimated wireless channel characteristics; and decoding the data from data signals based on coordinates on the constellation of the data signals received from the at least two collided second communication stations, and wherein decoding the data comprises: calculating a likelihood metric based on the coordinates on the constellation of the data signals; and estimating data symbols by reference to a size or a sign of the calculated likelihood metric.