Patent ID: 7386060

Claim:
A method of reducing a peak-to-average power ratio of a signal to be transmitted, the method comprising: detecting a portion of the signal being above a clipping threshold level, decomposing the portion of the signal being above the clipping threshold level into a number of symmetric elementary functions, each with a single maximum, the number of functions being proportional to a duration of the portion of the signal, and performing soft-clippings of the portion of the signal being above the clipping threshold level by using a scaled reference function which is subtracted from each of the elementary functions into which the portion of the signal being above the clipping threshold level is decomposed and such that the subtracted elementary functions reduce a peak power of said portion of the signal being above the clipping threshold level of the signal to be transmitted, wherein positions for subtracting the scaled reference function from each of the elementary functions and the scaling of the reference function are given respectively by a position of a maximum and an amplitude at the maximum of the corresponding elementary functions, such that the position of the maximum of each of the elementary functions and the corresponding amplitude at the maximum of each of the elementary functions provide locations and amplitudes for the soft-clipping of the portion of the signal being above the clipping threshold level.