Patent ID: 8724555

Claim:
A method for transmitting a pilot, comprising: receiving an assignment of a first group of subcarriers for pilot transmission by a first access terminal, wherein the first group of subcarriers is one of a plurality of groups of subcarriers assignable to access terminals for pilot transmission, each group of the plurality of groups comprising subcarriers that are non-contiguous with any other subcarrier of said each group, and wherein subcarriers in the first group of subcarriers for pilot transmission are interlaced with subcarriers in a second group of subcarriers for pilot transmission among the plurality of groups, with at least one subcarrier in the first group being located between two consecutive subcarriers in the second group; and transmitting a first pilot signal on the first group of subcarriers by the first access terminal on uplink to an access point, wherein a second pilot signal is transmitted by a second access terminal on the second group of subcarriers to the access point, and wherein the first pilot signal from the first access terminal is interlaced with the second pilot signal from the second access terminal across frequency, the first pilot signal being sent on the at least one subcarrier in the first group, and the second pilot signal being sent on one or more subcarriers with frequency lower than the at least one subcarrier in the first group and on one or more additional subcarriers with frequency higher than the at least one subcarrier in the first group.