Patent ID: 7583770

Claim:
A method of reducing a phase error caused by a plurality of error sources in a signal which is present in a digital frequency representation in the form of a sequence of a plurality of digital partial signals which are associated with a number of subcarriers (k) of a carrier, comprising, for each partial signal, the steps of: equalization of the partial signal (Y(i,k)), estimation of the phase error of the equalized partial signal (X(i,k)), and correction of the estimated phase error of the equalized partial signal, characterized in that: the equalization step includes a step of at least partially eliminating an accumulation of a phase error of the partial signal, caused by a sampling frequency error, over the sequence of the partial signals, such that the accumulation is negligible, the estimation step includes a step of detecting a plurality of predetermined pilot signals and a step of determining a phase correction factor on the basis of the detected pilot signals, wherein at least one multiplication operation is carried out solely by means of shift and adding operations, the equalization step includes a step of division of the partial signal by a complex second signal which has the phase of the partial signal preceding in the sequence of the partial signals, wherein the second signal represents a frequency response function of the associated subcarrier for the preceding partial signal in the sequence of partial signals, the method further includes a step, effected for each partial signal with the exception of the pilot partial signals, of determining the frequency response function on the basis of a preceding partial signal in the sequence of partial signals, and the step of determining the frequency response function includes a division of the preceding partial signal in the sequence by a third signal, wherein the third signal represents the equalized, phase-corrected and decoded and then recoded preceding partial signal.