Patent ID: 7822155

Claim:
A method of estimating interference in a user equipment in a code division multiple access communication system, in which a pilot channel uses a scrambling code and the user equipment uses an alternative scrambling code on a dedicated channel determined by a channelization code, comprising the steps of: the user equipment determining whether the user equipment knows of an empty channelization code m under the alternative scrambling code; if the empty channelization code m is known to the user equipment, then the user equipment using the empty channelization code m for estimating the interference; and if the empty channelization code m is not known to the user equipment, then the user equipment estimating the interference by determining a variance of symbols in at least two portions of the dedicated channel, wherein the variance represents an average squared difference between complex amplitudes of despread received symbols in the at least two portions of the dedicated channel and a mean of complex amplitudes of despread received symbols in the at least two portions of the dedicated channel.