Patent ID: 8306153

Claim:
A method of tracking phase in a digital receiver, the receiver configured to receive radio frequency signals modulated with data including coded symbols and uncoded symbols, the method comprising: demodulating, in a demodulator, the received radio frequency signals to produce the coded symbols and the uncoded symbols; decoding, in a decoder, the coded symbols to produce corresponding decoded symbols; generating a plurality of symbol decisions related to the received radio frequency signals; determining a phase tracking threshold value; estimating an imaginary component of a transmitted signal based on the plurality of symbol decisions; selecting, in a phase tracking module, one of a first phase tracking technique and a second phase tracking technique, wherein the first phase tracking technique is selected when an absolute value of a phase estimate is greater than the phase tracking threshold value, and the second phase tracking technique is selected when the absolute value of the phase estimate is less than the phase tracking threshold value; and tracking phase using the selected phase tracking technique.