Patent ID: 8126083

Claim:
A method of controlling sampling frequency of a sampling device, wherein the sampling device generates samples in response to receipt of a signal resulting from a transmission of a series of symbols through a channel, the method comprising: estimating a channel impulse response of the channel from the samples; calculating a characteristic of the channel impulse response estimate, wherein the calculating step includes calculating a plurality of candidate characteristics and selecting the characteristic of the channel impulse response estimate from the plurality of candidate characteristics; and determining the sampling frequency in accordance with the calculated characteristic of the channel impulse response estimate; wherein the sampling device is operable in an initialization mode and selecting the characteristic further comprises selecting a first characteristic of the plurality of characteristics as the characteristic of the channel impulse response estimate and the determining step determines the sampling frequency based on the sampling device operating in the initialization mode; and wherein the sampling device is operable in a steady state mode and selecting the characteristic further comprises selecting a second characteristic of the plurality of characteristics which is different than the first characteristic as the characteristic of the channel impulse response estimate and the determining step determines the sampling frequency based on the sampling device operating in the steady state mode.