Patent ID: 8824610

Claim:
A method for performing a clear channel assessment to determine whether a wireless channel is clear for transmission of a transmit signal onto the wireless channel, the method comprising, at a receiver: receiving, through the wireless channel, a plurality of signals, wherein the plurality of signals are respectively received via a plurality of antennas of the receiver; determining a signal strength of each of the plurality of signals; autocorrelating the plurality of signals to respectively generate a plurality of autocorrelated signals; weighting each autocorrelated signal of the plurality of autocorrelated signals based on one or more of the signal strengths determined for each of the plurality of signals; combining each autocorrelated signal, as weighted, to generate a combined signal; demodulating the combined signal; and determining, based at least in part on the demodulation of the combined signal, whether the wireless channel is clear for the transmission of the transmit signal onto the wireless channel.