Patent ID: 7170928

Claim:
A method for estimating data transmission rate in a communication system with variable data transmission rate wherein a transmission signal includes a plurality of data symbols over a sequence of data frames, comprising: classifying a data frame of a received transmission signal in accordance with a predefined classification of the data transmission rates; and estimating the data transmission rate of the received data frame on basis of said classification; wherein the data frames are classified based on a power spectral density function estimate of the received transmission signal; and wherein the estimation of the power spectral density function comprises the steps of: dividing the total number of received data symbols into blocks, wherein each block includes a predefined amount of consecutive points of the signal; calculating an individual Fourier Transform for each of said blocks for receiving squared real and imaginary points for each frequency of the signal; calculating an individual power spectral function estimate of each of the blocks by summing the squared real and imaginary points; and calculating the power spectral density function estimate by averaging the individual power spectral function estimates.