Patent ID: 8351534

Claim:
A method of maximal ratio combining in a wireless radio network, the method comprising: receiving a first signal comprising a packet-based waveform structure at a first receiver, each packet of the waveform comprising a preamble segment, a payload segment, and a packet self discovery segment, the preamble segment comprising a plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) symbols; receiving a second signal comprising the waveform structure at a second receiver; acquiring a time of arrival of the first signal at the first receiver based on individually correlating each OFDM symbol of the preamble segment to provide a first series of correlations and summing the first series of correlations; acquiring a time of arrival of the second signal at the second receiver based on individually correlating each OFDM symbol of the preamble segment to provide a second series of correlations and summing the second series of correlations; normalizing the first signal based on pilot symbols encoded within the payload segment of the waveform structure to provide a first normalized signal; normalizing the second signal based on the pilot symbols encoded within the payload segment of the waveform structure to provide a second normalized signal; and combining the first and second normalized signals using a maximal ratio combiner coupled to each of the first and second receivers to provide a received signal.