Patent 7277493 was granted and assigned to Agere Systems on October, 2007 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A COFDM demodulator providing independent DQPSK symbol amplitude and phase equalization provides improved soft-symbol estimates by reducing the possibility of clipping in the differential demodulator, improving the tolerance of the differential demodulator to finite word length effects, correcting for phase drifting between adjacent subcarriers, and improving signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) calculation accuracy for maximal ratio combining applications. Separate acquisition and tracking modes for the amplitude and phase equalizers are provided that handle start-up, reacquisition, and steady-state operation of the demodulator.