Pilots suitable for use in MIMO systems and capable of supporting various functions are described. The various types of pilot includea beacon pilot, a MIMO pilot, a steered reference or steered pilot, and a carrier pilot. The beacon pilot is transmitted from all transmit antennas and may be used for timing and frequency acquisition. The MIMO pilot is transmitted from all transmit antennas but is covered with different orthogonal codes assigned to the transmit antennas. The MIMO pilot may be used for channel estimation. The steered reference is transmitted on specific eigenmodes of a MIMO channel and is user terminal specific. The steered reference may be used for channel estimation. The carrier pilot may be transmitted on designated subbands/antennas and may be used for phase tracking of a carrier signal. Various pilot transmission schemes may be devised based on different combinations of these various types of pilot.

Pilots suitable for use in MIMO systems and capable of supporting various functions are described. The various types of pilot includea beacon pilot, a MIMO pilot, a steered reference or steered pilot, and a carrier pilot. The beacon pilot is transmitted from all transmit antennas and may be used for timing and frequency acquisition. The MIMO pilot is transmitted from all transmit antennas but is covered with different orthogonal codes assigned to the transmit antennas. The MIMO pilot may be used for channel estimation. The steered reference is transmitted on specific eigenmodes of a MIMO channel and is user terminal specific. The steered reference may be used for channel estimation. The carrier pilot may be transmitted on designated subbands/antennas and may be used for phase tracking of a carrier signal. Various pilot transmission schemes may be devised based on different combinations of these various types of pilot.

Techniques are disclosed for increasing the reliability of transferring data via in-band signaling in a audio channel of a communication network. Techniques include causing an audio decoding process to modify the decoding of audio signals for the audio channel based on obtaining an indication of in-band signaling. The modified decoding may replace an adaptive de-jitter buffer by a static de-jitter buffer or increase the buffering time of an adaptive de jitter buffer. The decoded audio signals may be provided to an in-band message detector, an audio encoder or an audio playback device based on the indication of in-band signaling. The techniques may be employed by a user equipment, a media gateway control function or a media gateway to improve the reliability of in-band transfer of a minimum set of data (MSD) for a Next Generation eCall.