An apparatus and method are provided to adaptively set a threshold to detect a transmission symbol. The apparatus and method calculate detection parameters to determine the threshold to detect the transmission symbol based on probability distribution parameters, which determine a statistical probability distribution of an input signal. The apparatus and method adaptively detect a present transmission symbol using a previously detected transmission symbol and the detection parameters.

A mobile communication device is provided that includes a receiver configured to receive a signal. The communication device further includes a calculation circuit configured to determine a cumulant value of an order higher than two of the received signal, to determine a function value of the determined cumulant value and to compare the determined function value with a predefined value. The communication device further includes a decoder configured to decode the received signal. The communication device further includes a target signal detector configured to activate the decoder based on the comparison of the function value with the predefined value.