component based on the determined phase values, otherwise, discarding the phase values as being unreliable. 

In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a method for generating reliable channel state information in a wireless multi-user MISO satellite communication system employing precoding is provided. The method comprises the following steps: 

a) at a receiver, receiving a signal from a satellite, the signal comprising a plurality of waveform components, each waveform component being subdivided into frame units, wherein each frame unit comprises a first field that is not subjected to precoding and that indicates a start of the respective frame unit and a plurality of second fields that are not subjected to the precoding, each of said second fields comprising a pilot sequence; 

b) for a waveform component of the plurality of waveform components, determining the start of a frame unit of the waveform component, and determining positions of said plurality of second fields at the receiver; 

c) for said waveform component, determining phase values of the pilot sequences comprised in said plurality of second fields at the receiver; 

d) if the standard deviation of said plurality of phase values is lower than a predetermined threshold value, generating at the receiver a reliable channel coefficient corresponding to the waveform component based on the determined phase values, otherwise, discarding the phase values as being unreliable. 

Preferably, the predetermined threshold value may be π /2. Alternatively, the threshold may be selected as a function of the carrier noise levels. 

Preferably, only for a reference waveform component of the plurality of waveform components, step b) may further comprise : 

bl) at the receiver, estimating a frequency value of the reference waveform component, tim e synchronizing said reference waveform component and re-sampling the reference waveform component, to obtain a re-sampled reference waveform component; 

Further preferably, only for said reference waveform component, step c) may further comprise: 

cl) at the receiver, determining the absolute phase values of said pilot sequences comprised in said plurality of second fields in the frame unit of the re-sampled reference waveform component. 

