1. A method for processing a composite receive signal, the composite receive signal comprising a first channel and a second channel, the method comprising: estimating the first channel to generate a first estimate; cancelling the first estimate from the composite receive signal; decoding the second channel to generate decoded symbols; re-estimating the first channel based at least in part on the decoded symbols to generate a second estimate; and cancelling a residual estimate from the composite receive signal, the residual estimate comprising the difference between the first and second channel estimates.

2. The method of claim 1, the first channel comprising a pilot, the second channel comprising data, the estimating the first channel comprising: correlating the composite signal with a pilot pattern; and spreading the result of the correlating with the pilot pattern.

3. The method of claim 1, the first channel comprising a pilot, the second channel comprising data, the re-estimating the first channel comprising: correlating the composite signal with the pilot pattern and the decoded symbols; and spreading the result of the correlating with the pilot pattern.

4. The method of claim 3, the method further comprising storing the first estimate in a pilot memory, the re-estimating the first channel further comprising: adding the first estimate to the composite signal prior to the correlating.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising weighting the residual estimate with a function of the signal-to-noise ratio associated with the second estimate prior to cancelling the residual estimate from the composite receive signal.

6. The method of claim 1, the composite receive signal further comprising a third channel, the method further comprising: reconstructing the second channel based on the decoded symbols to generate a reconstructed second channel; cancelling the reconstructed second channel from the composite receive signal; and decoding the third channel to further generate decoded symbols.

7. The method of claim 6, the first channel comprising a pilot of a first user, the second channel comprising traffic data of a first user, the third channel comprising traffic data of a second user.

8. The method of claim 6, comprising re-estimating the first channel prior to cancelling the reconstructed second channel from the composite receive signal.

9. A method for processing a composite receive signal, the composite receive signal comprising a first channel and a second channel, the method comprising: successfully decoding the second channel to generate decoded symbols; estimating the first channel to generate a first estimate; cancelling the first estimate from the composite receive signal prior to successfully decoding the second channel; estimating the first channel based at least in part on the decoded symbols after decoding the second channel to generate a second estimate; and cancelling the second estimate from the composite receive signal

10. The method of claim 9, the cancelling the second estimate from the composite receive signal comprising: cancelling the second estimate from a portion of the composite receive signal received after the successfully decoding the second channel

11. The method of claim 9, the estimating the first channel to generate the second estimate further comprising: estimating the first channel based on symbols of the second channel received after the successfully decoding the second channel

12. The method of claim 9, the estimating the first channel based at least in part on the decoded symbols comprising: generating an expected transmit pattern for the second channel received after the successfully decoding the second channel, the generating the expected transmit pattern comprising re-encoding the decoded symbols; and estimating the first channel by comparing the expected transmit pattern for the second channel with the composite receive signal

13. The method of claim 12, the estimating the first channel based at least in part on the decoded symbols further comprising comparing the expected transmit pattern for the first channel with the composite receive signal

14. The method of claim 9, the first channel comprising a pilot, the second channel comprising data, the estimating the first channel based at least in part on the decoded symbols comprising: correlating the composite signal with the pilot pattern and the decoded symbols; and spreading the result of the correlating with the pilot pattern

15. The method of claim 9, the second channel formatted as a plurality of frames, the successfully decoding the second channel comprising successfully decoding a frame of the second channel, the estimating the first channel based at least in part on the decoded symbols comprising: generating an expected transmit pattern for the remainder of the successfully decoded frame; and comparing the expected transmit pattern with the composite receive signal

16. A method for processing a composite receive signal, the composite receive signal comprising a first channel and a second channel, the method comprising: estimating the first channel to generate a first estimate; cancelling the first estimate from the composite receive signal; decoding the second channel to generate decoded symbols; reconstructing the second channel based on the decoded symbols to generate a reconstructed second channel; cancelling the reconstructed second channel from the composite receive signal; re-estimating the first channel after the cancelling the reconstructed second channel to generate a second estimate; and cancelling a residual estimate from the composite receive signal, the residual estimate comprising the difference between the first and second channel estimates

17. The method of claim 16, the first channel comprising a known pilot pattern, the re- estimating the first channel comprising correlating the composite receive signal with the pilot pattern

18. A method for processing a composite receive signal, the composite receive signal comprising a first channel and a second channel, the method comprising: estimating the first channel to generate a first estimate; cancelling the first estimate from the composite receive signal; decoding the second channel to generate decoded symbols; reconstructing the second channel based on the decoded symbols to generate a reconstructed second channel; cancelling the reconstructed second channel from the composite receive signal; re-estimating the first channel after the cancelling the reconstructed second channel to generate a second estimate, the re-estimating based at least in part on the decoded symbols; and cancelling a residual estimate from the composite receive signal, the residual estimate comprising the difference between the first and second channel estimates

19. An apparatus for processing a composite receive signal, the composite receive signal comprising a first channel and a second channel, the apparatus comprising: a decoder configured to early decode the second channel to generate decoded symbols; a channel estimator configured to estimate the first channel based on the first channel to generate a first estimate, the channel estimator further configured to estimate the first channel based at least in part on successfully decoded symbols of the second channel to generate a second estimate; and a canceller configured to cancel the first estimate from the composite receive signal prior to successfully decoding the second channel, and to cancel the second estimate from the composite receive signal after successfully decoding the second channel.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, the channel estimator further configured to: generate an expected transmit pattern for the second channel received after successfully decoding the second channel by re-encoding the decoded symbols; and estimate the first channel by comparing the expected transmit pattern for the second channel with the composite receive signal.

21. An apparatus for processing a composite receive signal, the composite receive signal comprising a first channel and a second channel, the apparatus comprising: means for early decoding the second channel to generate decoded symbols; means for estimating the first channel based on successfully decoded symbols of the second channel to generate a first channel estimate; and means for cancelling the first channel estimate from the composite receive signal after successfully decoding the second channel.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, the means for estimating comprising: means for generating an expected transmit pattern for the second channel received after successfully decoding the second channel by re-encoding the decoded symbols; and means for estimating the first channel by comparing the expected transmit pattern for the second channel with the composite receive signal.

23. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for causing a computer to: successfully decode the second channel to generate decoded symbols; estimate the first channel to generate a first estimate; cancel the first estimate from the composite receive signal prior to successfully decoding the second channel; estimate the first channel based at least in part on the decoded symbols after decoding the second channel to generate a second estimate; and cancel the second estimate from the composite receive signal.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, the instructions for causing a computer to estimate the first channel to generate the second estimate comprising instruction for causing a computer to: generate an expected transmit pattern for the second channel received after the successfully decoding the second channel by re-encoding the decoded symbols; and estimate the first channel by comparing the expected transmit pattern for the second channel with the composite receive signal.']