This thesis proposes a multistage RAKE receiver for use at the base station of a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) cellular communications system. This receiver combines the interference rejection capability of multiuser receivers with the robust performance of a RAKE receiver in the presence of multipath interference. Unlike previous multiuser receiver designs, this multistage RAKE receiver requires no a priori information about the time-vary multipath radio channel.

The thesis presents a mathematical description of the multistage receiver, and a software simulation of the receiver performance. A wide range of channel models are considered which include the effects of Gaussian noise, multipath propagation, imperfect power control and multiple access interference for the reverse link CDMA channel. Under a wide range of conditions, the multistage RAKE receiver is able to support two to three times as many users as a conventional single stage RAKE receiver. The receiver is also shown to be robust to the near-far problem.