A joint detection system and associated methods are provided. The joint detection system is configured to perform joint detection of received signals. The joint detection system includes a programmable digital signal processor (DSP) configured to generate initial channel estimates corresponding to propagation channels, wherein each of the initial channel estimates includes a plurality of values. The programmable DSP is further configured to determine one or more pre-scaling factors for one or more of the initial channel estimates. The pre-scaling factors are at least partially based on at least one of the plurality of values of one or more of the initial channel estimates. The programmable DSP is further configured to pre-scale the initial channel estimates by the pre-scaling factors.