Described herein are methods, systems, and apparatus for jointly estimating channel and phase noise in a control symbol. In one example, a method for wireless communication is described that includes inserting a control tone at a first periodicity in a first subcarrier of a control symbol and inserting a pilot tone at a second periodicity in a second subcarrier of the control symbol, the pilot tone being offset from the control tone in the control symbol. The method also includes transmitting the control symbol. In another example, a method for wireless communication is described that includes receiving a control symbol comprising a control tone at a first periodicity, and a pilot tone at a second periodicity, the pilot tone being offset from the control tone in the control symbol. The method also includes performing a phase noise estimation and a channel estimation from the pilot tone.