A rake receiver for use in direct-sequence code-division multiple-access communication systems employs a novel channel estimator capable of resolving multipath components spaced closer than a chip interval of the direct-sequence signature sequence. The estimator utilizes a constrained iterative deconvolution technique which employs projection onto convex sets (POCS). In a matched filter rake receiver embodiment, the delay T.sub.SC between two taps of a delay line is smaller than the duration T.sub.C of a chip of pseudo-random sequence. A rake receiver constructed in this manner is capable of detecting signals that have propagated through multipath channels and that have path components spaced closer than one chip of the signal sequence (i.e. closer than the inverse of the signal bandwidth).