A segment-based approach for fast fourier transforms of input signals is provided for the generation of baseband signals. A FFT is performed individually for each of the segments from the input signal and the FFT result from each segment is accumulated to provide a final FFT for an input signal symbol. After the samples are received for one segment, a FFT can be performed to generate an intermediate FFT result while samples for the additional segment(s) are received. The system accumulates the intermediate result from the segments into a final FFT result that can be used to generate the baseband signal. Segment-based processing of an input signal can provide faster and more efficient processing to generate a baseband signal. Segment-based processing can also decrease the required size of the input buffers for antennas.