1. Method for estimating a plurality of symbols transmitted by a first plurality (M) of transmit antennas at a given emission time or a plurality of symbols subjected to a space-time dispersion coding prior to transmission by said first plurality (M) of transmit antennas over a second plurality (L) of transmission times, the method using the signals received by a third plurality (N) of receive antennas, each symbol belonging to a modulation constellation, and comprising the steps of: forming a vector ({tilde over (y)}) representative of said received signals at a reception time or at a second plurality (L) of consecutive reception times; searching the closest neighbour of said vector among candidate vectors (z) belonging to a lattice of points generated by a plurality of generating vectors (v 1, v 2,..., v &kgr; ), said lattice including a subset of points (Π) representative of any combination of said possible symbols, the search being limited to a volume around said vector and being carried out by sequentially selecting a coordinate (b i ) of a candidate vector for each dimension of said vector in a representation associated with said generating vectors; characterised in that the components of said vector are reordered according to an ordering rule (&pgr;) prior to said search, the ordering rule being chosen so as to eliminate a higher proportion of candidate vectors for a first dimension than for a subsequent dimension to be searched.