We first present a statistical parallel interference cancellation (STPIC) technique. Here we propose two different methods: instantaneous STPIC (ISTPIC), in which IC is performed only on the bits whose absolute log likelihood ratio (LLR) is below a pre-selected threshold, and block STPIC (BSTPIC), in which IC is performed only on the blocks whose average signal-to-interference-plus-noise-ratio (SINR) is below a pre-selected threshold. Both LLR and SINR statistics reduce to quantities simple to obtain. It has been shown that both ISTPIC and BSTPIC can achieve performance similar to or better than conventional full PIC (FPIC), but with significantly reduced computational complexity. It is also shown that the proposed ISTPIC has larger performance gain than conventional FPIC in higher loading case where efficient interference cancellation techniques are mostly needed. We also propose a new generalized soft limiter (GSL) that combines the advantage of hard decision and partial soft decision. In GSL, hard decisions are made on “reliable” signals with absolute amplitudes larger than a threshold, whereas partial soft decisions are made on “unreliable” signals with absolute amplitudes less than the threshold. We have shown that PIC using the proposed GSL has performance similar to that using hyperbolic tangent decision, which has been shown to be the optimal decision in the single user case with Gaussian interference and noise, but with easier implementation. Furthermore, we propose new techniques that combine the STPIC with partial PIC or other improved decision techniques, which have shown to be capable of achieving performance similar to or better than original techniques with reduced computational complexity. We also evaluate and compare the performance of different PIC techniques in the presence of imperfect channel estimation and near-far effects. Performance analysis and comparison of different PIC techniques have also been done in multi-rate DS-CDMA systems with different schemes: variable spreading gain, multi-code, and variable chip rate. Finally, we review narrowband interference (NBI) suppression techniques and investigate the performance of a decision feedback scheme aided by the proposed GSL-PIC in the presence of NBI.