Method and wireless systems using multiple antennas and adaptive control for maximizing a communication parameter

Abstract

A method of maximizing a communication parameter, such as data capacity, signal quality or throughput of a channel between a transmit unit with M transmit antennas and a receive unit with N receive antennas and a communication system such as a wireless network (including networks with multiple access techniques such as TDMA, FDMA, CDMA, OFDMA) employing the method. The data is first processed to produce parallel spatial-multiplexed streams SM, where i=1 . . . k, which are converted or mapped to transmit signals TS, where p=1 . . . M, assigned for transmission from the M transmit antennas. Corresponding receive signals RS, where j=1 . . . N, are received by the N receive antennas of the receiver and used to assess a quality parameter, such as a statistical signal parameter including SINR, SNR, power level, level crossing rate, level crossing duration of the signal of a predetermined threshold and reception threshold, or a parameter of the data, such as BER or packet error rate. The quality parameter is used to adaptively adjust k as well as other parameters such as coding and mapping to transmit antennas such that the communication parameter of the channel is maximized.