Patent ID: 8725084
Filing Date: 2014-05-13
Classification: H04B

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: at a first wireless communication device having a plurality of antennas, receiving from a second wireless communication device one or more signals containing information representing a first signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) measurement made by the second wireless communication device with respect to a first multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission mode in which the first wireless communication device uses a space time code technique to transmit a signal stream via the plurality of antennas of the first wireless communication device to the second wireless communication device and a second SNR measurement made by the second wireless communication device with respect to a second MIMO transmission mode in which the first wireless communication device uses a spatial multiplexing technique to transmit multiple signal streams simultaneously via the plurality of antennas to the second wireless communication device; at the first wireless communication device, computing a MIMO channel quality indicator based on a ratio of the first SNR measurement to the second SNR measurement; and at the first wireless communication device, evaluating the MIMO channel quality indicator to determine whether to switch MIMO transmission modes for transmissions to the second wireless communication device.