An antenna selection method for a communication system including a transmitter having a plurality of transmit antennas disposed to transmit a set of spatially-multiplexed RF output signals through a channel using two or more transmit RF chains and a receiver having a plurality of receive antennas disposed to receive the set of spatially-multiplexed RF output signals and to responsively generate a set of spatially-multiplexed received RF signals processed by two or more receive RF chains, the antenna selection method comprising: establishing possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas, the possible subsets comprising two or more transmit and receive antennas, respectively; determining one or more output bit error rates of the receiver corresponding to combinations of ones of the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and ones of the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas; acquiring mode information with respect to a coding/modulation mode corresponding to the combinations of ones of the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and ones of the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas; grouping all combinations of subsets of antennas using the same mode into a common pool; choosing the pool corresponding to the mode yielding maximum data rate; identifying a minimum of the one or more output bit error rates within the chosen pool; selecting one of the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and one of the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas collectively corresponding to the minimum of the one or more output bit error rates; and connecting the two or more of the transmit RF chains to the selected one of the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and the two or more receive RF chains to the selected one of the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas. establishing possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas, the possible subsets comprising two or more transmit and receive antennas, respectively; determining one or more output bit error rates of the receiver corresponding to combinations of ones of the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and ones of the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas; acquiring mode information with respect to a coding/modulation mode corresponding to the combinations of ones of the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and ones of the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas; grouping all combinations of subsets of antennas using the same mode into a common pool; choosing the pool corresponding to the mode yielding maximum data rate; identifying a minimum of the one or more output bit error rates within the chosen pool; selecting one of the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and one of the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas collectively corresponding to the minimum of the one or more output bit error rates; and connecting the two or more of the transmit RF chains to the selected one of the possible subsets of the plurality of transmit antennas and the two or more receive RF chains to the selected one of the possible subsets of the plurality of receive antennas.