Patent ID: 8149752

Claim:
At a first station of a wireless network, a communication method comprising: comparing data throughputs corresponding to at least two different transmission configurations for transmission of a first communication signal over a first wireless link having the first station as a terminal, at least one of said transmission configurations corresponding to transmission having the first communication signal as a tier of a multi-tier signal and another one of said transmission configurations corresponding to transmission of the first communication signal as a single-tier signal; and from a plurality of wireless links, each having the first station as a terminal and being other than the first wireless link, selecting a second wireless link for transmission of a second communication signal in a transmission configuration in which the first and second communication signals correspond to different tiers of the multi-tier signal, wherein: the step of selecting comprises determining data throughputs corresponding to different wireless links of said plurality and identifying the second wireless link as a link corresponding to a highest of the determined data throughputs; the step of comparing includes comparing said highest of the determined data throughputs and the data throughput corresponding to the single-tier transmission of the first communication signal; and the communication method further comprises selecting a transmission configuration for the transmission of the first communication signal based on said comparison.