Patent ID: 7218641

Claim:
A method of dynamically adapting the number of available channels in a set of available data transmission channels for use by at least one source device to transmit stored information to a destination device, said method comprising the steps of: computing, at the destination device, at least one received signal statistic; determining, at the destination device, an adjustment to the number of available channels in said set based on said at least one computed received signal statistic; sending a signal from the destination device to the at least one source device indicating the adjusted number of available data transmission channels for transmitting the stored information; and independently selecting, at the source device, a data transmission channel from the adjusted number of available data transmission channels for transmitting the stored information according to a multiple pass transmission algorithm having at least one transmission pass, wherein the data transmission channel is selected based at least in part on the stored information, and wherein the step of sending the signal from the destination device to the at least one source device is at least one of performed at the beginning of and performed during a transmission pass in the multiple pass transmission algorithm.