Patent ID: 6999472

Claim:
Apparatus for a sending station operable in a communication system for sending data upon a channel susceptible to distortion, the sending station having a first location from which the data is sent and at least a second location from which the data is sent, said apparatus for space-time encoding the data at a selected coding rate, the selected coding rate a selected one of a first coding rate and at least a second coding rate, said apparatus comprising: a space-time encoder coupled to receive indications of the selected coding rate and to receive the data formed of data symbols to be sent by the sending station, said space-time encoder encoding each data symbol of the data symbols into a set of coded symbols that forms a code vector, and providing, at successive time periods, permutations of the coded symbols of each code vector to each of the first location and the at least the second location, such that, at completion of the successive time periods, each coded symbol of the set is sent from each of the first and at least second locations.