Patent ID: 7957351

Claim:
A base station comprising: a receiver configured to receive a capabilities message from an access terminal indicating whether the access terminal is capable of multi-carrier communication; and a transmitter configured to transmit a switch command message to the access terminal when the capabilities message indicates that the access terminal is capable of multi-carrier communication, the switch command message instructing the access terminal to switch between a diversity mode where each antenna module of a plurality of antenna modules receives a single carrier signal transmitted at a single carrier frequency and a multi-carrier mode where a first antenna module of the plurality of antenna modules receives a first multi-carrier signal transmitted at a first carrier frequency and a second antenna module receives a second multi-carrier signal transmitted at a second carrier frequency, wherein the switch command message is a multi-carrier switch command message comprising a multi-carrier switch indicator instructing the access terminal to switch to the multi-carrier mode, wherein the multi-carrier switch command message further comprises a multi-carrier channel indicator assigning channels to the access terminal, and wherein the multi-carrier switch command message is a modified Packet Downlink Assignment message in accordance with a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) Enhanced Data for Global Evolution (EDGE) Radio Access Network (GERAN) standard protocol.