Patent ID: 8355677

Claim:
A system configured to be implemented in a first wireless device, the system comprising: a sensing module configured to sense whether an interference signal is present in a wireless channel, determine, in response to an interference signal being present in the wireless channel, whether the interference signal is an un-modulated noise signal or a modulated signal transmitted over the wireless channel by a second wireless device, wherein the second wireless device is separate from the first wireless device, and determine, in response to the interference signal being a modulated signal transmitted by a second wireless device, a modulation and coding scheme used by the second wireless device to transmit the modulated signal over the wireless channel; a channel capacity module configured to determine modulation constrained capacities of the wireless channel for a plurality of modulation and coding schemes, wherein a modulation constrained capacity of the wireless channel for a given modulation and coding scheme is a maximum number of bits that can be reliably transmitted over the wireless channel using the given modulation and coding scheme, and wherein the plurality of modulation and coding schemes includes in response to i) the interference signal being a modulated signal transmitted by a second wireless device and ii) the sensing module being able to determine the modulation and coding scheme of the modulated signal, the modulation and coding scheme of the modulated signal, or in response to i) the interference signal being a modulated signal transmitted by a second wireless device and ii) the sensing module not being able to determine the modulation and coding scheme of the modulated signal, one or more modulation and coding schemes that can be used by the second wireless device to transmit the modulated signal over the wireless channel; and a selection module configured to select, based on the modulation constrained capacities, one of the plurality of modulation and coding schemes to transmit a signal from the first wireless device over the wireless channel.