Patent ID: 7069036

Claim:
A method of transmitting data to a plurality of receivers, each individual receiver disposed in one of a plurality of cells, comprising: defining a first set of receivers from at least a portion of the plurality of receivers according to a first desired power level range, comprising designating a first receiver as a member of the first set if a desired power level of the signal received by the first receiver is within the first desired power level range; and designating a second receiver as a member of the first set if a desired power level of the signal received by the second receiver is within a first desired power level range; defining a first group of receivers from the first set of receivers according to a first spatial isolation constraint comprising designating the first receiver as a member of a first group; designating the second receiver as a member of the first group if the second receiver is spatially isolated from the firs receiver; and rejecting the second receiver as a member of the first group if the second receiver is not spatially isolated from the first receiver; defining a second set of receivers from a remaining plurality of receivers not a member of the first set of receivers according to a second desired power level range, comprising designating a third receiver as a member of the second set if a desired power level of the signal transmitted to the third receiver is with the second desired power level range; and designating a fourth receiver as a member of the second set if a desired power level of the signal transmitted to the third receiver is within the second desired power level range; defining a second groups of receivers from the second set according to a second spatial isolation constraint comprising designating the third receiver as a member of a second group; designating the fourth receiver as a member of the second group if the second receiver is spatially isolated from the third receiver; and rejecting the fourth receiver as a member of the second group if the fourth receiver is not spatially isolated from the third receiver; and assigning a first transmission channel to the first group and a second transmission channel to the second group.