Patent ID: 8582535

Claim:
A base station that communicates with a plurality of subscriber stations according to a multicarrier protocol, wherein the base station is configured to receive uplink signals transmitted by the plurality of subscriber stations and to measure therein a channel quality of each of a plurality of uplink acknowledgment signal channels, wherein the base station is further configured to transmit a first control message to a first one of the plurality of subscriber stations, the first control message comprising a first acknowledgment resource indication that indicates both a first antenna and a first selected one of the uplink acknowledgment signal channels for transmitting a first acknowledgment signal by the first subscriber station based on a first measured channel quality associated with the first selected uplink acknowledgment signal channel, and wherein the base station is further configured to transmit a second control message to the first subscriber station, the second control message comprising a second acknowledgment resource indication that indicates both a second antenna and a second selected one of the uplink acknowledgment signal channels for transmitting a second acknowledgment signal by the first subscriber station based on a second measured channel quality associated with the second selected uplink acknowledgment signal channel.