Patent ID: 7265715

Claim:
A method for decoding signals in a communications device comprising an antenna array, a transceiver coupled to the antenna array, and a processor coupled to the transceiver, the method comprising; receiving source signals at the antenna array, the antenna array comprising N antenna elements for receiving N different summations of the source signals; providing the N different summations of the source signals to the transceiver; evaluating the N different summations of the source signals in the processor by forming an initial mixing matrix comprising the N different summations of the source signals, the initial mixing matrix having a rank equal to or less than N, separating at least one desired source signal from the initial mixing matrix, decoding the at least one desired source signal after the separating, determining a minimum rank of the initial mixing matrix necessary for the at least one desired source signal to be useable after the decoding; and forming an additional mixing matrix comprising the N different summations of the source signals, and if the rank of the additional mixing matrix is less than the minimum rank associated with the initial mixing matrix, then modifying the source signals so that the rank of the additional mixing matrix is increased.