Patent ID: 8483188

Claim:
A method of transmitting data in a wireless multiple-access multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system, comprising: selecting a first user terminal for data transmission in a first transmission interval; selecting a first spatial multiplexing mode to use for the first user terminal based on channel state information, the first spatial multiplexing mode being a steered spatial multiplexing mode; selecting a second user terminal for data transmission in a second transmission interval; selecting a second spatial multiplexing mode to use for the second user terminal based on channel state information, the second spatial multiplexing mode being a non-steered spatial multiplexing mode; scheduling the first user terminal for data transmission in the first transmission interval with the first spatial multiplexing mode; scheduling the second user terminal for data transmission in the second transmission interval with the second spatial multiplexing mode; spatially processing a first plurality of data streams, having a selection of a first plurality of rates, with a plurality of steering vectors to transmit the first plurality of data streams on a first plurality of orthogonal spatial channels of a first MIMO channel for the first user terminal; and spatially processing a second plurality of data streams, having a selection of a second plurality of rates, to transmit the second plurality of data streams on a second plurality of orthogonal spatial channels of a second MIMO channel for the second user terminal.