Patent ID: 7257094

Claim:
A method for jointly controlling the data rate and power level of data transmission across a communication channel, comprising: providing an ordered list of a plurality of transmit parameter pairs that each include information indicative of a data rate and information indicative of a power level, wherein ordering the list comprising: ordering the data rate for a first group of the transmit parameter pairs from lowest to highest, the data rate for each of the transmit parameter pairs of the first group paired with a common maximum power level: ordering the power level for a second group of the transmit parameter pairs from highest to lowest, the power level for each of the transmit parameter pairs of the second group paired with a common maximum data rate: transmitting at the data rate and power level indicated by a selected one of the transmit parameter pairs; and sequentially selecting different ones of the transmit parameter pairs to be the selected transmit parameter pair, including determining which of the transmit parameter pairs will be the next selected transmit parameter pair based on the currently selected transmit parameter pair and a communication quality condition associated with the communication channel.