Patent ID: 8040843

Claim:
A method for transmitting data packets according to a selected transmit scheme having a transmission data rate, comprising: selecting a data packet transmit scheme from one of a plurality of ordered sets of transmit schemes wherein a total set of defined transmit schemes is distributed over the plurality of ordered sets based upon a logical ordering, and further wherein the ordered sets comprise transmit schemes that are arranged according to one of the transmission data rate and transmission robustness; transmitting one of a packet fragment or a packet using a signal configuration based upon the selected transmit scheme; receiving feedback comprising an indication of at least one of a successful transmission, an unsuccessful transmission, a signal quality indication and a channel quality indication; vertically adapting the transmit scheme within the current ordered set of transmit schemes wherein vertically adapting the transmit scheme comprises one of remaining on a currently selected transmit scheme within the current ordered set or selecting the next lower or next higher transmit scheme in the current ordered set to maximize a first transmission performance metric within the current ordered set; replacing the transmit scheme for some packets with a probe transmit scheme, wherein the probe transmit scheme is a transmit scheme from a different ordered set of the plurality of ordered sets, whereby the probe transmit scheme is given as an output argument based upon the currently chosen transmit scheme as input argument; and collecting success/failure statistics for each probe transmit scheme ordered set to determine if transmit schemes from an ordered set of the plurality of ordered sets improves transmission performance over the current ordered set, the determining further including comparing collected statistics between various probe ordered sets and horizontally adapting to one of the probe ordered sets when a specified transmission performance metric is met, whereby horizontally adapting means that the probe ordered set becomes the new currently chosen ordered set and that steps of vertically adapting starts again in the new currently chosen ordered set from a transmit scheme that is a function of the last currently chosen transmit scheme.