Patent ID: 7480271

Claim:
A method comprising: dividing a cell that is served by a base station into a plurality of segments; partitioning a frequency spectrum in which the base station transmits and receives signals in the cell into a plurality of sub-channels, where each sub-channel comprises a plurality of subcarriers; assigning a different sub-channel as a primary channel which the base station uses in each of a corresponding one of the plurality of segments such that segments within the cell are allocated different portions of the same spectrum for their corresponding primary channels; determining at the base station which of the plurality of segments a desired wireless mobile station enters the cell; calculating a first spatial signature associated with signals received at the base station from the desired wireless mobile station; calculating a second spatial signature associated with an interference signal received at the base station from one or more wireless mobile stations in one or more neighboring cells; and generating a beamforming weighting vector from the first and second spatial signatures used by the base station to enhance signals associated with the desired wireless mobile station and to suppress the interference signal.