Patent ID: 8059608

Claim:
A method of transmitting data from a plurality of sectors in a cellular communication system, the method comprising: assigning at least one transmit antenna from each sector of the plurality of sectors to a transmit antenna set of a plurality of L transmit antenna sets, L being an integer greater than 1, each transmit antenna set of the plurality of L transmit antenna sets comprising at least one transmit antenna of the cellular communication system; segmenting the data into a plurality of L data streams; assigning, for at least one first period, each data stream of the plurality of L data streams to a different transmit antenna set of the L transmit antenna sets, resulting in a first distribution of data streams among transmit antenna sets; for said each transmit antenna set of the plurality of L transmit antenna sets, modulating, during the at least one first period, a carrier of a first frequency with the data stream assigned to said each transmit antenna set during the at least one first period; transmitting to a plurality of receivers during the at least one first period the carrier through the transmit antennae of the plurality of L transmit antenna sets so that transmit antennae of said each transmit antenna set transmit during the at least one first period the data stream assigned to said each transmit antenna set for the at least one first period; assigning, for at least one second period, said each data stream to a different transmit antenna set of the L transmit antenna sets, resulting in a second distribution of data streams among transmit antenna sets, the second distribution being different from the first distribution; for said each transmit antenna set of the plurality of L transmit antenna sets, modulating, during the at least one second period, the carrier with the data stream assigned to said each transmit antenna set during the at least one second period; and transmitting to a plurality of receivers during the at least one second period the carrier through the transmit antennae of the plurality of L transmit antenna sets so that transmit antennae of said each transmit antenna set transmit during the at least one second period the data stream assigned to said each transmit antenna set for the at least one second period.