System and method for using semi-orthogonal multiple access in wireless local area networks

A method for operating a first receiving device operating in a semi-orthogonal multiple access (SOMA) wireless local area network (WLAN), the method comprising:

• receiving a frame, by the first receiving device, having a first quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) bit allocation, a first coding rate, and a first SOMA group for the first receiving device and a second QAM bit allocation, a second coding rate, and a second SOMA group for a second receiving device in accordance with a frame, the frame comprising, for each of the first SOMA group and the second SOMA group:
• a respective station identifier field with a station identifier for each receiving device associated with the SOMA group, and
• a respective modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field with a modulation and coding rate indicator for each receiving device associated with the SOMA group;
• receiving, by the first receiving device, a QAM symbol;
• demapping, by the first receiving device, the QAM symbol in accordance with the first and second QAM bit allocations, thereby producing encoded data;
• decoding, by the first receiving device, the encoded data in accordance with the first and second coding rates, thereby producing decoded data;
• and
• processing, by the first receiving device, the decoded data.

A transmitting device comprising:

• a non-transitory memory storage comprising instructions;
• and
• one or more processors in communication with the non-transitory memory storage, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to:
• generate a frame including indicators, in accordance with channel information associated with a first receiving device and a second receiving device, of first and second quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) bit allocations, first and second coding rates, and first and second SOMA groups, wherein the one or more processors executing the instructions to generate the frame comprises, for each of the first and second SOMA groups, the one or more processors executing the instructions to:
• populate a respective station identifier field with a station identifier for each receiving device associated with the SOMA group, and
• populate a respective modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field with a modulation and coding rate indicator for each receiving device associated with the SOMA group;
• and
• send the frame to the first receiving device and the second receiving device.