Methods and systems for access point clustering

A method of discovering access points for distributed MIMO communication, comprising:

• receiving, by a first access point, a message indicating a second access point has distributed MIMO capability;
• decoding the message to identify a cluster and to determine a utilization of spatial dimensions of the identified cluster;
• determining, by the first access point, to participate in the identified cluster in a distributed MIMO communication;
• and
• joining, by the first access point, the identified cluster based on the utilization, wherein the identified cluster is a cluster of the second access point.

An apparatus for discovering access points for distributed MIMO communication, comprising:

• a hardware processor, configured to generate a first message indicating a first access point has distributed MIMO capability, and further indicating an average or maximum spatial dimension usage of the first access point and a maximum number of spatial dimensions of the first access point;
• a transmitter, configured to transmit the first message on a wireless network;
• and
• a receiver, configured to receive a second message from a second access point, the second message identifying a cluster,
• wherein the hardware processor is further configured to participate in the identified cluster in response to the second message.

An apparatus for discovering access points for distributed MIMO communication, comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive, by a first access point, a message indicating a second access point has distributed MIMO capability;
• and
• a hardware processor configured to:
• decode the message to identify a cluster and to determine a utilization of spatial dimensions of the identified cluster,
• determine to participate in the identified cluster in a distributed MIMO communication;
• and
• joining, by the first access point, the identified cluster based on the utilization, wherein the identified cluster is a cluster of the second access point.