Use of block error rate as basis to control configuration of MU-MIMO service

A method for controlling transmission over an air interface in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

• serving, by a base station, a plurality of user equipment devices (UEs) over the air interface, wherein each UE of the plurality receives respective blocks of data transmitted from the base station to the UE and wherein each UE has a respective block error rate (BLER) representing a rate at which the blocks of data received by the UE have been in error;
• determining by the base station, respectively for each UE of the plurality, whether the BLER of the UE is threshold low;
• and
• limiting by the base station application of Multi-User Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) to UEs of the plurality whose BLER the base station determined to be threshold low.

A base station operable in a wireless communication system to control transmission over an air interface, the base station comprising:

• an antenna array comprising a plurality of antennas for communicating over the air interface, wherein the air interface defines physical channel resources for carrying data wirelessly from the base station to a plurality of user equipment devices (UEs) served by the base station, wherein each UE of the plurality receives respective blocks of data transmitted from the base station to the UE and wherein each UE has a respective block error rate (BLER) representing a rate at which the blocks of data received by the UE have been in error;
• and
• a controller for scheduling use of the physical channel resources to carry data wirelessly from the base station to the UEs,
• wherein the controller is configured to determine, respectively for each UE of the plurality, whether the BLER of the UE is threshold low, and
• wherein the controller is configured to cause the base station to limit application of Multi-User Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) to UEs of the plurality whose BLER the controller determined to be threshold low.