Processing of uplink data streams

A method, comprising:

• identifying a plurality of user equipment, each transmitting one or more uplink data streams for decoding at a base station associated with a given cell of a radio network;
• clustering the identified plurality of user equipment into joint processing groups, each joint processing group comprising the identities of two or more user equipment as clustered;
• performing, in a first processing stage, joint processing of the uplink data streams for identified user equipment within common joint processing groups using one or more first processing algorithms to produce corresponding first processed uplink data streams;
• and
• performing one or more subsequent processing stages on the first processed uplink data streams, subsequent to the joint processing, to produce decoded uplink data streams, the one or more subsequent processing stages using one or more second processing algorithms, different from the one or more first processing algorithms.

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing a method, comprising:

• identifying a plurality of user equipment, each transmitting one or more uplink data streams for decoding at a base station associated with a given cell of a radio network;
• clustering the identified plurality of user equipment into joint processing groups, each joint processing group comprising the identities of two or more user equipment as clustered;
• performing, in a first processing stage, joint processing of the uplink data streams for identified user equipment within common joint processing groups using one or more first processing algorithms to produce corresponding first processed uplink data streams;
• and
• performing one or more subsequent processing stages on the first processed uplink data streams, subsequent to the joint processing, to produce decoded uplink data streams, the one or more subsequent processing stages using one or more second processing algorithms, different from the one or more first processing algorithms.