Distributed transmit diversity in a wireless communication network

Abstract

A wireless communication network is configured to provide distributed diversity transmissions, wherein different diversity-coded versions of the same information signal are transmitted from each of two or more network sectors. The diversity-coded versions of the information signal are based on space-time or space-frequency codes, and the information signal may comprise a dedicated channel signal targeted to an individual user or a broadcast signal targeted to one or more users. Thus, spaced-apart network transmitters, which may be located at the same cell site, or at different cell sites, are configured to transmit diversity-coded versions of a given information signal and, in this manner, the advantages of space-time and/or space frequency transmission coding may be applied across multiple sectors of a communication network. Such transmissions may be used to improve soft and softer handoff reception of dedicated channel signals, and to improve reception of Broadcast-Multicast Services (BCMCS) signals, or the like.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.