Method and apparatus for selecting a beam combination in a MIMO wireless communication system

A wireless communication system comprising a first node and a second node, wherein the first node includes:

• a plurality of antennas, each antenna being configured to generate a plurality of beams such that a beam combination from the antennas is selected;
• a beam controller for activating a beam combination by selecting at least one beam from each of the antennas;
• a first beam combination selector configured to (i) send a plurality of modulation and coding scheme (MCS) requests to the second node using a particular beam combination, (ii) receive MCS feedback signals from the second node, each MCS feedback signal including an MCS recommendation for the particular beam combination, and (iii) select a beam combination for communication with the second node based on the MCS recommendation, and wherein the second node includes:
• a second beam combination selector configured to receive the MCS requests and generate the MCS feedback signals for each of the MCS requests.

A wireless communication system comprising a first node and a second node, wherein the first node includes:

• an antenna array comprising a plurality of omni-directional antennas;
• a phase shift matrix for shifting a phase of each of the omni-directional antennas to form a plurality of antenna beams;
• a phase selection switch for selecting a beam combination including a subset of the antenna beams for communication with the second node;
• and
• a first beam combination selector configured to (i) send each of a plurality of modulation and coding scheme (MCS) requests to the second node using a particular beam combination, (ii) receive MCS feedback signals from the second node, each MCS feedback signal including an MCS recommendation for the particular beam combination, and (iii) select a beam combination for communication with the second node based on the MCS recommendation, and wherein the second node includes:
• a second beam combination selector configured to receive the MCS requests and generate the MCS feedback signals for each of the MCS requests.