Method of selecting antennas and transmitting data in multi-input multi-output wireless local area network environments

A method for transmitting data to an access point in a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the method comprising:

• selecting at least one transmitting antenna set from a plurality of transmitting antennas of a first station;
• and
• transmitting a data frame from the first station to the access point via the at least one transmitting antenna set,
• wherein the at least one transmitting antenna set comprises fewer transmitting antennas than the plurality of transmitting antennas of the first station.

A Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) wireless local area network (WLAN) system, comprising:

• an access point comprising a first receiving antenna and a second receiving antenna;
• and
• a first station and a second station to transmit data to the access point, the first station comprising a first transmitting antenna and a second transmitting antenna,
• wherein the MIMO WLAN system uses an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing scheme as a physical layer, and the first station selects the first transmitting antenna for each subband to transmit a data frame to the access point, the subband corresponding to a set of subcarriers.

A station apparatus for a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) wireless local area network (WLAN) system, comprising:

• a channel status detector to detect a channel status of a channel from an access point to a first transmitting antenna and a second transmitting antenna of a station;
• an antenna selector to select the first transmitting antenna based on the channel status;
• and
• a data frame transmitter to transmit a data frame to the access point via the first transmitting antenna.