Transmit antenna subset selection for retransmission

A method comprising:

• selecting a first subset of antennas from a set of antennas for transmitting first information to a receiving device, the first subset being two or more antennas;
• transmitting the first information over the first subset of antennas;
• receiving one of an acknowledge (ACK) and a no acknowledge (NACK) from the receiving device indicating whether the first information was successfully received;
• in response to receiving the NACK, randomly selecting a second subset of antennas, the second subset being two or more antennas;
• from the set of antennas to retransmit the first information to the receiving device;
• and
• retransmitting the first information to the receiving device over the second subset of antennas.

A method comprising:

• selecting a first subset of antennas from a set of antennas for transmitting first information to a receiving device, the first subset being two or more antennas;
• transmitting the first information over the first subset of antennas;
• receiving one of an acknowledge (ACK) and a no acknowledge (NACK) from the receiving device indicating whether the first information was successfully received;
• receiving a channel quality indicator from the receiving device;
• in response to receiving the NACK, comparing an expectation of a number of transmissions between a first and at least a second policy and selecting one of the first and second policies as a better policy, the better policy being evaluated according to which policy has an expected fewer number of transmissions;
• and
• selecting a second subset of the antennas associated with the better policy for retransmission of the first information;
• and
• retransmitting the first information to the receiving device over the second subset of antennas.

A transmitting station comprising:

• a set of antennas having a plurality of selectable subsets of antennas, each subset including at least two antennas;
• control logic to randomly select a first subset of the set of antennas to transmit first information to a receiving device;
• wherein the transmitting station is coupled to receive one of an acknowledge (ACK) and a no acknowledge (NACK) from the receiving device indicating whether the first information was successfully received;
• and
• wherein the control logic is responsive to receiving the NACK, to randomly select a second subset of the set of antennas from the set of antennas to retransmit the first information to the receiving device.

A transmitting station comprising:

• a set of antennas having a plurality of selectable subsets of antennas, each subset including at least two antennas;
• control logic to select a first subset of the set of antennas to transmit first information to a receiving device;
• wherein the transmitting station is configured to receive one of an acknowledge (ACK) and a no acknowledge (NACK) from the receiving device indicating whether the first information was successfully received;
• and
• wherein the control logic is, responsive to receiving the NACK, to select a second subset of the set of antennas from the set of antennas to retransmit the first information to the receiving device using a history of channel quality indicators received from the receiving device.

A transmitting station comprising:

• a set of antennas having a plurality of selectable subsets of antennas, each subset including at least two antennas;
• control logic to select a first subset of the set of antennas to transmit first information to a receiving device;
• wherein the transmitting station is coupled to receive one of an acknowledge (ACK) and a no acknowledge (NACK) from the receiving device indicating whether the first information was successfully received;
• and
• wherein the control logic is responsive to receiving the NACK, wherein the control logic is configured to compare an expectation of a number of transmissions between a first and at least a second policy and select one of the first and second policies as a better policy according to which policy has an expected fewer number of transmissions and to select a second subset of the antennas, associated with the better policy for retransmission of the first information.