Providing antenna diversity in a wireless communication system

A wireless communications apparatus that enables computing channel quality indicators (CQIs) in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communications environment, comprising:

• means for estimating a physical antenna channel from obtained pilots;
• means for identifying possible layers based upon the estimated physical antenna channel;
• means for cycling through a plurality of precoding matrices based upon the estimated physical antenna channel;
• means for determining a set of CQIs by cycling through virtual antennas associated with supported layers, wherein each CQI relates to a respective one of the supported layers;
• and
• means for sending at least one of an index of a selected precoding matrix and an index for the set of CQIs to a base station for scheduling data transmission.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-executable instructions for:

• receiving pilots from a base station;
• estimating a physical antenna channel from the pilots;
• identifying possible layers based upon the estimated physical antenna channel;
• cycling through a plurality of precoding matrices based upon the estimated physical antenna channel;
• generating a set of channel quality indicators (CQIs) by cycling through virtual antennas associated with supported layers, wherein each CQI corresponds to a respective one of the supported layers;
• and
• sending at least one of an index of a selected precoding matrix and an index for the set of CQIs to the base station for scheduling data transmission.

In a wireless communications system, an apparatus comprising:

• a processor configured to:
• estimate a physical antenna channel from obtained pilots;
• identify possible layers based upon the estimated physical antenna channel;
• cycle through a plurality of precoding matrices based upon the estimated physical antenna channel;
• determine a set of channel quality indicators (CQIs) cycling through virtual antennas associated with supported layers, wherein each CQI relates to a respective one of the supported layers;
• and
• transmit at least one of an index of a selected precoding matrix and an index for the set of CQIs to a base station for scheduling data transmission.

A method that facilitates transmitting data from a base station in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication environment, comprising:

• sending channel quality indicator (CQI) pilots over a set of virtual antennas;
• obtaining one or more CQIs that respectively pertain to one or more supported virtual antennas for a user and obtaining an index of a selected precoding matrix, wherein the selected precoding matrix optimizes capacity, the one or more supported virtual antennas being a subset of the virtual antennas;
• selecting to transmit over a second number of virtual antennas that differs from a first number of supported virtual antennas;
• adjusting a power level for data transmission based upon a ratio of the first number to the second number;
• scheduling data transmission for the user based upon the CQI data;
• and
• transmitting data by using the selected precoding matrix and cycling across the one or more supported virtual antennas.

A method that facilitates transmitting data from a base station in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication environment, comprising:

• sending channel quality indicator (CQI) pilots over a set of virtual antennas;
• obtaining one or more CQIs that respectively pertain to one or more supported virtual antennas for a user and obtaining an index of a selected precoding matrix, wherein the selected precoding matrix optimizes capacity, the one or more supported virtual antennas being a subset of the virtual antennas;
• scheduling data transmission for the user based upon the CQI data;
• and
• transmitting data by using the selected precoding matrix and cycling across the one or more supported virtual antennas wherein transmitting data further comprises exciting columns of a unitary matrix on each tile pertaining to the one or more supported virtual antennas while in block hopping mode.

A wireless communications apparatus that enables scheduling transmission and sending data in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication environment, comprising:

• means for transmitting pilots over a set of virtual antennas;
• means for scheduling data transmission for a user based upon received channel quality indicators (CQIs) that respectively correspond to virtual antennas supported by the user and a received index of a selected precoding matrix, wherein the selected precoding matrix optimizes capacity;
• means for selecting to transmit over a number of virtual antennas that differs from a number of supported virtual antennas;
• means for adjusting a power level for data transmission;
• and
• means for transmitting data by using the selected precoding matrix and cycling across the supported virtual antennas.

A wireless communications apparatus that enables scheduling transmission and sending data in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication environment, comprising:

• means for transmitting pilots over a set of virtual antennas;
• means for scheduling data transmission for a user based upon received channel quality indicators (CQIs) that respectively correspond to virtual antennas supported by the user and a received index of a selected precoding matrix, wherein the selected precoding matrix optimizes capacity;
• means for exciting columns of a unitary matrix on each tile while in block hopping mode, the columns relate to the one or more supported virtual antennas;
• and
• means for transmitting data by using the selected precoding matrix and cycling across the supported virtual antennas.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-executable instructions for:

• sending pilots over a set of virtual antennas, the pilots being generated based upon a unitary matrix;
• scheduling data transmission for a user based upon received channel quality indicators (CQIs) that respectively correspond to virtual antennas supported by the user and a received index of a selected precoding matrix, wherein the selected precoding matrix optimizes capacity;
• transmitting data by using the selected precoding matrix and cycling across the supported virtual antennas;
• and
• adjusting a power level for transmitting data when a number of virtual antennas other than the number of supported virtual antennas is employed.

A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-executable instructions for:

• sending pilots over a set of virtual antennas, the pilots being generated based upon a unitary matrix;
• scheduling data transmission for a user based upon received channel quality indicators (CQIs) that respectively correspond to virtual antennas supported by the user and a received index of a selected precoding matrix, wherein the selected precoding matrix optimizes capacity;
• transmitting data by using the selected precoding matrix and cycling across the supported virtual antennas;
• and
• exciting columns of the unitary matrix on each tile while in block hopping mode for transmitting data, the columns relate to the one or more supported virtual antennas.

In a wireless communications system, an apparatus comprising:

• a processor configured to:
• send channel quality indicator (CQI) pilots over a set of virtual antennas;
• obtain one or more CQIs that respectively pertain to one or more supported virtual antennas for a user and obtain an index of a selected precoding matrix, wherein the selected precoding matrix optimizes capacity, the one or more supported virtual antennas being a subset of the virtual antennas;
• select to transmit over a second number of virtual antennas that differs from a first number of supported virtual antennas;
• adjust a power level for data transmission based upon a ratio of the first number to the second number;
• schedule data transmission for the user based upon the CQI data;
• and
• transmit data by using the selected precoding matrix and cycling across the one or more supported virtual antennas.