Radio communication system with plural paths from a primary station with plural antennas to a secondary station

A primary station comprising:

• a plurality of antennas for use in a radio communication system having a communication channel comprising a plurality of paths between the primary station and a secondary station having at least one antenna:
• and
• means for:
• transmitting substantially simultaneously a plurality of data packets to the secondary station, the data packets being transmitted via different subsets of the plurality of paths,
• receiving from the secondary station a determination of whether the data packets were received incorrectly, said determination including capacity information indicating a number of simultaneous data streams that the secondary station is capable of receiving or processing;
• and
• re-transmitting said data packets determined to be received incorrectly via selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths, said selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths being selected based at least on a quality of conditions of said subsets of the plurality of paths, and wherein at least one of a modulation scheme and a coding scheme for re-transmission of said data packets on said selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths is different from the modulation and coding scheme utilized for said selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths during an initial transmission of said data packets.

A secondary station comprising:

• at least one antenna for use in a radio communication system having a communication channel comprising a plurality of paths between a primary station having a plurality of antennas and the secondary station;
• and
• means for:
• receiving a plurality of data packets transmitted substantially simultaneously by the primary station, the packets being transmitted via different subsets of the plurality of paths,
• determining whether each data packet is received correctly,
• signaling said determination to the primary station for the plurality of data packets,
• signaling to the primary station a number of simultaneous data streams that the secondary station is capable of receiving or processing;
• and
• receiving a re-transmission of incorrectly received data packets via selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths, said selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths corresponding to the subsets of the plurality of paths utilized for an initial transmission of the incorrectly received data packets, and
• wherein at least one of a modulation scheme and a coding scheme for re-transmission of said data packets on said selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths is different from the modulation and coding scheme utilized for said selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths during said initial transmission of said data packets.

A method of operating a radio communication system having a communication channel comprising a plurality of paths between a primary station having a plurality of antennas and a secondary station having at least one antenna, the method comprising:

• transmitting, by the primary station, substantially simultaneously, a plurality of data packets to the secondary station, the data packets being transmitted via different subsets of the plurality of paths;
• receiving, by the secondary station, the plurality of data packets;
• determining, by the secondary station, whether the plurality of data packets were received correctly;
• signaling said determination to the primary station;
• signaling to the primary station a number of simultaneous data streams that the secondary station is capable of receiving or processing;
• and
• receiving a re-transmission of incorrectly received data packets via selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths, said selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths corresponding to the subsets of the plurality of paths utilized for an initial transmission of the incorrectly received data packets, and
• wherein at least one of a modulation scheme and a coding scheme for re-transmission of said data packets on said selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths is different from the modulation and coding scheme utilized for said selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths during said initial transmission of said data packets.

A primary station comprising:

• a plurality of antennas for use in a radio communication system having a communication channel comprising a plurality of paths between the primary station and a secondary station having at least one antenna:
• and
• a transceiver configured to:
• transmit, substantially simultaneously, a plurality of data packets to the secondary station, the data packets being transmitted via different subsets of the plurality of paths,
• receive from the secondary station an indication of said data packets received incorrectly, said indication including capacity information indicating a number of simultaneous data streams that the secondary station is capable of receiving;
• and
• re-transmit incorrectly received data packets via selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths, said selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths corresponding to the subsets of the plurality of paths utilized for an initial transmission of the incorrectly received data packets, and
• wherein at least one of a modulation scheme and a coding scheme for re-transmission of said data packets on said selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths is different from the modulation and coding scheme utilized for said selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths during said initial transmission of said data packets.

A secondary station comprising:

• at least one antenna for use in a radio communication system having a communication channel comprising a plurality of paths between a primary station having a plurality of antennas and the secondary station;
• and
• a transceiver configured to:
• receive a plurality of data packets transmitted substantially simultaneously by the primary station, the packets being transmitted via different subsets of the plurality of paths,
• signal a determination of which data packets are received correctly to the primary station,
• signal to the primary a number of simultaneous data streams that the secondary station is capable of receiving;
• and
• receive a re-transmission of incorrectly received data packets via selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths, said selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths corresponding to the subsets of the plurality of paths utilized for an initial transmission of the incorrectly received data packets, and
• wherein at least one of a modulation scheme and a coding scheme for re-transmission of said data packets on said selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths is different from the modulation and coding scheme utilized for said selected ones of the subsets of the plurality of paths during said initial transmission of said data packets.