Asymmetrical multiple stream wireless communication using STBC

1. A method of communicating data to a receiver having M receiving antennas from a transmitter having N transmitting antennas, where M and N are integers, the method comprising:

sending a message to determine a number of transmit paths to be used, wherein the message is sent using a first one of a plurality of space/time code rates based at least on a number of available transmit paths in the transmitter;

awaiting an acknowledgement message comprising a number of receiver paths;

setting the number of transmit paths and a second one of a plurality of space/time code rates based on at least the acknowledgement message;

producing data streams from outbound data based on the number of transmit paths;

applying the data streams to a space/time encoder to produce encoded signals; and

transmitting the encoded signals from at least a portion of N transmitting antennas, wherein

M and N are unequal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the number of transmit paths is less than the portion of the N transmitting antennas.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the applying of the data streams to the space/time encoder comprises encoding the data streams through space-time block coding.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the applying of the data streams to the space/time encoder comprises encoding the data streams through a turbocoding scheme.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the message is compatible with legacy systems employing a single antenna.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the legacy systems comprise systems communicating according to IEEE 802.11 wireless standards.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first one of the plurality of space/time code rates of the message is 2 if the transmitter has more than 2 transmit paths available.

8. An apparatus for communicating data from N transmitting antennas to M receiving antennas, where M and N are integers, comprising:

a transceiver operable to:

send a message to determine a number of transmit paths to be used, wherein the message is sent using a first one of a plurality of space/time code rates based at least on a number of available transmit paths in the transceiver;

await an acknowledgement message comprising a number of receiver paths;

set the number of transmit paths and a second one of a plurality of space/time code rates based on at least the acknowledgement message;

produce data streams from outbound data based on the number of transmit paths;

space/time encode the data streams to produce encoded signals; and

transmit the encoded signals from at least a portion of the N transmitting antennas, wherein

M and N are unequal.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the number of transmit paths is less than the portion of the N transmitting antennas.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the transceiver is configured to space/time encode the data streams through space-time block coding.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the transceiver is configured to space/time encode the data streams through a turbocoding scheme.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the message is compatible with legacy systems employing a single antenna.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the legacy systems comprise systems communicating according to IEEE 802.11 wireless standards.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the first one of the plurality of space/time code rates of the message is 2 if the transceiver has more than 2 transmit paths available.

15. An apparatus for communicating data from a transmitter having N transmitting antennas to a receiver having M receiving antennas, where M and N are integers that are unequal, comprising:

a demultiplexer configured to set a number of transmit paths and to produce data streams from outbound data; and

a space/time encoder configured to produce encoded signals from the data streams; and

the N transmitting antennas, wherein

at least one of the N transmitting antennas is configured to send a message to determine the number of transmit paths to be used and to receive an acknowledgement message comprising a number of receiver paths, wherein the message is sent using a first one of a plurality of space/time code rates based on at least a number of available transmit paths in the transmitter,

the demultiplexer is configured to set the number of transmit paths based on at least the acknowledgement message,

the space/time encoder is configured to produce the encoded signals based at least in part on a second one of a plurality of space/time code rates that is set based on at least the acknowledgement message, and

the encoded signals are transmitted from at least a portion of the N transmitting antennas.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the number of transmit paths is less than the portion of the N transmitting antennas.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the space/time encoder is configured to encode the data streams through space-time block coding.

18. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the space/time encoder is configured to encode the data streams through a turbocoding scheme.

19. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the message is compatible with legacy systems employing a single antenna.

20. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the legacy systems comprise systems communicating according to IEEE 802.11 wireless standards.

21. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the first one of the plurality of space/time code rates of the message is 2 if the transmitter has more than 2 transmit paths available.