Multi-Carrier Communications With Adaptive Cluster Configuration and Switching

1 . A method for wireless communication, said method comprising:

allocating a first set of one or more subcarriers to a subscriber over a wireless link with said subscriber;

receiving information indicative of quality of said allocated subcarriers;

changing at least one of the modulation scheme used over said wireless link or the data coding used over said wireless link; and

transmitting a second set of one or more subcarriers to said subscriber, wherein

said second set has at least a different modulation scheme or data coding than said first set.

2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising comparing said information indicative of quality to a determined value, wherein said changing is further based upon said comparison.

3 . The method of claim 2 wherein said determined value is dynamic.

4 . The method of claim 2 wherein said information indicative of quality is signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) information relating to said one or more allocated subcarriers.

5 . The method of claim 2 wherein said information indicative of quality is signal to noise ratio (SNR) information relating to said one or more allocated subcarriers.

6 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving information indicative of quality of said second allocated subcarriers;

in response to receiving said information indicative of quality of said second allocated subcarriers, changing said second allocation; and

transmitting a third set of one or more subcarriers to said subscriber, wherein

said third set has at least a different modulation scheme or data coding than said second set.

7 . The method of claim 4 wherein said comparing comprises comparing SINR information to pilot symbol information transmitted over said wireless link.

8 . The method of claim 4 wherein said comparing comprises comparing SINR information to data symbol information transmitted over said wireless link.

9 . The method of claim 2 further comprising changing said allocation to said subscriber based upon said comparison, wherein changing said allocation comprises allocating diversity clusters of subcarriers to said subscriber.

10 . The method of claim 9 wherein the number of diversity clusters allocated to said subscriber increases as the amount at which said receiving information indicative of quality of falls below said determined value increases.

11 . The method of claim 1 wherein said allocating comprises allocating a first portion of subcarriers to a subscriber located in a first sector of a cell and allocating a second portion of subcarriers to a subcarrier located in a second sector of a cell;

wherein said receiving comprises receiving information indicative of quality of subcarriers allocated to each of said subscriber in said first sector and said subscriber in said second sector; and

wherein said changing comprises changing at least one of the modulation scheme or the data coding for at least one of said first and second subscribers.

12 . The method of claim 2 further comprising changing said allocation to said subscriber based upon said comparison wherein changing said allocation is performed after said allocating, receiving, and increases communication bandwidth over said wireless link.

13 . The method of claim 1 wherein said transmitting a second set of one or more subcarriers to said subscriber comprises transmitting information indicative of the modulation to be use for said wireless link.

14 . The method of claim 1 wherein said transmitting a second set of one or more subcarriers to said subscriber comprises transmitting information indicative of the coding to be use for said wireless link.

15 . The method of claim 1 wherein said changing at least one of the modulation scheme used over said wireless link or the data coding used over said wireless link is performed in response to receiving said information indicative of quality.

16 . A method for wireless communication, said method comprising:

receiving a first allocation of one or more subcarriers from a base station over a wireless communication link with said base station;

transmitting information indicative of quality of said one or more subcarriers to said base station; and

receiving a second allocation of one or more subcarriers from said base station; wherein

said second allocation has at least a different modulation scheme or data coding than said first allocation.

17 . The method of claim 16 wherein said information indicative of quality is signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) information relating to said one or more allocated subcarriers.

18 . The method of claim 16 wherein said information indicative of quality is signal to noise ratio (SNR) information relating to said one or more allocated subcarriers.

19 . The method of claim 16 further comprising:

transmitting, in response to receiving said second allocation, information indicative of quality of said second one or more subcarriers to said base station; and

receiving a third allocation of one or more subcarriers from said base station, said third allocation based, at least in part, on said second transmitted information; wherein

said third allocation has at least a different modulation scheme or data coding than said second allocation.

20 . The method of claim 16 wherein said transmitting information indicative of quality of said one or more subcarriers to said base station is performed in response to said receiving said first allocation.