Feed-forward control signaling and decoding schemes

1. A method for decoding parameter allocation information, the method comprising:

receiving an index indicating selected data stream parameters;

receiving an indication of a number of transmit antennas at a transmitter from which the data stream is transmitted;

determining the selected parameters from the index based on the number of transmit antennas at the transmitter; and

receiving and processing data signals with a processor in accordance with the selected data stream parameters,

wherein the determining further comprises selecting one of a plurality of conversion schemes to convert the index, wherein each of said conversion schemes is customized to a different number of transmit antennas,

wherein the index is a bit sequence and the conversion schemes are tables, wherein each table relates a set of bit sequences having a fixed length with a different, corresponding set of data stream parameters and wherein the index denotes different data stream parameters in at least two of the tables, and

wherein the transmitter is an advanced base station, wherein the tables include a first table directed to eight transmit antennas and a second table directed to four or two transmit antennas, and wherein the second table includes at least one specific index that signifies three total streams, an assignment of one or two pilot stream indices to a given user and a modulation scheme employed by an other user that is co-scheduled with the given user.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein, for each of the conversion schemes, at least a subset of the corresponding set of data stream parameters indicates corresponding selections of subsets of a plurality of potential data transmission streams.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein, for each of the conversion schemes, at least a subset of the corresponding set of data stream parameters indicates particular numbers of data streams transmitted on a particular resource and wherein a maximum number of data streams transmitted on the particular resource in a corresponding conversion scheme is less than or equal to the number of transmit antennas to which the corresponding conversion scheme is customized.

4. A receiver system for decoding parameter allocation information, the receiver comprising:

a receiver configured to receive an index indicating selected data stream parameters for at least one data stream and to receive an indication of a number of transmit antennas at a transmitter from which the at least one data stream is transmitted; and

a processor configured to determine the selected parameters from the index based on the number of transmit antennas at the transmitter and to process data signals in accordance with the selected data stream parameters,

wherein the processor is further configured to determine the selected parameters by selecting one of a plurality of conversion schemes to convert the index, wherein each of said conversion schemes is customized to a different number of transmit antennas,

wherein the index is a bit sequence and the conversion schemes are tables, wherein each table relates a set of bit sequences having a fixed length with a different, corresponding set of data stream parameters and wherein the index denotes different data stream parameters in at least two of the tables, and

wherein the transmitter is an advanced base station, wherein the tables include a first table directed to eight transmit antennas and a second table directed to four or two transmit antennas, and wherein the second table includes at least one specific index that signifies three total streams, an assignment of one or two pilot stream indices to a given user and a modulation scheme employed by an other user that is co-scheduled with the given user.

5. The receiver system of claim 4 , wherein, for each of the conversion schemes, at least a subset of the set of data stream parameters indicates corresponding selections of subsets of a plurality of potential data transmission streams.

6. The receiver system of claim 4 , wherein, for each of the conversion schemes, at least a subset of the set of data stream parameters indicates particular numbers of data streams transmitted on a particular resource and wherein a maximum number of data streams transmitted on the particular resource in a corresponding conversion scheme is less than or equal to the number of transmit antennas to which the corresponding conversion scheme is customized.

7. A wireless transmission system comprising:

a plurality of base stations, wherein each base station provides a different number of transmit antennas for the transmission of at least one data stream to a corresponding receiver; and

at least one controller configured to select data stream parameters for the corresponding receiver and to determine an index for the selected data stream parameters for transmission to the corresponding receiver by utilizing an indexing scheme,

wherein each base station utilizes a different indexing scheme and wherein each indexing scheme is customized to a corresponding number of transmit antennas of a corresponding base station,

wherein the index is a bit sequence and the indexing schemes are tables, wherein each table relates a set of bit sequences having a fixed length with a different, corresponding set of data stream parameters and wherein the index denotes different data stream parameters in at least two of the tables, and

wherein the base stations are advanced base stations, wherein the tables include a first table directed to eight transmit antennas and a second table directed to four or two transmit antennas, and wherein the second table includes at least one specific index that signifies three total streams, an assignment of one or two pilot stream indices to a given user and a modulation scheme employed by an other user that is co-scheduled with the given user.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein, for each indexing scheme, at least a subset of the set data stream parameters indicates corresponding selections of a subset of a plurality of potential data transmission streams.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein, for each indexing scheme, at least a subset of the set of data stream parameters indicates particular numbers of data streams transmitted on a particular resource and wherein a maximum number of data streams transmitted on the particular resource in a corresponding indexing scheme is less than or equal to the number of transmit antennas to which the corresponding indexing scheme is customized.