Overall MU-MIMO capacity for users with unequal packet lengths in an MU-MIMO frame

1. A method for transmitting packets, the method comprising:

determining, by an access point communicating wirelessly with a plurality of devices, that a first packet for a first device of the plurality of devices has a first transmission duration, and a second packet for a second device of the plurality of devices has a second transmission duration shorter than the first transmission duration;

adjusting, by the access point according to the determination, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to transmit the second packet with a third transmission duration, the third transmission duration being greater than the second transmission duration; and

reducing a transmission power of the access point for the second packet based at least on a comparison of a signal-to-noise ratio reported by the first device to a signal-to-noise ratio reported by the second device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising re-allocating transmission resources between the first device and the second device based at least on one or both of: a signal-to-noise ratio reported by the first device, and a signal-to-noise ratio reported by the second device.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising changing from a first MCS to a second MCS, the second MCS supporting a data rate that is lower than that supported by the first MCS.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adjusting a number of spatial streams of the access point to transmit the second packet.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the access point, the signal-to-noise ratio reported by the first device and the signal-to-noise ratio reported by the second device.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising increasing a transmission power of the access point for the first device based on the transmission power reduction for the second device, wherein a total transmission power for the first and second device remains at a predetermined level.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising changing a MCS for the first device based on the signal-to-noise ratio comparison.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the third transmission duration is equal to the first transmission duration.

9. A method for transmitting packets, the method comprising:

determining, by a first wireless device communicating wirelessly with a plurality of second devices, that a first packet for a first one of the plurality of second devices has a first transmission duration, and a second packet for a second one of the plurality of devices has a second transmission duration shorter than the first transmission duration;

adjusting, by the first wireless device according to the determination, a transmission power, a number of spatial streams, or a modulation and coding scheme of the first wireless device to transmit the second packet during a third transmission duration, the third transmission duration being greater than the second transmission duration; and

reducing the transmission power to transmit the second packet, wherein the first wireless device is at least one of a handset, a computer, or an access point, and the second devices are each at least one of a handset, a computer, or an access point.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising re-allocating transmission resources between the first one and the second one of the second devices based at least on one or both of: a signal-to-noise ratio reported by the first one of the second devices, and a signal-to-noise ratio reported by the second one of the second devices.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising adjusting the MCS of the first wireless device to transmit the second packet.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising increasing a transmission power of the first wireless device for the first one of the second devices based on the reduction of the transmission power to transmit the second one of the second devices.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising comparing a signal-to-noise ratio reported by the first one of the second devices to a signal-to-noise ratio reported by the second one of the second devices.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising changing a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to transmit the second packet based at least on the signal-to-noise ratio comparison.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising changing a MCS for the first one of the second devices based on the signal-to-noise ratio comparison.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein the third transmission duration is equal to the first transmission duration.

17. A method for transmitting packets, the method comprising:

determining, by an access point communicating wirelessly with a plurality of devices, that the access point has a first number of bits to transmit to a first device of the plurality of devices, and a second number of bits to transmit to a second device of the plurality of devices;

determining, by the access point based on at least the first number of bits and the second number of bits, that a first packet for the first device has a first transmission duration, and a second packet for the second device has a second transmission duration;

adjusting, by the access point according to the determination, a transmission power, a number of spatial streams, or a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), to transmit a third packet to the first device or the second device over a third transmission duration; and

reducing the transmission power to transmit the second packet, wherein the first wireless device is at least one of a handset, a computer, or an access point, and the second devices are each at least one of a handset, a computer, or an access point.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising determining the third transmission duration based on a larger of: a first ratio between the first number of bits and a first data rate for transmitting the first number of bits to the first device, and a second ratio between the second number of bits and a second data rate for transmitting the second number of bits to the second device.

19. The method of claim 18 , comprising determining the third transmission duration, the third transmission duration being greater than at least one of: the first transmission duration and the second transmission duration.

20. The method of claim 17 , further comprising adjusting one or both of the transmission power and the MCS, based at least on one or both of: a signal-to-noise ratio reported by the first device, and a signal-to-noise ratio reported by the second device.