Rank adaptation for an open loop multi-antenna mode of wireless communication

1. A method of performing rank adaptation for a mobile station in a wireless network, comprising:

determining, by one of the mobile station and a base station, a velocity of the mobile station;

in response to determining that the velocity of the mobile station is above a predefined threshold, selecting an open loop multi-antenna mode to perform wireless communication between the mobile station and the base station;

selecting from among plural ranks for the wireless communication according to the open loop multi-antenna mode between the mobile station and the base station, wherein selecting from among the plural ranks for the wireless communication according to the open loop multi-antenna mode is based on a long-term signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of a wireless channel between the mobile station and base station, and wherein selecting from among the plural ranks is further based on whether the long-term SINR exceeds a threshold;

sending, by the mobile station, an indication of a selected rank to the base station; and

receiving, from the base station, an indication of a new rank, wherein the new rank overrides the selected rank, and wherein the new rank is based on a comparison of a number of times a first of the plural ranks were selected to a number of times a second of the plural ranks were selected.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting from among the plural ranks comprises selecting from among at least a first rank that employs transmit diversity and a second rank that employs spatial multiplexing.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, from the mobile station, an identifier for a codeword to use for coding data in wireless communication according to a closed loop multi-antenna mode.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: using, in the open loop multi-antenna mode, a predetermined codeword or a codeword sequence to code data of the wireless communication.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the predetermined codeword is a predefined codeword in a codebook used for a closed loop multi-antenna transmission mode.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, by the base station from the mobile station, information relating to long-term SINR.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting from among the plural ranks for the wireless communication according to the open loop multi-antenna mode comprises selecting a rank greater than rank 1, the method further comprising: using cyclic delay diversity when the rank selected is greater than rank 1.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: in response to determining that the velocity of the mobile station is below the predefined threshold, selecting a closed loop multi-antenna mode in which selection of a codeword to apply precoding on wireless communication between the mobile station and base station is based on feedback information from the mobile station.

9. A base station comprising:

an interface to perform wireless communication with a mobile station; and

a processor configured to:

determine whether the mobile station is a high-velocity mobile station;

in response to determining that the mobile station is a high-velocity mobile station, select an open loop multi-antenna mode of communication for downlink data transmitted to the mobile station that does not involve feedback from the mobile station that includes an identifier of a codeword to be used for coding the downlink data; and

apply rank adaptation to select from among a plurality of ranks for the communication of downlink data according to the open loop multi-antenna mode of communication, wherein the rank adaptation to select from among the plurality of ranks for the communication of downlink data comprises:

receiving an indication from the mobile station regarding selection by the mobile station of a particular rank from among the plurality of ranks, wherein the particular rank was selected by the mobile station based on a long-term signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of a wireless channel between the base station and the mobile station, and wherein the particular rank was selected by the mobile station further based on whether the long-term SINR exceeds a threshold; and

using the received indication to perform the rank adaptation to select from among the plurality of ranks;

wherein the rank adaptation to select from among the plurality of ranks is further based on comparing a count of a number of decisions by the mobile station to select a first of the plurality of ranks to a count of a number of decisions by the mobile station to select a second of the plurality of ranks, wherein the rank indicated by the received indication is reflected in the count of the number of decisions of the first rank or second rank, and wherein the selected rank based on the comparing is different than the particular rank received from the mobile station.

10. The base station of claim 9 , wherein the processor is to apply a fixed codeword to the downlink data in the open loop multi-antenna mode.

11. The base station of claim 9 , wherein the processor is to select a closed loop multi-antenna mode in response to determining that the mobile station is not a high-velocity mobile station.

12. The base station of claim 11 , further comprising a higher layer software to signal, to the mobile station, selection of the open loop multi-antenna mode or closed loop multi-antenna mode.

13. A mobile station comprising:

an interface to perform wireless communication with a base station; and

a processor configured to:

determine whether a velocity of the mobile station exceeds a predefined threshold;

in response to determining that the velocity of the mobile station exceeds the predefined threshold, select an open loop multiple input multiple output (MIMO) mode to perform wireless communication between the mobile station and the base station;

use rank adaptation to select from among plural ranks in the wireless communication according to the open loop MIMO mode, wherein selecting from among the plural ranks for the wireless communication according to the open loop multi-antenna mode is based on a long-term signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of a wireless channel between the mobile station and base station, and wherein selecting from among the plural ranks is further based on whether the long-term SINR exceeds a threshold;

send, by the mobile station, an indication of a selected rank to the base station; and

receive, from the base station, an indication of a new rank, wherein the new rank overrides the selected rank, and wherein the new rank is based on a comparison of a number of times a first of the plural ranks were selected to a number of times a second of the plural ranks were selected.

14. The mobile station of claim 13 , wherein the processor is to select a closed loop MIMO mode to perform wireless communication between the mobile station and the base station in response to determining the velocity not exceeding the predefined threshold.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting from among the plural ranks according to the long-term SINR of the wireless channel is further based on computed SINR for communications according to different ranks.

16. The mobile station of claim 13 , wherein selecting from among the plural ranks according to the long-term SINR of the wireless channel is further based on computed SINR for communications according to different ranks.