Apparatus and methods for flexible RF configuration in multi-antenna wireless systems

1. For use in a wireless communication network, an apparatus comprising:

a baseband signal processing block configured to communicate baseband signals with at least one RF communication module;

processing circuitry configured to:

detect a sub-channel band of unavailable spectrum within a channel, the channel including one contiguous band of frequencies divisible into at least two non-overlapping non-adjacent sub-channels, the band of unavailable spectrum being less than a whole of the channel, and

select one mode of communication selected from a plurality of modes, the plurality of modes comprising:

a carrier aggregation (CA) only mode,

a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) only mode, and

a carrier aggregation multiple input multiple output (CA-MIMO) hybrid mode; and

the at least one radio frequency (RF) communication module communicably coupled to the baseband signal processing block and configured communicate using the one selected mode of communication in the channel.

2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the RF communication module comprises an access point.

3. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the RF communication module comprises a mobile station.

4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the at least one RF communication module is further configured to:

in response to a detection of at least one sub-channel band of available spectrum within the channel at a different carrier frequency than the sub-channel band of unavailable spectrum, communicate data using a carrier aggregation method in the at least one sub-channel band of available spectrum within the channel at a different carrier frequency than the band of unavailable spectrum.

5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the at least one RF communication module is further configured to:

in response to:

a detection of at least two sub-bands of available spectrum within the channel, and

a selection of the CA-MIMO hybrid mode,

communicate data using a carrier aggregation method in the at least one of the at least two sub-bands of available spectrum and using a MIMO access method in another of the at least one of the at least two sub-bands of available spectrum.

6. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to select one mode of communication based on an interference level of the channel and a rank of the channel.

7. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising:

a band pass filter configured to filter each sub-channel in the channel; and

a local oscillator configured to synthesize multiple frequencies.

8. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the at least one RF communication module is further configured to receive a signal indicating the selected one mode of communication.

9. A wireless communication system comprising:

a mobile station configured to:

couple to an access point configured to transmit a multi-band beacon on different bands within a channel;

calculate a channel quality and channel rank for each of the different bands using the multi-band beacon received on the different bands, and

communicate with the access point according to a selected mode of communication, wherein the selected mode of communication is selected from a plurality of modes, the plurality of modes including:

a carrier aggregation (CA) only mode,

a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) only mode, and

a carrier aggregation multiple input multiple output (CA-MIMO) hybrid mode.

10. The wireless communication system as set forth in claim 9 , wherein the mobile station is further configured to receive a signal indicating the selected mode of communication, based on a report sent from the mobile station, the report comprising the a channel quality and channel rank for each of the different bands.

11. The wireless communication system as set forth in claim 9 , wherein one of the access point and the mobile station are configured to:

in response to:

a detection of at least two sub-channels of available spectrum and a sub-channel of unavailable spectrum within the channel, and

a selection of the CA-MIMO hybrid mode,

communicate data using a carrier aggregation method in the at least one of the at least two sub-bands of available spectrum and using a MIMO method in another of the at least one of the at least two sub-bands of available spectrum.

12. The wireless communication system as set forth in claim 11 , wherein the at least two sub-bands of available spectrum comprises at least two non-overlapping non-adjacent sub-bands.

13. The wireless communication system as set forth in claim 9 , wherein the mode of communication is selected based on the calculated channel quality and the rank of the channel.

14. The wireless communication system as set forth in claim 9 further comprising a second mobile station configured to:

couple to the access point configured to transmit a multi-band beacon on different bands within a channel;

calculate a channel quality and channel rank for each of the different bands using the multi-band beacon received on the different bands, and

communicate with the access point according to a second selected mode of communication, wherein the second selected mode of communication is selected from the plurality of modes.

15. The wireless communication system as set forth in claim 14 , wherein the second mobile station communicates with the access point at a different time than the mobile station.

16. The wireless communication system as set forth in claim 9 , wherein the access point is configured to:

in response to determining that level of susceptibility to interference of a band within the channel is above a predetermined value, not transmit the multi-band beacon on the interference susceptible band.

17. For use in a wireless communication network, a method comprising:

detecting a band of unavailable spectrum within a channel, the channel including one contiguous band of frequencies divisible into at least two non-overlapping non-adjacent sub-channels, the band of unavailable spectrum being less than a whole of the channel;

selecting one mode of communication selected from a plurality of modes, the plurality of modes including:

a carrier aggregation (CA) only mode,

a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) only mode, and

a carrier aggregation multiple input multiple output (CA-MIMO) hybrid mode; and

communicating using the one selected mode of communication in the channel.

18. The method as set forth in claim 17 , further comprising:

in response to detecting at least one sub-channel band of available spectrum within the channel at a different carrier frequency than the sub-channel band of unavailable spectrum, communicating data using a carrier aggregation method in the at least one band of available spectrum within the channel at a different carrier frequency than the band of unavailable spectrum.

19. The method as set forth in claim 17 , further comprising:

in response to detecting at least two sub-bands of available spectrum within the channel and selecting the CA-MIMO hybrid mode, communicating data using a carrier aggregation method in the at least one of the at least two sub-bands of available spectrum and using a MIMO method in another of the at least one of the at least two sub-bands of available spectrum.

20. The method as set forth in claim 17 , further comprising selecting one mode of communication based on an interference level of the channel and a rank of the channel.

21. The method as set forth in claim 17 , wherein the access point is further configured to transmit the multi-band beacon from at least one antenna.