Wireless communication system having MIMO communication capability and having multiple receiving antennas to be selected

1. A wireless communication method for distributing a data stream from a wireless server apparatus to a plurality of wireless client apparatuses using a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) wireless transmission scheme,

each of the wireless client apparatuses comprising a larger number of antennas than the number of streams to be received by the wireless client apparatus, and among the antennas, selectively using a combination of antennas including a number of antennas whose number is equal to the number of the streams to be received,

the method comprising the steps of, before start of streaming of the data stream:

requesting, by the wireless server apparatus, the plurality of wireless client apparatuses for the number of antenna combinations;

returning, by each of the wireless client apparatuses, the number of antenna combinations to the wireless server apparatus;

determining, by the wireless server apparatus, a first training time according to the maximum of the returned numbers of antenna combinations, and notifying each of the wireless client apparatuses of the determined first training time;

determining, by each of the wireless client apparatuses, a second training time required to estimate transmission path conditions between the wireless server apparatus and the wireless client apparatus for one antenna combination, based on the notified first training time;

transmitting, by the wireless server apparatus, a training signal to each of the wireless client apparatuses during the first training time;

estimating, by each of the wireless client apparatuses, the transmission path conditions using the training signal during the second training time for each of the antenna combinations; and

selecting and setting, by each of the wireless client apparatuses, the antenna combination based on the estimated transmission path conditions.

2. The wireless communication method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the transmission path conditions are estimated by evaluating at least two parameters of the transmission path conditions.

3. The wireless communication method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the parameters of the transmission path conditions include a parameter related to each of the antennas and a parameter related to correlations between the antennas.

4. The wireless communication method as claimed in claim 3 , further comprising the step of determining, by each of the wireless client apparatuses, priorities of the antenna combinations based on one of the parameters of the transmission path conditions.

5. The wireless communication method as claimed in claim 4 , further comprising the step of selecting and setting, by each of the wireless client apparatuses, an antenna combination with the next highest priority after a current antenna combination based on the determined priorities of the antenna combinations, when the communication quality degrades.

6. A wireless communication system that distributes a data stream from a wireless server apparatus to a plurality of wireless client apparatuses using a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) wireless transmission scheme,

each of the wireless client apparatuses comprising a larger number of antennas than the number of streams to be received by the wireless client apparatus, and among the antennas, selectively using a combination of antennas including a number of antennas whose number is equal to the number of the streams to be received,

before start of streaming of the data stream,

the wireless server apparatus requests the plurality of wireless client apparatuses for the number of antenna combinations,

each of the wireless client apparatuses returns the number of antenna combinations to the wireless server apparatus,

the wireless server apparatus determines a first training time according to the maximum of the returned numbers of antenna combinations, and notifies each of the wireless client apparatuses of the determined first training time,

each of the wireless client apparatuses determines a second training time required to estimate transmission path conditions between the wireless server apparatus and the wireless client apparatus for one antenna combination, based on the notified first training time,

the wireless server apparatus transmits a training signal to each of the wireless client apparatuses during the first training time,

each of the wireless client apparatuses estimates the transmission path conditions using the training signal during the second training time for each of the antenna combinations, and

each of the wireless client apparatuses selects and sets the antenna combination based on the estimated transmission path conditions.

7. The wireless communication system as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the transmission path conditions are estimated by evaluating at least two parameters of the transmission path conditions.

8. The wireless communication system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the parameters of the transmission path conditions include a parameter related to each of the antennas and a parameter related to correlations between the antennas.

9. The wireless communication system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein each of the wireless client apparatuses determines priorities of the antenna combinations based on one of the parameters of the transmission path conditions.

10. The wireless communication system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein each of the wireless client apparatuses selects and sets an antenna combination with the next highest priority after a current antenna combination based on the determined priorities of the antenna combinations, when communication quality degrades.