Communication method and apparatus

摘要

Methods and apparatus for communicating between a first node and a plurality of second nodes in a network, including a first uplink mode in which a first message is transmitted from multiple second nodes in sequence, and a second uplink mode in which a second message is sent from only a subset of nodes. A first receiving node evaluates communication path information based on messages received in the first uplink mode and returns this information via an acknowledgement to allow the subset to be selected. The first message from multiple nodes includes sequence information to allow the first node to acknowledge at an appropriate point in time. This is particularly applicable where multiple spatially separated antennas offer a receiver several observations of the same signal in an antenna diversity scheme.