1. A method for scheduling downlink data transmission to a plurality of terminals in a wireless communication system, comprising: forming one or more sets of terminals for possible data transmission, wherein each set includes a combination of one or more terminals and corresponds to a hypothesis to be evaluated; assigning a plurality of transmit antennas to the one or more terminals in each set; evaluating performance of each hypothesis based in part on antenna assignments for the hypothesis; selecting one of the one or more evaluated hypotheses based on the performance; and scheduling data transmission to the one or more terminals in the selected hypothesis.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: forming a plurality of sub-hypotheses for each hypothesis, wherein each sub-hypothesis corresponds to specific assignments of the transmit antennas to the one or more terminals in the hypothesis, and wherein the performance of each sub-hypothesis is evaluated and one of the evaluated sub-hypotheses is selected based on the performance.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigning includes identifying a transmit antenna and terminal pair with a best performance among all unassigned transmit antennas, assigning the transmit antenna in the pair to the terminal in the pair, and removing the assigned transmit antenna and terminal from consideration.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each hypothesis is evaluated based in part on channel state information (CSI) for each terminal in the hypothesis, wherein the CSI is indicative of channel characteristics between the transmit antennas and the terminal. 158,760/2

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the CSI for each terminal comprises signal-to- noise-plus-interference ratio (SNR) estimates derived at the terminal based on signals transmitted from the transmit antennas.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein each set of one or more terminals to be evaluated is associated with a respective matrix of SNRs achieved by the one or more terminals in the set.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein one or more sets of antenna beams are evaluated by each terminal to be considered for scheduling to provide one or more vectors of SNRs, one vector for each set of antenna beams.

8. The method of claim 4, further comprising: determining a coding and modulation scheme for each transmit antenna based on the CSI associated with the transmit antenna.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more terminals in each set are selected from among a pool of terminals

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the pool of terminals includes one or more SIMO terminals each designated to receive a single data stream

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the selected hypothesis includes a plurality of SIMO terminals

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the pool of terminals includes one or more MIMO terminals each designated to receive multiple data streams from multiple transmit antennas

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the selected hypothesis includes a single MIMO terminal. 158,760/214. The method of claim 12, wherein each scheduled MIMO terminal performs successive cancellation receiver processing to recover data transmitted to the MIMO terminal

15. The method of claim 1, wherein each set includes terminals having similar link margins

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the evaluating includes computing a performance metric for each hypothesis

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the performance metric is a function of throughput achievable by each terminal in the hypothesis

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the hypothesis having the best performance metric is selected for scheduling

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising: prioritizing terminals to be considered for scheduling.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the plurality of transmit antennas are assigned to the one or more terminals in each set based on the priority of the terminals in the set.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein a highest priority terminal in the set is assigned a transmit antenna associated with a highest throughput, and a lowest priority terminal in the set is assigned a transmit antenna associated with a lowest throughput.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising: limiting terminals to be considered for scheduling to a group of N highest priority terminals, where N is one or greater. 158,760/2

23. The method of claim 19, further comprising: maintaining one or more metrics for each terminal to be considered for scheduling, and wherein the priority of each terminal is determined based in part on the one or more metrics maintained for the terminal.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein one metric maintained for each terminal relates to an average throughput rate achieved by the terminal.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein the priority of each terminal is further determined based on one or more factors maintained for the terminal and associated with quality of service (QoS).

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more terminals in the selected hypothesis are scheduled for data transmission over a channel that includes plurality of spatial subchannels.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more terminals in the selected hypothesis are scheduled for data transmission over a channel that includes plurality of frequency subchannels.

28. A method for scheduling data transmission to a plurality of terminals in a wireless communication system, comprising: forming one or more sets of terminals for possible data transmission, wherein each set includes a unique combination of one or more terminals and corresponds to a hypothesis to be evaluated; forming one or more sub-hypotheses for each hypothesis, wherein each sub-hypothesis corresponds to specific assignments of a plurality of transmit antennas to the one or more terminals in the hypothesis; evaluating performance of each sub-hypothesis; selecting one of a plurality of evaluated sub-hypotheses based on their performance; 158,760/2 scheduling data transmission to the one or more terminals in the selected sub-hypothesis; and transmitting data to each scheduled terminal in the selected sub-hypothesis from one or more transmit antennas assigned to the terminal.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the evaluating includes determining a throughput for the one or more terminals in the sub-hypothesis based on the specific antenna assignments, and wherein the sub-hypothesis with highest throughput is selected.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein one set of terminals is formed, and wherein the terminals in the set is selected based on priority of terminals desiring data transmission.

31. A multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system, comprising: a base station comprising a plurality of transmit antennas, a scheduler configured to receive channel state information (CSI) indicative of channel estimates for a plurality of terminals in the communication system, select a set of one or more terminals for data transmission on a downlink based at least in part on the received CSI, and assign the plurality of transmit antennas to the one or more selected terminals, a transmit data processor configured receive and process data for the one or more selected terminals based on the CSI to provide a plurality of data streams, and a plurality of modulators configured to process the plurality of data streams to provide a plurality of modulated signals suitable for transmission from the plurality of transmit antennas; and one or more terminals, each terminal comprising: 158,760/2 a plurality of receive antennas, each receive antenna configured to receive the plurality of modulated signals transmitted from the base station, a plurality of front-end units, each front-end unit configured to process a signal from an associated received antenna to provide a respective received signal, a receive processor configured to process a plurality of received signals from the plurality of front-end units to provide one or more decoded data streams, and to further derive CSI for the plurality of modulated signals, and a transmit data processor configured to process the CSI for transmission back to the base station.

32. A base station in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system, comprising: a transmit data processor configured to receive and process data to provide a plurality of data streams for transmission to one or more terminals scheduled for data transmission, wherein the data is processed based on channel state information (CSI) indicative of channel estimates for the one or more scheduled terminals; a plurality of modulators configured to process the plurality of data streams to provide a plurality of modulated signals; a plurality of transmit antennas configured to receive and transmit the plurality of modulated signals to the one or more scheduled terminals; and a scheduler configured to receive CSI for a plurality of terminals in the communication system, select a set of one or more terminals for data transmission based at least in part on the received CSI, and assign the plurality of transmit antennas to the one or more selected terminals.

33. The base station of claim 32, wherein the data stream for each transmit antenna is processed based on a coding and modulation scheme selected for the transmit antenna based on the CSI associated with the transmit antenna. 158,760/2

34. The base station of claim 32, further comprising: a plurality of demodulators configured to process a plurality of signals received via the plurality of transmit antennas to provide a plurality of received signals, and a receive data processor configured to further process the plurality of received signals to derive CSI for the plurality of terminals in the communication system.

35. A terminal in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system, comprising: a plurality of receive antennas, each receive antenna configured to receive a plurality of modulated signals transmitted from a base station; a plurality of front-end units, each front-end unit configured to process a signal from an associated received antenna to provide a respective received signal; a receive processor configured to process a plurality of received signals from the plurality of front-end units to provide one or more decoded data streams, and to further derive channel state information (CSI) for each decoded data stream; and a transmit data processor configured to process the CSI for transmission back to the base station, and wherein the terminal is one of one or more terminals included in a set scheduled to receive data transmission from the base station in a particular time interval, and wherein the set of one or more terminals scheduled to receive data transmission is selected from among one or more sets of terminals based at least in part on CSI received from the one or more terminals in each set.

36. The terminal of claim 35, wherein the terminal is scheduled to receive data transmission from one or more transmit antennas at the base station assigned to the terminal. 158,760/1

37. An apparatus for scheduling data transmission to a plurality of terminals in a wireless communication system, comprising: means for forming one or more sets of terminals for possible data transmission, wherein each set includes a combination of one or more terminals and corresponds to a hypothesis to be evaluated; means for assigning a plurality of transmit antennas to the one or more terminals in each set; means for evaluating performance of each hypothesis based in part on antenna assignments for the hypothesis; means for selecting one of the one or more evaluated hypotheses based on the performance; and means for scheduling data transmission to the one or more terminals in the selected hypothesis.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising: means for forming a plurality of sub-hypotheses for each hypothesis, wherein each sub-hypothesis corresponds to specific assignments of the transmit antennas to the one or more terminals in the hypothesis, and wherein the performance of each sub-hypothesis is evaluated and one of the evaluated sub-hypotheses is selected based on the performance.

39. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein means for assigning includes: means for identifying a transmit antenna and terminal pair with a best performance among all unassigned transmit antennas; means for assigning the transmit antenna in the pair to the terminal in the pair; and means for removing the assigned transmit antenna and terminal from consideration.

40. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein each hypothesis is evaluated based in part on channel state information (CSI) for each terminal in the hypothesis, wherein the CSI is indicative of channel characteristics between the transmit antennas and the terminal. 158,760/1

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the CSI for each terminal comprise signal- to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SNR) estimates derived at the terminal based on signals transmitted from the transmit antennas.

42. The apparatus of claim 40, further comprising: means for determining a coding and modulation scheme for each transmit antenna based on the CSI associated with the transmit antenna.

43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein means for evaluating includes: means for computing a performance metric for each hypothesis.

44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the performance metric is a function of throughput achievable by each terminal in the hypothesis.

45. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising: means for prioritizing terminals to be considered for scheduling.

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the plurality of transmit antennas are assigned to the one or more terminals in each set based on the priority of the terminals in the set.

47. The apparatus of claim 45, further comprising: means for maintaining one or more metrics for each terminal to be considered for scheduling, wherein the priority of each terminal is determined based in part on the one or more metrics maintained for the terminal.

48. An apparatus for scheduling data transmission to a plurality of terminals in a wireless communication system, comprising: means for forming one or more sets of terminals for possible data transmission, wherein each set includes a unique combination of one or more terminals and corresponds to a hypothesis to be evaluated; 158,760/1 means for forming one or more sub-hypotheses for each hypothesis, wherein each sub-hypothesis corresponds to specific assignments of a plurality of transmit antennas to the one or more terminals in the hypothesis; means for evaluating performance of each sub-hypothesis; means for selecting one of a plurality of evaluated sub-hypotheses based on their performance; means for scheduling data transmission to the one or more terminals in the selected sub-hypothesis; and means for transmitting data to each scheduled terminal in the selected sub-hypothesis from one or more transmit antennas assigned to the terminal.

49. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein means for evaluating includes: means for determining a throughput for the one or more terminals in the sub-hypothesis based on the specific antenna assignments, and wherein the sub-hypothesis with highest throughput is selected.

50. A method for scheduling data transmission in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: identifying one or more sets of terminals, each set including one or more terminals and corresponding to a hypothesis to be evaluated based on one or more criteria; assigning a plurality of transmit antennas to the one or more terminals in each set; evaluating performance of each hypothesis based on channel state information (CSI) associated with each terminal, the CSI being indicative of channel characteristics between the respective terminal and the corresponding transmit antennas; and selecting at least one set of terminals to receive data transmission based, at least in part, on the performance of each hypothesis.

51. The method of claim 50 further comprising: scheduling data transmission to the one or more terminals in the selected set. 158,760/1

52. The method of claim 50 wherein each hypothesis comprises a plurality of sub-hypotheses each of which corresponding to one or more specific assignments of the transmit antennas to the one or more terminals in the respective set and wherein the performance of each hypothesis is evaluated based on performance of the corresponding sub-hypotheses.

53. The method of claim 50, wherein the CSI for each terminal comprises signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SNR) estimates derived at the respective terminal based on signals transmitted from the transmit antennas.

54. The method of claim 50, wherein the evaluating includes: computing a performance metric for each hypothesis as a function of throughput achievable by each terminal in the respective set.

55. The method of claim 50, wherein the plurality of transmit antennas are assigned to the one or more terminals in each set based on priority of terminals in the set.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein the priority of each terminal is determined based on one or more factors including quality of service (QoS) associated with the respective terminal.

57. An apparatus for managing data transmission in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising: means for identifying one or more sets of terminals, each set including one or more terminals and corresponding to a hypothesis to be evaluated based on one or more criteria; means for assigning a plurality of transmit antennas to the one or more terminals in each set; means for evaluating performance of each hypothesis based on channel state information (CSI) associated with each terminal, the CSI being indicative of channel 158,760/1 characteristics between the respective terminal and the corresponding transmit antennas; and means for selecting at least one set of terminals to receive data transmission based, at least in part, on the performance of each hypothesis.

58. The apparatus of claim 57 further comprising: means for scheduling data transmission to the one or more terminals in the selected set.

59. The apparatus of claim 57 wherein each hypothesis comprises a plurality of sub-hypotheses each of which corresponding to one or more specific assignments of the transmit antennas to the one or more terminals in the respective set and wherein the performance of each hypothesis is evaluated based on performance of the corresponding sub-hypotheses.

60. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the CSI for each terminal comprises signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SNR) estimates derived at the respective terminal based on signals transmitted from the transmit antennas.

61. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein means for evaluating includes: means for computing a performance metric for each hypothesis as a function of throughput achievable by each terminal in the respective set.

62. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the plurality of transmit antennas are assigned to the one or more terminals in each set based on priority of terminals in the set. 158,760/1

63. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the priority of each terminal is deteimined based on one or more factors including quality of service (QoS) associated with the respective terminal.']