Methods for transmitting data in a radio network comprising a transmitter and a multiplicity of receivers are well known. For example, digital mobile telephone radio networks use Frequency Division Multiplex Access (FDMA) methods, Time Division Multiplex Access (TDMA) methods and Code Division Multiplex Access (CDMA) methods for transmitting data to a multiplicity of receivers of a radio cell via a common air interface.
Other transmission methods provide for multiplexing both in the time and in the frequency domains, for example data transmissions according to the Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) standard or by means of the so-called Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). In order to achieve a data transmission rate as high as possible with OFDM systems and an efficient volume with the available bandwidth, the transmission characteristics of individual channels orthogonal relative to each other between a base station and a multiplicity of mobile stations are taken into account and the data transmission is continuously adapted to these. In this way, only those channels on which good receiving properties exist are used for each receiver. This principle is also known under the term “Multi User Diversity” (MUD).
The disadvantages of the known methods are that the scheduling of the use of the available transmission channels is relatively complex and receivers continuously have to monitor a multiplicity of transmission channels for data directed to them, which results in a high energy requirement on the part of the receiver.