The present invention relates to a system and method for successive interference cancellation in a multi-user wireless communication system. In one aspect of the invention, a method of decoding signals from a plurality of superimposed signals is provided. In an embodiment, the plurality of superimposed signals are ranked in order of signal strength. The strongest signal is then decoded and a signal estimate thereof generated and subtracted from the plurality of superposition signals. The method repeats iteratively, decoding and canceling the strongest signal, until all signals are decoded. In another aspect of the invention, a system for decoding signals from a plurality of superimposed signals is provided. In an embodiment, the system is a wireless multi-user receiver.