A spatial multiplexing scheduler in, for example, an eNB or other base station, determines rank n precoders for UEs. Each UE reports the preferred precoder from this set of rank n precoders. The preferred precoder results in imbalance in performance over m layers compared to the rest of (n−m) layers. The UEs also report channel quality to the eNB, from which the eNB determines which layer(s) is better for the UE. For example, when n=2 and m=1, the eNB may then select two UEs such that, for the same precoder used by the UEs, the first UE has much higher layer 1 performance than layer 2, and the second UE has much higher layer 2 performance than layer 1. These two UEs may then share the same frequency-time domain resources, with the first UE information sent/received on layer 1, while the second UE information is sent/received on layer 2.