Systems, devices, and techniques for MIMO (Multiple-In-Multiple-Out) based space-frequency coding can include, in at least some implementations, techniques that include receiving a selected spatial multiplexing rate M, the spatial multiplexing rate corresponding to a number of data streams for transmission on two or more antennas; for a first data tone, applying a first mapping to map a first number of data streams to a first portion of the antennas; and for a second data tone, applying a different second mapping to map a second number of data streams to a different second portion of the antennas. The first number and second number correspond to the spatial multiplexing rate.