Systems and methods for uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) communications can improve channel capacity between one or more access nodes and one or more terminal nodes. The communications may utilize, for example, multi-user multiple-input multiple-output techniques with cooperation between access nodes. A network node may determine an ordering combination and associated pre-weighting values, provide the pre-weighting values to one or more terminal nodes, receive signals transmitted from the terminal nodes using the pre-weighting values; and process the received signals using the ordering combination and the pre-weighting values. Two constraints can be jointly used: a minimum performance constraint and a maximum transmit power constraint. Example systems search all possible ordering combinations to find a best combination, for example, the ordering combination that maximizes communication rates. The ordering combination may be used with combinations of full or partial successive interference cancellation in receivers and full or partial iterative pre-cancellation pre-coding in transmitters.