A method includes estimating spatial signatures of the signal and interference data streams, forming a composite channel matrix comprising all or a subset of estimated spatial signatures, performing QR decomposition (QRD) of channel matrix with different spatial orderings, selecting the stream with the largest post-detection signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) based on the elements of the R matrices from different QRD processes, pre-processing received signal using the Q matrix corresponding to the spatial ordering with the largest SINR, demodulating the strongest stream using single-stream sliced maximum likelihood (SSS-ML) method, cancelling the strongest stream and demodulating the remaining weaker streams using low-complexity MMSE method.