A central terminal as claimed in claim <HIL><BOLD>7</BOLD></HIL>, wherein a number of said orthogonal channels are designated as traffic channels for the transmission of data items relating to communication content, said central terminal further > a TDM encoder arranged to apply time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques to data items to be sent over a traffic channel from said central terminal to said subscriber terminal, so as to enable a plurality of data items pertaining to different wireless links to be sent within one orthogonal traffic channel during a predetermined frame period. view more

A transmission controller as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: an overlay code generator for providing an overlay code from a first set of `n` overlay codes which are orthogonal to each other; and a second encoder, selectively operable instead of the TDM encoder, to apply the overlay code from the overlay code generator to said data item, whereby `n` data items pertaining to different wireless links may be transmitted simultaneously within the same orthogonal channel. view more

A central terminal of a wireless telecommunications system, comprising a transmission controller having: an orthogonal code generator for providing an orthogonal code from a set of `m` orthogonal codes used to create `m` orthogonal channels within the single frequency channel; a first encoder for combining a data item to be transmitted on the single frequency channel with said orthogonal code from the orthogonal code generator, the orthogonal code determining the orthogonal channel over which the data item is transmitted, whereby data items pertaining to different wireless links may be transmitted simultaneously within different orthogonal channels of said single frequency channel; a TDM encoder arranged to apply time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques to the data item in order to insert the data item within a time slot of the orthogonal channel, whereby a plurality of data items relating to different wireless links may be transmitted within the same orthogonal channel during a predetermined frame period; an overlay code generator for providing an overlay code from a first set of `n` overlay codes which are orthogonal to each other; a second encoder, selectively operable instead of the TDM encoder, to apply the overlay code from the overlay code generator to said data item, whereby `n` data items pertaining to different wireless links may be transmitted simultaneously within the same orthogonal channel, wherein the orthogonal code generator is a storage arranged to store the set of orthogonal codes and wherein the set of orthogonal codes comprise a set of Rademacher-Walsh (RW) codes. view more

A central terminal as claimed in claim 5, wherein a first of the orthogonal channels is reserved for the transmission of signals relating to the acquisition of wireless links, and the second encoder is used instead of the TDM encoder to enable overlay codes to be applied to data items to be sent within said first orthogonal channel from the central terminal to one of said subscriber terminals. view more

A reception controller as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:</claim-text> an overlay code generator for providing an overlay code from a first set of ‘n’ overlay codes which are orthogonal to each other, the set of ‘n’ overlay codes enabling ‘n’ items pertaining to different wireless links to be transmitted simultaneously within the same orthogonal channel; and a second decoder, selectively operable instead of the TDM decoder, to apply to the data items of the orthogonal channel, the overlay code from the overlay code generator so as to isolate a particular data item transmitted using that overlay code. view more

A subscriber terminal of a wireless telecommunications system, comprising a reception controller having:</claim-text> an orthogonal code generator for providing an orthogonal code from a set of ‘m’ orthogonal codes used to create said ‘m’ orthogonal els within the single frequency channel; a first decoder for applying, to signals received on the single frequency channel, the orthogonal code provided by the orthogonal code generator, in order to isolate data items transmitted within the corresponding orthogonal channel; a TDM decoder arranged to extract a data item from a predetermined time slot within said orthogonal channel, a plurality of data items relating to different wireless links being transmitted within the same orthogonal channel during a predetermined frame period; an overlay code generator for providing an overlay code from a first set of ‘n’ overlay codes which are orthogonal to each other, the set of ‘n’ overlay codes enabling ‘n’ data items pertaining to different wireless links to be transmitted simultaneously within the same orthogonal channel; a second decoder, selectively operable instead of the TDM decoder, to apply to the data items of the orthogonal channel, the overlay code from the overlay code generator so as to isolate a particular data item transmitted using that overlay code, wherein the set of orthogonal codes comprise a set of Rademacher-Walsh (RW) codes and wherein the set of orthogonal codes comprise a set of Rademacher-Walsh (RW) codes. view more