Method and apparatus for demand-assigned reduced-rate out-of-band signaling channel
First Claim
1. A method for efficient utilization of radio channel resources in a communication system, wherein a sequence of time slots is provided on each of the radio channel resources for packetized communications, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) preempting, on at least one of the radio channel resources, packetized information contained within at least one time slot of said sequence of time slots every N time slots to produce at least one preempted time slot;
b) utilizing the at least one preempted time slot for transmitting or receiving signaling information, the signaling information being superimposed on the at least one preempted time slot; and
c) indicating a location of the preempted time slot using an independent broadcast channel, the independent broadcast channel allowing the communication system to distinguish the signaling information from the packetized information.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a radio frequency communications system transmitting and receiving packetized voice information over a limited number of channels, certain time slots are preempted for signaling information. This is accomplished by providing a set of channels which are logically defined and multiplexed onto the voice traffic channels by stealing a voice packet from the traffic channel at regular intervals of time. The replaced voice packet is delayed and transmitted at the next allocated time slot. The added load due to signaling traffic is offset by the silence intervals in voice conversation, which are not transmitted in packetized voice communication.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method for efficient utilization of radio channel resources in a communication system, wherein a sequence of time slots is provided on each of the radio channel resources for packetized communications, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) preempting, on at least one of the radio channel resources, packetized information contained within at least one time slot of said sequence of time slots every N time slots to produce at least one preempted time slot; b) utilizing the at least one preempted time slot for transmitting or receiving signaling information, the signaling information being superimposed on the at least one preempted time slot; and c) indicating a location of the preempted time slot using an independent broadcast channel, the independent broadcast channel allowing the communication system to distinguish the signaling information from the packetized information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for efficient utilization of radio channel resources in a satellite cellular communication system, wherein a sequence of time slots is provided on each of the radio channel resources for packetized communications, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) preempting, on at least one of the radio channel resources, packetized information contained within at least one time slot of said sequence of time slots every N time slots to produce at least one preempted time slot; b) utilizing the at least one preempted time slot for transmitting or receiving signaling information, the signaling information being superimposed on the at least one preempted time slot; and c) indicating a location of the preempted time slot using an independent broadcast channel, the independent broadcast channel allowing the communication system to distinguish the signaling information from the packetized information. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for a subscriber unit to utilize a preempted time slot of a radio channel in a communication system, the radio channel containing packetized information, and the preempted time slot having signaling information superimposed therein, the method comprising the steps of:
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a) monitoring an independent broadcast channel to determine a location of the preempted time slot, the independent broadcast channel allowing the subscriber unit to distinguish the signaling information in the radio channel from the packetized information; b) upon determining the location of the preempted time slot, determining whether the preempted time slot is allocated to the subscriber unit; c) if the preempted time slot is allocated to the subscriber unit, utilizing the preempted time slot; and d) if the preempted time slot is not allocated to the subscriber unit, ignoring the contents of the preempted time slot. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. Apparatus for efficient utilization of radio channel resources in a communication system, wherein a sequence of time slots is provided on each of the radio channel resources for packetized communications, said apparatus comprising:
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a) means for preempting, on at least one of the radio channel resources, packetized information contained within at least one time slot of said sequence of time slots every N time slots to produce at least one preempted time slot; b) means for utilizing the at least one preempted time slot for transmitting or receiving signaling information, the signaling information being superimposed on the at least one preempted time slot; and c) means for indicating a location of the preempted time slot using an independent broadcast channel, the independent broadcast channel allowing the communication system to distinguish the signaling information from the packetized information. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A subscriber unit for utilizing a preempted time slot for transmitting or receiving signaling information, the signaling information being superimposed on the preempted time slot, the subscriber unit comprising:
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a) a broadcast channel monitor for monitoring an independent broadcast channel indicating a location of the preempted time slot and whether the time slot is allocated to the subscriber unit; and b) a preempted time slot processor, operably coupled to the broadcast channel monitor, that utilizes the location of the preempted time slot if the preempted time slot is allocated to the subscriber unit for distinguishing the signaling information, and that ignores the contents of the preempted time slot if the preempted time slot is not allocated to the subscriber unit. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification