Method and apparatus for message segmentation in a wireless communication system

• US 7,542,482 B2
• Filed: 08/16/2001
• Issued: 06/02/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Rezaiifar, Ramin, Tiedemann, Edward G. Jr., Casaccia, Lorenzo
• Primary Examiner(s): Moore, Jr.; Michael J
• Application Number:
  US09/932,121
• Publication Number:
  US 20030035440A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,847 Days
• Field of Search: 370/310, 370/342, 370/349, 370/394, 370/441, 370/465, 370/469, 370/473, 370/474, 370/320
• US Class Current: 370/473
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0007 by modifying the frame length
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1628 List acknowledgements, i.e. the acknowledgement message consisting of a list of identifiers, e.g. of sequence numbers H04L1/1614 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1803 Stop-and-wait protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1809 Selective-repeat protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/188 Time-out mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/12 Access point controller devices

Abstract

Method for segmented message transmission wherein each message is first divided into segments and the segments are fragmented. A segment parameter is applied to each segment, and a segment identifier to each fragment. The fragments are provided to a lower level for preparation into frames for transmission. One embodiment is applied to the transmission of short duration messages, such as control messages.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

segmenting a message into a plurality of segments;

determining a fragment size and a number of fragments for each of the segments;

dividing the segments into a plurality of fragments using the fragment size and the number of fragments;

applying a segment indicator to each fragment, wherein the segment indicator indicates if segmentation is active for retransmission requests; and

transmitting the fragments with information regarding reconstruction of a fragmented segment.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

applying a segment parameter to each segment.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a transmission request for a first segment of the plurality of segments;

if segmentation is active for retransmission requests, retransmitting the first segment; and

if segmentation is inactive for retransmission requests, retransmitting the plurality of segments in response to the requests.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a first fragment size and a first number of fragments for a first segment;

dividing the first segment into the first number of fragments having the first fragment size;

determining a second fragment size and a second number of fragments for a second segment; and

dividing the second segment into the second number of fragments having the second fragment size, wherein the first and second numbers of fragments are different.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein each fragment comprises a frame.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein each fragment is a Service Data Unit.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein each fragment has a sequential fragment identifier.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein each segment indicator has at least two bits.

3. A wireless receiving system comprising:

means for building segments of a message from a plurality of transmitted frames;

means for identifying a missing segment of the message;

means for extracting a segmentation indicator, wherein the segmentation indicator is received from the transmitting side and indicates if segmentation is active for retransmission requests; and

means for requesting a retransmission of the missing segment,

wherein if it has been identified that a segment is missing, a retransmission of the missing segment is requested if the segmentation indicator is active.

4. The receiving system of claim 3, further comprising:

means for segmenting a message to form a plurality of segments;

means for determining a fragment size and a number of fragments for each of the segments;

means for fragmenting the segments to form a plurality of fragments using the fragment size and the number of fragments;

means for transmitting the plurality of fragments; and

means for retransmitting one of the plurality of fragments.

15. The receiving system of claim 3, wherein segment retransmission requests for a segment or a portion of a message are supported for active segmentation, and

wherein all segments of the message are retransmitted for inactive segmentation.

5. A method for receiving transmissions in a wireless communication system, comprising:

receiving a transmission frame having a plurality of segments, each segment having a plurality of fragments, wherein a fragment size and number of fragments is determined for each of the segments;

determining if any of the plurality of segments is missing;

if no segment is missing, reconstructing the message;

determining if segmentation is active for retransmission from a segment indicator received from a transmitting side; and

if a segment is missing and segmentation is active, requesting retransmission of the missing segment.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

processing fragments of the transmission frame.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining an end of a segment; and

reconstructing the segment.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

if a segment is missing, sending a negative acknowledge message to the transmitter of the transmission frame.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

if no segment is missing, sending an acknowledge message to the transmitter of the transmission frame.

10. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining a staff of a segment; and

storing information in a buffer from the start of the segment.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

if the buffer is not empty at the start of a segment, flushing the buffer.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

if a fragment is not a start of segment and the buffer is empty, marking the fragment as missing.

13. A wireless apparatus, comprising:

a receiver for receiving a plurality of transmission frames having a plurality of segments, each segment having a plurality of fragments, wherein a fragment size and number of fragments is determined for each of the segments;

a segment extraction unit coupled to the receiver for identifying and reconstructing segments within a transmission frame according to segment indicators associated with segments and received from a transmitting side, wherein at least one of the segment indicators indicates when segmentation is active for retransmission requests; and

a message reconstruction unit coupled to the segment extraction unit for determining any missing segment within a message and to request retransmission of the missing segment.

14. An apparatus that operates in a wireless communication system, comprising:

means for segmenting a message into a plurality of segments;

means for determining a fragment size and a number of fragments for each of the segments;

means for dividing the segments into a plurality of fragments using the fragment size and the number of fragments;

means for applying a segment indicator to each fragment, wherein the segment indicator indicates if segmentation is active for retransmission requests; and

means for transmitting the fragments with information regarding reconstruction of a fragmented segment.

22. A computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions embodied therein which, when executed, carry out a method comprising:

segmenting a message into a plurality of segments;

determining a fragment size and a number of fragments for each of the segments;

dividing the segments into a plurality of fragments using the fragment size and the number of fragments;

applying a segment indicator to each fragment, wherein the segment indicator indicates if segmentation is active for retransmission request; and

transmitting the fragments with information regarding reconstruction of a fragmented segment.

23. A computer-readable medium on a wireless receiving system having computer-readable instructions embodied therein which, when executed, carry out a method comprising:

building segments of a message from a plurality of transmitted frames;

identifying a missing segment of the message;

extracting a segmentation indicator, wherein the segmentation indicator is received from the transmitting side and indicates if segmentation is active for retransmission requests; and

requesting a retransmission of the missing segment,

wherein if it has been identified that a segment is missing, a retransmission of the missing segment is requested if the segmentation indicator is active.

24. A base station comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory operatively coupled to the processor, the memory storing program instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

segment a message into a plurality of segments;

determine a fragment size and a number of fragments for each of the segments;

divide the segments into a plurality of fragments using the fragment size and the number of fragments;

apply a segment indicator to each fragment, wherein the segment indicator indicates if segmentation is active for retransmission requests;

transmit the fragments with information regarding reconstruction of a fragmented segment;

receive a retransmission request from a receiving system for a first segment of the plurality of segments;

retransmit the first segment to the receiving system if segmentation is active for retransmission requests; and

retransmit the plurality of segments in response to the request to the receiving system if segmentation is inactive for retransmission requests.

25. A remote terminal comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory operatively coupled to the processor, the memory storing program instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

build segments of a message from a plurality of transmitted frames;

identify a missing segment of the message;

extract a segmentation indicator, wherein the segmentation indicator is received from a transmitting side and indicates if segmentation is active for retransmission requests; and

request a retransmission of the missing segment,

wherein if it has been identified that a segment is missing, a retransmission of the missing segment is requested if the segmentation indicator is active.

26. An apparatus for wireless communication systems comprising:

a processing module configured to

     1) segment a message into a plurality of segments,

     2) determine a fragment size and a number of fragments for each of the segments,

     3) divide the segments into a plurality of fragments using the fragment size and the number of fragments, and

     4) apply a segment indicator to each fragment, wherein the segment indicator indicates if segmentation is active for retransmission requests; and

a transmitter for transmitting the fragments with information regarding reconstruction of a fragment segment.

33. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the processing module is further configured to apply a segment parameter to each segment.

34. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the processing module is further configured to:

determine another fragment size and another number of fragments for another segment; and

divide the other segment into the other number of fragments having the other fragment size, wherein the numbers of fragments and the other number of fragments are different.

35. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein each fragment comprises a frame.

36. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein each fragment is a Service Data Unit.

37. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein each fragment has a sequential fragment identifier.

38. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein each segment indicator has at least two bits.

27. A method to communicate within a wireless system, comprising:

building segments of a message from a plurality of transmitted frames;

identifying a missing segment of the message;

extracting a segmentation indicator, wherein the segmentation indicator is received from the transmitting side and indicates if segmentation is active for retransmission requests; and

requesting a retransmission of the missing segment if it has been identified that a segment is missing and the segmentation indicator is active.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

segmenting a message to form a plurality of segments;

determining a fragment size and a number of fragments for each of the segments;

fragmenting the segments to form a plurality of fragments using the fragment size and the number of fragments;

transmitting the plurality of fragments; and

retransmitting one of the plurality of fragments.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

requesting a retransmission of all segments of the message if segmentation is inactive.

30. An apparatus for wireless communication comprising:

means for receiving a transmission frame having a plurality of segments, each segment having a plurality of fragments;

means for determining a fragment size and number of fragments for each of the segments;

means for determining if any of the plurality of segments is missing;

means for reconstructing the message if no segment is missing;

means for determining if segmentation is active for retransmission from a segment indicator received from a transmitting side; and

means for requesting retransmission of the missing segment if a segment is missing and segmentation is active.

31. A computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions embodied therein which, when executed, carry out a method comprising:

receiving a transmission frame having a plurality of segments, each segment having a plurality of fragments, wherein a fragment size and number of fragments is determined for each of the segments;

determining if any of the plurality of segments is missing;

if no segment is missing, reconstructing the message;

determining if segmentation is active for retransmission from a segment indicator received from a transmitting side; and

if a segment is missing and segmentation is active, requesting retransmission of the missing segment.

32. A remote terminal comprising:

an antenna configured to receive a transmission frame having a plurality of segments, each segment having a plurality of fragments;

a receiver configured to;

determine a fragment size and number of fragments for each of the segments;

determine if any of the plurality of segments is missing;

reconstruct the message if no segment is missing;

determine if segmentation is active for retransmission from a segment indicator received from a transmitting side; and

request retransmission of the missing segment if a segment is missing and segmentation is active.