METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKET SEGMENTATION AND CONCATENATION SIGNALING IN A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20090116490A1
• Filed: 08/25/2006
• Published: 05/07/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Optis Wireless Technology, LLC (Brevet Capital)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Charpentier, Frederic, Lohr, Joachim
• Granted Patent: US 8,102,880 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/395.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1841 Resequencing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/30 in combination with information about buffer occupancy at either end or at transit nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/43 Assembling or disassembling of packets, e.g. segmentation and reassembly [SAR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0046 Determination of how many bits are transmitted on different sub-channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/02 Protocol performance
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/03 Protocol definition or specification protocol conformance testing H04L1/244
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/166 IP fragmentation; TCP segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/32 Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/321 Interlayer communication protocols or service data unit [SDU] definitions; Interfaces between layers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/324 in the data link layer [OSI layer 2], e.g. HDLC
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/065 using assembly or disassembly of packets

Abstract

The invention relates to a data packet structure for conveying data of service data units (SDU) using protocol data units (PDU). The data packet comprise a data packet payload comprising at least one protocol data unit (PDU), wherein a protocol data unit (PDU) comprises a service data unit (SDU) or a fragment of a service data unit; and a data packet header comprising an indicator (FFF, SFF) indicating whether or not the data packet payload begins with a protocol data unit (PDU) being a fragment of a service data unit and whether or not the data packet payload ends with a protocol data unit (PDU) being a fragment of a service data unit.

Claims

1-79. -79. (canceled)

80. A method for transmitting data packets, the method comprising:

forming a data packet payload comprising at least one of a full of a service data unit and a segment of a service data unit;

forming a data packet header comprising an indicator; and

transmitting a data packet over a channel, the data packet comprising, wherein;

the indicator indicates whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the beginning of the data packet payload and whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the end of the data packet payload.

81. The method according to claim 80, wherein the indicator comprising a first bit and a second bit, the first bit indicates whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the beginning of the data packet payload and the second bit indicates whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the end of the data packet payload.

83. The method according to claim 80, wherein the indicator indicates whether or not the data packet payload should be combined with the data packet payload of the previously sent data packet and whether or not the data packet payload should be combined with the data packet payload of the next data packet.

90. A system comprising the apparatus for transmitting data packets according to claim 80 and the apparatus for receiving data packets according to claim 89.

82. A method for transmitting data packets, the method comprising:

forming a data packet payload;

forming a data packet header comprising an indicator; and

transmitting a data packet over a channel, the data packet comprising the data packet header and the data packet payload, wherein;

if the data packet payload comprises an arbitrary combination of one or more full service data units and/or one or more segments of a service data unit, the indicator only indicates whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the beginning of the data packet payload and whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the end of the data packet payload.

84. An apparatus for transmitting data packets, the apparatus comprising:

a data packet payload forming section adapted to form a data packet payload comprising at least one of a full of a service data unit and a segment of a service data unit;

a data packet header forming section adapted to form a data packet header comprising an indicator; and

a transmitter adapted to transmit a data packet over a channel, the data packet comprising the data packet header and the data packet payload, wherein;

the indicator indicates whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the beginning of the data packet payload and whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the end of the data packet payload.

85. The apparatus according to claim 84, wherein the indicator comprising a first bit and a second bit, the first bit indicates whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the beginning of the data packet payload and the second bit indicates whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the end of the data packet payload

87. The apparatus according to claim 84, wherein the indicator indicates whether or not the data packet payload should be combined with the data packet payload of the previously sent data packet and whether or not the data packet payload should be combined with the data packet payload of the next data packet.

86. An apparatus for transmitting data packets, the apparatus comprising:

a data packet payload forming section adapted to form a data packet payload comprising at least one of a full of a service data unit and a segment of a service data unit;

a data packet header forming section adapted to form a data packet header comprising an indicator; and

a transmitter adapted to transmit a data packet over a channel, the data packet comprising the data packet header and the data packet payload, wherein;

if the data packet payload comprises an arbitrary combination of one or more full service data units and/or one or more segments of a service data unit, the indicator only indicates whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the beginning of the data packet payload and whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the end of the data packet payload.

88. A method for receiving data packets comprising a data packet header and a data packet payload, comprising the steps of:

receiving data packets over a channel, each data packet comprising a data packet payload, the data packet payload comprising at least one of a full of a service data unit and a segment of a service data unit, and a data packet header, the data packet header comprising a sequence number indicator indicating the position of the data packet in a data packet sequence, and an indicator, wherein the indicator indicates whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the beginning of the data packet payload and whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the end of the data packet payload; and

saving the at least one of a full of a service data unit and a segment of a service data unit of the received data packet payload with previously received at least one of a full of a service data unit and a segment of a service data unit in a reception buffer in-sequence according to the sequence number indicator.

89. An apparatus for receiving data packets comprising a data packet header and a data packet payload, comprising:

a receiving section adapted to receive data packets over a channel, each data packet comprising a data packet payload, the data packet payload comprising at least one of a full of a service data unit and a segment of a service data unit, and a data packet header, the data packet header comprising a sequence number indicator indicating the position of the data packet in a data packet sequence, and an indicator, wherein the indicator indicates whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the beginning of the data packet payload and whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the end of the data packet payload; and

a reception buffer adapted to save the at least one of a full of a service data unit and a segment of a service data unit of the received data packet payload with previously received at least one full or segment of a service data unit in-sequence according to the sequence number indicator.

91. A computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a transmitting apparatus, cause the transmitting apparatus to carry out the following steps:

forming a data packet payload comprising at least one of a full of a service data unit and a segment of a service data unit;

forming a data packet header comprising an indicator; and

transmitting a data packet over a channel, the data packet comprising the data packet header and the data packet payload, wherein;

the indicator indicates whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the beginning of the data packet payload and whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the end of the data packet payload.

92. A computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a transmitting apparatus, cause the transmitting apparatus to carry out the following steps:

forming a data packet payload comprising at least one of a full of a service data unit and a segment of a service data unit;

forming a data packet header comprising an indicator; and

transmitting a data packet over a channel, the data packet comprising the data packet header and the data packet payload, wherein;

if the packet comprises an arbitrary combination of one or more full service data units and/or one or more segments of a service data unit, the indicator indicates whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the beginning of the data packet payload and whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the end of the data packet payload.

93. A computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a receiving apparatus, cause the receiving apparatus to carry out the following steps:

receiving data packets over a channel, each data packet comprising a data packet payload, the data packet payload comprising at least one of a full of a service data unit and a segment of a service data unit, and a data packet header, the data packet header comprising a sequence number indicator indicating the position of the data packet in a data packet sequence, and an indicator, wherein the indicator indicates whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the beginning of the data packet payload and whether or not a service data unit is segmented at the end of the data packet payload; and

saving the at least one of a full of a service data unit and a segment of a service data unit of the received data packet payload with previously received at least one of a full of a service data unit and a segment of a service data unit in a reception buffer in-sequence according to the sequence number indicator.