HK1082138A - Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving a block of data in a communication system - Google Patents

Description

Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving data blocks in a communication system

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to a System for Transmitting and Receiving Data in a communication System entitled "Method and Apparatus for Transmitting and Receiving Data blocks" filed in 2002, Ser. No. 60/419,358, Ser. No. 10/17 of 2002.

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to the field of communications, and more particularly to data communications in a communication system.

Background

In a wireless communication system, unnecessary and excessive transmissions by a user can cause interference to other users and reduce the capacity of the system. Unnecessary and excessive transmissions may result from an invalid data stream in the communication system. Data communicated between two end users may be passed between several layers of protocols to ensure the proper flow of data in the system. In general, a base station may receive a data block to be transmitted to a mobile station. The data block is encoded by an outer block code. The outer encoded data is partitioned into data frames for transmission over one or more physical layer frames. Each physical layer frame of data is encoded with a physical layer code and transmitted in a number of time slots. Proper transmission of data is ensured in at least one aspect by a system that checks each data frame for errors and requests retransmission of the same data frame when an unacceptable error or error rate is detected in the data frame. The data blocks may be of any data type, such as music data, video data, and so forth. Thus, after receiving the data frames of the data blocks, the mobile station reconstructs the data blocks to play, for example, music or video.

More specifically, the wireless communication system may operate in accordance with Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) techniques disclosed and described in various standards published by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) or other standards bodies. Such standards include the TIA/EIA-IS-2000 standard. A copy of the standard may be made by accessing the web site of the world wide web:http：//www.3gpp2.orgobtained either by writing to TIA, Standards and technology department, 2500 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201, United States of America. In one aspect, a wireless communication system operating in accordance with IS-2000 protocols has a supplemental channel that provides a fixed or variable data rate to a mobile station. In another aspect, a wireless communication system operating in accordance with IS-2000 protocols has a forward data packet channel (F-PDCH) that provides a mobile station with a variable data rate, a variable physical layer frame duration, and a variable modulation format. The F-PDCH may be used to transmit data blocks to the mobile station at a variable time rate. However, variable format communications, including data rate, modulation and frame duration, are possible in any wireless communication.

When the supplemental channel has a fixed data rate and is continuously transmitted, the base station divides the data block according to the fixed data rate. Each partitioned portion of the data block is co-multiplexed into a data packet for transmission over a physical layer frame. A data frame may be transmitted to a mobile station over several time slots. Since the data rate of the supplemental channel is fixed, each data frame may have the same size data payload. Thus, the packets from the partitioned data blocks will also be the same size. Furthermore, because the transmission is continuous, the mobile station can determine how much data is missing when a certain frame is not received. Therefore, the mobile station can easily determine the position of the data retransmission frame in the block and reconstruct the entire data block.

However, it may not be possible or possible to reconstruct the data block when it is transmitted to the mobile station in a varying rate or discontinuous format. This is the case when the transmission of the supplemental channel to the mobile station is discontinuous and unknown, or when the F-PDCH is used. For the F-PDCH, the payload size of the frame may vary from frame to frame. For variable data rates, the size of the payload in each frame of data may vary. Thus, the packets from the partitioned blocks do not have to be the same size. If a data frame is received in error and therefore the size of the frame is unknown to the mobile station, it is not feasible for the mobile station to determine the location of the subsequently received data frame (including any retransmitted data frames) in the data block. Furthermore, if the format of the discontinuous transmission time is not known to the mobile station, it is not possible or possible for the mobile station to determine the location of any received data frame in the data block.

Accordingly, there IS a need to provide a system, method and apparatus for transmitting a data block and reconstructing the data block at a receiving mobile station, at least for IS-2000 systems with non-persistent transmission and supplemental channel variable data rates for F-PDCH.

Disclosure of Invention

Methods and apparatus for transmitting and receiving data provide for efficient use of communication resources by encoding data in accordance with a first code to produce data blocks, determining a transmission data rate for a time frame, selecting a portion of a data block based on the determined transmission data rate, adding location identifier data to the data portion to produce payload data, wherein the location identifier identifies a location of the data portion within the data block, and encoding the payload data in accordance with a second code to produce a data packet for transmission over the time frame. The transmitter transmits the data packets at a predetermined data rate over the time frame. The receiver receives the data packet over the time frame. At the receiver, the data packets received over the time frame are decoded according to the second code to produce payload data. The location identifier data is detected from the received payload data to produce a data block portion. The received data block portion is decoded in accordance with the first code to produce a data block. A cyclic redundancy check may be determined based on the selected data portion and added to the location identifier data and the data portion to generate payload data for transmission. At the receiver, after receiving the data packet, a cyclic redundancy check is detected and determined for the received data processing.

Drawings

The features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which like reference characters identify correspondingly throughout and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a communication system for transmitting and receiving data in accordance with aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a receiver system for receiving data in accordance with aspects of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a transmitter system for transmitting data in accordance with aspects of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates an outer layer code and a physical layer code and associated buffers for encoding data in accordance with aspects of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a transceiver system for transmitting and receiving data in accordance with aspects of the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a payload and a data packet formatted in accordance with aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates portions of a data block selected for transmission and reception over the air in accordance with aspects of the invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates various steps for processing data to be transmitted in accordance with aspects of the invention; and

fig. 9 illustrates various steps for processing data to be received in accordance with aspects of the invention.

Detailed Description

Generally, a new and improved method and apparatus provide for efficient use of communication resources in a communication system. The system, method and apparatus provide for adding a location identifier to a data frame prior to transmission from a base station. The location identifier allows the location of the frame to be determined in the data block. The mobile station reconstructs the data blocks by relying on the location identifier in each data frame. In one aspect, the location identifier is added to the data frame after the data is encoded according to the outer code. In addition, the physical layer code additionally encodes the data frame with the location identifier to produce a data frame for transmission to a mobile station in the communication system. One or more of the exemplary embodiments described herein are set forth in the context of a digital wireless data communication environment. Although advantageous for use in this environment, different embodiments of the invention may be incorporated in different environments or configurations. In general, the various systems described herein may be formed using software controlled processors, integrated circuits, or discrete logic. Data, instructions, commands, information, signals, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the application are advantageously represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or a combination thereof. Additionally, the blocks shown in each block diagram may represent hardware or method steps.

More particularly, embodiments of the invention may be incorporated in a wireless communication system operating in accordance with the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technique disclosed and described in various standards published by the Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) or other standards bodies. Such standards include the TIA/EIA-95 standard, TIA/EIA-IS-2000 standard, MIMT-2000 standard, UMTS, and WCDMA standard, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. The system for communicating Data IS also described in detail in "TIA/EIA/IS-856 cdma2000 High Rate Packet Data Air interface Specification" ("TIA/EIA/IS-856 cdma2000 High speed Packet Air interface Specification"), which IS incorporated herein by reference. Copies of these standards are made by accessing the web site of the world wide web:http：//www.3gpp2.orgobtained either by writing to TIA, Standards and technology department, 2500 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201, United States of AmericaAnd (5) obtaining the product. The standard, generally identified as the UMTS standard, incorporated herein by reference, is available by contacting 3GPP SupportOffice, 650 Route des Lucioles-Sophia Antipolis, Valbonne-France.

Fig. 1 illustrates a general block diagram of a communication system capable of operating in accordance with any of the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) communication system standards incorporating aspects of the present invention. The communication system 100 may be used for communication of voice, data, or both. In general, the communication system 100 includes provisions for communication links between numerous mobile stations, such as the mobile station 102 and 104, and between the mobile station 102 and 104 and the public switched telephone data network 105. The mobile stations in fig. 1 may be referred to as data Access Terminals (ATs) and the base stations as data Access Networks (ANs) without departing from the main scope and advantages of the present invention. Base station 101 may include a number of components such as a base station controller and a base transceiver system. For simplicity, these components are not shown. Base station 101 may communicate with other base stations, such as base station 160. A mobile switching center (not shown) may control various control aspects of the communication system 100 and in relation to the backhaul 199 between the network 105 and the base stations 101 and 160.

Base station 101 communicates with each base station in its coverage area via a forward link signal transmitted from base station 101. The forward link signals targeted for mobile stations 102 and 104 may be combined to form a forward link signal 106. The forward link may support a number of different forward link channels. These forward link channels include a forward fundamental channel, a control channel, a supplemental channel, and a F-PDCH. A fundamental channel is typically allocated to the mobile station for the talk phase. The supplemental channel may be shared between mobile stations. The F-PDCH may also be shared between mobile stations. The base station may instruct the mobile station at any time to decode a particular supplemental channel or F-PDCH if it decides to transmit data to the mobile station on the supplemental channel or F-PDCH for a specified time period. Each mobile station 102 that receives forward link signal 106 decodes forward link signal 106 to extract the information targeted for that user. Base station 160 may also communicate with each base station in its coverage area via a forward link signal transmitted from base station 101. Mobile stations 102 and 104 may communicate with base stations 101 and 160 via respective reverse links. Each reverse link is maintained by a reverse link signal, such as reverse link signals 107-109 for mobile stations 102-104, respectively. Although reverse link signals 107 and 109 may be targeted for a base station, they may be received at other base stations.

Base stations 101 and 160 may communicate with the same mobile station at the same time. For example, mobile station 102 may be in close proximity to base stations 101 and 160, which may maintain communication with both base stations 101 and 160. On the forward link, base station 101 transmits on forward link signal 106 and base station 160 transmits on forward link signal 161. On the reverse link, mobile station 102 transmits on reverse link signal 107 and is received by base stations 101 and 160. To transmit a data packet to mobile station 102, one of base stations 101 and 160 may be selected to transmit the data packet to mobile station 102. On the reverse link, base stations 101 and 160 may attempt to decode the communication data transmission from mobile station 102. The data rate and the power levels of the reverse and forward links may be maintained in accordance with the channel conditions between the base station and the mobile station. The IS-2000 standard allows for supplemental channel transmission at some fixed rate. The transmission may be discontinuous. Discontinuous transmission is also referred to as DTX. For F-PDCH, the base station may decide to transmit on any timeslot. The transport format, including payload, duration, code rate, modulation, may vary from one transmission to the next.

Fig. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a receiver 200 for processing and demodulating a received CDMA signal, operating in accordance with various aspects of the invention. Receiver 200 may be used to decode information in the reverse and forward links signals. Receiver 200 may be used to decode information on the fundamental channel, the control channel, and the supplemental channel. The received (Rx) samples may be stored in RAM 204. The received samples may be generated by a radio frequency/critical frequency (RF/IF) system 290 and an antenna system 292. The RF/IF system 290 and antenna system 292 may include one or more components for receiving multiple signals and RF/IF processing of the received signals to benefit from received diversity gain. Multiple received signals propagating through different propagation paths may be from the same source. The antenna system 292 receives the RF signal and passes the RF signal to the RF/IF system 290. The RF/IF system 290 may be any conventional RF/IF receiver. The received RF signal is filtered, down-converted and digitized to form RX samples at baseband frequencies. The samples are provided to a multiplexer (mux) 252. The output of mux252 is provided to searcher unit 206 and finger elements 208. Control system 210 is coupled to searcher 206 and finger elements 208. Combiner 212 couples decoder 214 to finger elements 208. Control system 210 may be a microprocessor controlled by software and may be located on the same integrated circuit or on a separate integrated circuit. The decoding function in decoder 214 may be in accordance with a turbo decoder or any other decoding algorithm. The signal transmitted from the source may be encoded with several layers of codes. The decoder 214 may perform a decoding function according to two or more codes. For example, transmitted data may be encoded in two different layers, an outer layer and a physical layer. The physical layer may be based on Turbo codes and the outer layer may be based on Reed Solomon codes. Thus, the decoder 214 decodes the received samples according to the codes.

During operation, received samples may be provided to mux 252. Mux252 provides samples to searcher unit 206 and finger elements 208. The control unit 201 configures the finger element 208 to perform demodulation and despreading of the received signal based on the search result from the searcher unit 206. The results of the demodulation are combined and passed to decoder 214. Decoder 214 decodes the data and outputs the decoded data. Despreading of the channels is performed by multiplying the received samples with the complex conjugate of the PN sequence and assigned Walsh function at a single timing hypothesis and digitally filtering the resulting samples, often with an integrate and dump accumulator circuit (not shown). Such techniques are well known in the art. Receiver 200 may be used in a receiver portion of base stations 101 and 160 for processing the reverse link signals from the mobile stations, and a receiver may be used in a receiver portion of either mobile station for processing the received forward link signals.

Decoder 214 may accumulate the combined energy for detecting the data symbols. Each packet may carry a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) field. Decoder 214 may check for errors in received data packets in conjunction with control system 210 and/or other control systems. If the CRC data is not passed, then there is an error in the received packet. Control system 210 and/or other control systems may send a negative acknowledgement message to the transmitter to retransmit the data packet.

Fig. 3 shows a block diagram of a transmitter 300 for transmitting reverse and forward link signals. The transmitter 300 may be used for transmission of a fundamental channel, a control channel, a supplemental channel, and a F-PDCH. The channel data for transmission is input to the modulator 301 for modulation. The modulation may be according to any known demodulation technique, such as QAM, PSK, or BPSK. The channel data for transmission may be passed through one or more coding layers prior to modulation. Referring to fig. 4, encoding of channel data for transmission may be described. For data on the fundamental and control channels, the input data may be passed directly to the physical layer code 492 for encoding, e.g., according to a convolutional code or a turbo code. The channel data for transmission is generated for modulator 301. For the supplemental channel or F-PDCH, the input data may be passed through outer code 491 and physical layer code 492 to generate channel data for transmission. The channel data for transmission is received by a modulator 301. Outer code 491 may be in accordance with Reed Solomon codes. The physical layer code 492 may be in accordance with a block code, a convolutional code, or a turbo code. The outer code 491 may have an associated outer code buffer 493, while the physical layer code 492 has an associated physical layer code buffer 494 to retain data during processing time. In accordance with aspects of the present invention, a location identifier is added to the data frame at the output of the outer code 491. The resulting frame of data 497 is encoded in the physical layer code 192. The location identifier 495 identifies the location of the payload data in the partitioned block of data. The location identifier 495 allows the receiving target to easily reconstruct the block of data. The data frame 497 is encoded by the physical layer code 492 to produce channel data for transmission.

The resulting channel data for transmission on the output of the physical layer code 492 is modulated in a modulator 301. The modulation data rate may be selected by a data rate and power level selector 303. The data rate selection may be based on feedback information received from the target. The data rate is often based on channel conditions, among other considerations. The channel conditions may change from time to time. The data rate selection may also be based on the arrival rate of data at the outer code 491, which may change from time to time. As a result, the selected data rate may also change from time to time accordingly. The physical layer transmissions of communication system 100 may occur over fixed frames and time slots. As a result, the amount of data transferred may vary depending on the data rate. Thus, the amount of data passed from outer layer code 491 to physical layer code 492 for the supplemental channel or F-PDCH channel may vary from time to time.

The data rate and power level selector 303 selects the data rate in modulator 301 accordingly. The output of modulator 301 passes through a signal spreading operation and is amplified in block 302 for transmission from antenna 304. The data rate and power level selector 303 may also select the power level of the degree of amplification of the transmitted signal. The combination of the selected data rate and power level allows proper decoding of the transmitted data at the receiving destination. A pilot signal is generated in block 307. The pilot signal is amplified to an appropriate level in block 307. The pilot signal power level may be based on the channel conditions at the receiving target. The pilot signal may be combined with the channel signal at combiner 308. The combined signal may be amplified in amplifier 309 and transmitted from antenna 304. The antenna 304 may be any combination including an antenna array and a multiple-input multiple-output configuration.

Fig. 5 shows a general diagram of a transceiver 500 for use in conjunction with the receiver 200 and transmitter 300 to maintain a communication link with a target, including supplemental channel communication at a variable data rate or F-PDCH. The transceiver 500 may be incorporated into a mobile station or a base station. A processor 401 may be coupled to the receiver 200 and the transmitter 300 to process the received and transmitted data. Aspects of the receiver 200 and the transmitter 300 are common, although the receiver 200 and the transmitter 300 are shown separately. In an aspect, receiver 200 and transmitter 300 may share the same local oscillator and the same antenna phase system for RF/IF reception and transmission. Transmitter 300 receives data for transmission on input 405. Transmit data processing block 403 prepares the data for transmission on the transmit channel. The received data, after being decoded in decoder 214, is received at processor 401 on input 404. The received data is processed in a received data processing block 402 in the processor 401. Various operations of processor 401 may be integrated in a single or multiple processing units. The transceiver 500 may be connected with another device. The transceiver 500 may be an integral part of the apparatus. The apparatus may be a computer or operate similar to a computer. The device may be connected to a data network such as the internet. In the case of incorporating the transceiver 500 into a base station, the base station is connected to a network, such as the internet, through several connections.

The processing of the received data typically includes checking for errors in the received data packets. Received data storage block 480 may accumulate the data received from each frame of data to reconstruct the entire block of data. To reconstruct the entire block of data transmitted over the supplemental channel or F-PDCH, the transceiver processes each received data frame for detecting the location information encoded in location identifier 495 in accordance with aspects of the present invention. At the transmitter, data selected from the outer code buffer 493 for transmission over the physical channel may be added to the location identifier field as shown in fig. 4, in accordance with aspects of the invention. In addition, a CRC field 496 may also be added. The resulting data frame 497 including the location identifier 495 and CRC496 is passed on to the physical layer code 492 for encoding according to the physical layer code and further processing by the transmitter 300 for transmission. Further, to reconstruct an entire block of data communicated over the supplemental channel or F-PDCH, transceiver 500 processes each received data frame for detecting the position information encoded in position identifier 495 and CRC496 in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 6, the flow of channel data from the data of the outer code 491 to the output of the physical layer code 192 for transmission is shown in accordance with aspects of the present invention. The payload 601 is selected from the outer code buffer 493. The location of the payload 601 in the data block is identified and the location identifier is placed into the location identifier 495. A CRC is optionally created for the data contained in the payload 601 and the location identifier 495. The CRC is added to the data in the CRC field 496 to create the data frame 497. The resulting frame of data 497 is encoded according to physical layer code 492 for channel data transmission. A new CRC may be created based on the resulting data. This CDC is added to CRC field 603 to produce a physical layer frame of data 602 for the channel data transfer. The transceiver 500 may be incorporated into a transmitting source or a receiving destination. According to aspects of the invention, the transmitting source may be a base station and the receiving destination may be a mobile station. In transceiver 500, on the transmitting source, transmitter 300 and processor 401 and its internal components, such as transmit data processing block 403, prepare data for transmission in accordance with aspects of the present invention for adding location identifier field 495 and optionally CRC field 496. Further, in transceiver 500, at the receiving destination, receiver 200 and processor 200 and its internal components, such as received data processing block 402 and received data storage block 480, are prepared for creating a received data block (optionally) in accordance with aspects of the present invention by identifying location identifier field 495 and CRC field 496.

Referring to fig. 7, a timeline 700 for receiving (transmitting) data frames from (to) the outer code buffer 493 is shown. On the transmitting side, data frames 1, 2, 3 and 4 having different payload sizes are selected from the partitioned data block 701 for transmission. The outer code buffer 493 may hold the partitioned block of data 701. Data frames 1, 2, 3, and 4 may come from some of the partitioned data blocks 701. The size of each frame is based on the physical layer data rate used for transmission. Thus, data frames 1, 2, 3, and 4 may be different at different times. In accordance with aspects of the present invention, the location identifier field 495 and optional CRC field 496 are added to each data frame prior to the physical layer code 492. On the receiving side, each data frame is decoded with a physical layer decoder. According to aspects of the present invention, the resulting frames are organized to reconstruct the data block 701 based on the information contained in the location identifier field 495. In an aspect, the location identifier field 495 may identify the data frame as the beginning of the payload data of the data block in the outer code buffer. Other similar location identifiers may also be used. If, for example, data frame 3 is lost in transmission, a retransmission of data frame 3 will place the data frame between data frames 2 and 4. In this way, reconstructing the data block can be easily done at the receiving destination.

Referring to fig. 8, a flow chart 800 provides the steps necessary to process each data frame in the transceiver 500 for transmission in accordance with aspects of the present invention. These steps may be performed by the processor in conjunction with various operational blocks, such as transmit data processing block 403. In step 801, a data block, such as data block 701, is determined for transfer. The block of data is encoded on outer layer code 491. The code block may reside in the outer layer code buffer 493. The outer layer code buffer 493 may be located in the processor 401. At step 802, a data rate for a physical layer channel for over-the-air transmission is determined. A data rate for the data frame may be determined. The transmission duration for the supplemental channel frame may be fixed to, for example, 20 ms. While the transmission duration for F-PDCH frames may vary from frame to frame. In step 803, a data block portion, such as the payload shown in fig. 6, is selected as the payload for the time frame for transmission. The amount of data in the selected payload is commensurate with the selected physical layer data rate. For example, the amount of data in the payload selected for a high data rate is proportionally higher than for a low data rate. At step 804, a location identifier, such as location identifier 495, is added to the payload. Optionally, a CRC496 may also be added to form a data packet, such as data packet 497. In step 805, the data packet is sent to a physical layer encoder, where an additional CRC may be added and the data packet encoded according to a physical layer code to produce a data packet to be transmitted. The data packet is transmitted from the transmitter 300 after additional processing at step 806.

Referring to fig. 9, a flow chart 900 provides several steps necessary for processing each data frame in the received transceiver 500 in accordance with aspects of the present invention. These steps may be performed by processor 401 in conjunction with various operational blocks, such as a received data processing block 402. In step 901, a data frame is received by the receiver 200. At step 902, the received data frame is decoded according to a physical layer code to produce a received data packet. The received packet has the format of packet 497. If an optional CRC496 is included in the data packet, the integrity of the data may be checked based on the CRC 496. If the CRC496 is passed at step 903, the location information in the location identifier field 495 is identified. At step 904, the payload portion 601 of the data packet 497 is written to the receive memory buffer 480 based on the location identifier 495. At step 904, the data block is reconstructed based on the location identification of each received payload and the outer code decoding to recover the received data.

Those of skill in the art would appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with the following means: a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination designed to perform the functions described. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

The previous description of the preferred embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without the use of the inventive faculty. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims (22)

1. A method for transmitting data, comprising:

encoding data according to a first code to produce a data block;

determining a transmission data rate of a data frame;

selecting the data block portion based on the determined transmission data rate;

adding location identifier data to said portion of data to produce payload data, wherein said location identifier identifies the location of said portion of data in said block of data; and

encoding the payload data according to a second code to produce a data packet for transmission over the time frame.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the data packet at the determined data rate over the time frame.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a cyclic redundancy check based on the selected data portion; and

adding the cyclic redundancy check to the location identifier and the data portion to produce the payload data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first code is an outer layer code and the second code is a physical layer code in a wireless communication system.

5. A method for receiving data, comprising:

decoding a data packet received over a time frame according to a first code to produce payload data;

detecting location identifier data from the payload data to produce a data block portion, wherein the location identifier identifies a location of the data portion in the data block; and

decoding the portion of the data block according to a second code to produce the data block.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving the data packet over the time frame.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

detecting in the payload data a cyclic redundancy check added to the location identifier data and the data portion; and

determining the cyclic redundancy check based on the selected data portion.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the first code is a physical layer code and the second code is an outer layer code in a wireless communication system.

9. A method for transmitting and receiving data, comprising:

encoding data according to a first code to produce a data block;

determining a transmission data rate of a data frame;

selecting the data block portion based on the determined transmission data rate;

adding location identifier data to the data portion to generate payload data, wherein the location identifier identifies a location of the data portion in the data block;

encoding the payload data according to a second code to produce a data packet for transmission over the time frame;

transmitting the data packet at the determined data rate over the time frame;

receiving the data packet over the time frame;

decoding the data packets received over the time frame in accordance with the second code to produce payload data;

detecting location identifier data from said received payload data to produce said data block portion; and

decoding the received portion of the data block in accordance with the first code to produce the data packet.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

determining a cyclic redundancy check based on the selected data portion; and

adding the cyclic redundancy check to the location identifier and the data portion to produce the payload data for transmission.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

detecting the cyclic redundancy check added to the location identifier and the data portion in the payload data after receiving the data packet;

a cyclic redundancy check is determined based on the selected data portion.

12. An apparatus for transmitting data, comprising:

a first encoder for encoding data according to a first code to generate a data block;

a controller for determining a transmission data rate for a data frame, for selecting the data block portion based on the determined transmission data rate, and for adding location identifier data to the data portion to produce payload data, wherein the location identifier identifies the location of the data portion in the data block; and

a second encoder for encoding the payload data according to a second code to produce data packets for transmission over the time frame.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:

a transmitter for transmitting said data packets at said determined data rate over said time frame.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the controller is further for determining a cyclic redundancy check based on the selected data portion, and for adding the cyclic redundancy check to the location identifier and the data portion to generate the payload data.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first code is an outer layer code and the second code is a physical layer code in a wireless communication system.

16. An apparatus for receiving data, comprising:

a first decoder for decoding data packets received over time frames according to a first code to produce payload data;

a controller for detecting location identifier data from the payload data to produce a data block portion, wherein the location identifier identifies a location of the data portion in the data block; and

a second decoder for decoding the portion of the data block according to a second code to produce the data block.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:

a receiver for receiving the data packet over the time frame.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the controller is further for detecting in the payload data a cyclic redundancy check added to the location identifier data and the data portion, and for determining the cyclic redundancy check based on the selected data portion.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the first code is a physical layer code and the second code is an outer layer code in a wireless communication system.

20. An apparatus for transmitting and receiving data, comprising:

a first encoder for encoding data according to a first code to generate a data block;

a transmission controller for determining a transmission data rate for a data frame, for selecting a portion of the data block based on the determined transmission data rate, for adding location identifier data to the data portion to produce payload data, wherein the location identifier identifies the location of the data portion in the data block;

a second encoder for encoding said payload data in accordance with a second code to produce data packets for transmission over said time frame;

a transmitter for transmitting said data packets at said determined data rate over said time frame;

a receiver for receiving said data packets over said time frame;

a first decoder for decoding data packets received over the time frame in accordance with the second code to produce payload data;

a receiving controller for detecting said location identifier data from said received payload data to produce said data block portion; and

a second decoder for decoding the received portion of the data block according to the first code to generate the data packet.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the transmission controller is further for determining a cyclic redundancy check based on the selected data portion, and for adding the cyclic redundancy check to the location identifier data and the data portion to generate the payload data for transmission.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the receive controller is further for detecting the cyclic redundancy check added to the location identifier and the data portion in the received payload data after the receiving the data packet, and for determining the cyclic redundancy check based on the selected data portion.