United States Patent 7,502,351
Farley , et al. March 10, 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alternate channel for carrying selected message types
Abstract
In an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, a channel is allocated to carry messages from each of multiple subscriber units to a base station. Selected messages generated by a subscriber unit that would otherwise be transmitted over an assigned reverse link traffic channel are instead encoded and transmitted to the base station over a shared reverse link channel. Preferably, the shared reverse link channel is time-slotted and each subscriber unit transmits information to the base station in an assigned time slot so that the base station receiving the messages can identify from which subscriber unit a message is sent. Certain bits in a time slot of the shared channel as set by a subscriber unit can be used to communicate a particular message to the base station. For instance, a single bit that is transmitted in a time slot can be encoded to transmit a substitute message from one of the multiple subscriber units to a base station, where the setting of the bit itself indicates a message type.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inventors: Farley; Kevin L. (Palm Bay, FL), Proctor, Jr.; James A. (Indialantic, FL)
Assignee: IPR Licensing, Inc. (Wilmington, DE)
Appl. No.: 11/235,725
Filed: September 26, 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related U.S. Patent Documents
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Application Number Filing Date Patent Number Issue Date
09775304 Oct., 2005 6954448
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current U.S. Class: 370/337 ; 370/347; 370/442; 455/450; 455/509
Current International Class: H04J 3/16 (20060101); H04B 7/00 (20060101)
Field of Search: 370/337,347,442 455/450,509
