Patent ID: 6577610
Filing Date: 2003-06-10
Classification: H04L,H04W

Abstract:
In a burst-type point-to-multipoint communication network comprising a network hub and a plurality of communication terminals, a method of transmitting a data transmission, comprising:determining at a first communication terminal of the plurality of communication terminals a maximum allowable random transmission length which varies depending upon a congestion level of a communication channel; comparing a length of the data transmission to the maximum allowable random transmission length; when the data transmission length is less than the maximum allowable random transmission length, transmitting from the first communication terminal the data transmission as a random data transmission in the communication channel; and when the data transmission length is greater than the maximum allowable random transmission length, transmitting from the first communication terminal a reservation request in a time slice of the communication channel, the reservation request including a data transmission length for the data transmission, receiving at the first communication terminal a reservation announcement from the network hub, the reservation announcement indicating a reserved time slot comprising a plurality of reserved time slices having a length equal to the data transmission length, and transmitting the data transmission from the first communication terminal during the reserved time slot.