Patent ID: 7822010
Filing Date: 2010-10-26
Classification: H04B,H04W

Abstract:
1. A method for conducting communications over a shared communication medium involving a plurality of nodes, the method comprising: (a) sending a symbol-level request to a scheduler from a first node in the plurality of nodes, the shared communication medium organized to include a request signal space having at least one frame and a scheduled transmission signal space, the request signal space including a plurality of request segments each comprising a non-overlapping time slot defined within the at least one frame within the request signal space, the scheduled transmission signal space including a plurality of scheduled transmission segments each having a different location within the scheduled transmission signal space, the symbol-level request in occupying a request segment that is one of the plurality of request segments; (b) at the first node, obtaining an assignment from the scheduler associating the symbol-level request with a scheduled transmission segment selected from the plurality of scheduled transmission segments, the assignment taking into account location of the request segment within the request signal space; (c) from the first node, sending a data transmission occupying the scheduled transmission segment associated with the symbol-level request in accordance with the assignment; and (d) wherein a two-step request for transmission comprising a first step and a second step is sent from the first node, the symbol-level request sent from the first node representing the first step of the two-step request, the data transmission sent from the first node representing the second step of the two-step request.