Patent ID: 7167460

Claim:
In code division multiple access (CDMA) communication system, wherein packets of data are transmitted using a plurality of orthogonal code sequences and wherein each user of said code division multiple is allocated an orthogonal code sequence for communication on a traffic channel for transmitting variable rate packets of data symbols, an apparatus comprising: a channel packetizer configured to receive said variable rate packets and, when a number of said data symbols included in ones of said variable rate packets exceeds a threshold value to split each of said ones of said variable rate packets into a traffic packet and at least one overflow packet; a first modulator configured to receive said traffic packet and to modulate said traffic packet in accordance with said orthogonal code sequence of said plurality of orthogonal code sequences and to modulate said orthogonal modulated traffic packet in accordance with a first pseudorandom noise (PN) sequence; a second modulator configured to receive said at least one overflow packet and to modulate said at least one overflow packet in accordance with an orthogonal code sequence of said plurality of orthogonal code sequences and to modulate said at least one orthogonal modulated overflow packet in accordance with at least one additional pseudorandom noise (PN) sequence wherein said at least one additional PN sequence is nonorthogonal to said first PN sequence; and a transmitter configured to transmit said traffic packet on said traffic channel and to transmit at least one overflow packet on said at least one overflow channel.