Patent ID: 7924772

Claim:
A method comprising: allocating, at a processor, priorities to each of a plurality of users by taking into account at least one of a subscriber profile and a requested data rate control channel value; selecting at the processor a highest priority user from the plurality of users; determining whether the highest priority user supports multi-user packets; in response to determining that the highest priority user supports multi-user packets: forming, at the processor, a group of users with the selected highest priority user, wherein each member of the group of users allows at least one common transmission format and a physical layer packet size associated with the at least one common transmission format accommodates a sum of payload and header bits of the group of users, and constructing, at the processor, a multi-user packet utilizing one common transmission format; and in response to determining that the highest priority user does not support multi-user packets constructing a single-user packet for the highest priority user.