Patent ID: 8179833

Claim:
A communication system comprising: an access network configured to select a multiple access transmission mode from a plurality of multiple access transmission modes, broadcast a signal indicating the selected multiple access transmission mode to at least one of a plurality of access terminals, and to schedule a transmission of data in one of a plurality of transmission time slots within a frame, from one of the access terminals in the selected multiple access transmission mode; wherein the plurality of multiple access transmission modes comprises a hybrid multiple access transmission mode in which data is code-division-multiplexed during a portion of a single transmission time slot, and data is either time-division-multiplexed or orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexed during a remaining portion of the single transmission time slot, wherein the data comprises user data and overhead data, wherein transmission of the user data is prohibited during said portion of said single transmission time slot in which the data is code-division-multiplexed, wherein the data comprises user data to be transmitted through a traffic channel and overhead data to be transmitted through an overhead channel, and wherein the plurality of transmission modes comprises transmission modes that allow for a transmission of overhead data through the overhead channel only during a portion of a single transmission time slot in which code-division-multiplexing is implemented.