Patent ID: 7974312

Claim:
A packet data structure stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium to reduce medium access control (MAC) overhead, the packet data structure comprising: a compressed media access control (MAC) header structure comprising a compact connection identifier (CCID) field, the CCID field to include a m-bit CCID value for identifying a connection comprising a unidirectional logical link between a base station and a mobile station in either a downlink or an uplink direction, the m-bit CCID value having a fewer number of bits than a connection identifier (CID) for a Generic MAC Header (GMH) or a Bandwidth Request (BW-REQ) header and the m-bit CCID value comprising a least significant bit (LSB) portion of a CID, wherein use of the compressed MAC header structure is indicted prior to establishing a connection between the base station and the mobile station using a type-length-value (TLV) included in one or more dynamic service flow addition (DSA) messages and wherein the compressed MAC header structure is designated for use exclusively in one or more permutation zones.