Patent ID: 8743845

Claim:
A method of scheduling data transmission in a wireless network that includes an access router and a plurality of access terminals connectable to the access router, the method comprising: determining a number of the access terminals that are connected to the access router; comparing the number with a threshold; based on the comparison between the number of connected access terminals and the threshold, determining whether to use dedicated signaling for control messages or shared signaling for control messages from the access router; when the number is less than the threshold, using dedicated control signaling from the access router to selected ones of the access terminals; and when the number is greater than or equal to the threshold, sending a shared control signal from the access router to all the access terminals, the shared control signal containing information identifying which ones of the plurality of access terminals are being addressed, wherein the shared control signal includes a common set of physical resources that constitute a control channel and a respective identifier for each of the access terminals that are selected to transmit or receive data or control information during a slot.