Patent ID: 7609671

Claim:
A method in a communications system for transmitting packets to a mobile station for a plurality of users, wherein each user is defined by a user data rate control index and wherein each user has an associated user buffer and each user buffer includes at least one user packet and each user packet has a determinable age, the method comprising: creating a plurality of pseudo users from the plurality of users by: selecting a plurality of pseudo users, wherein each of the plurality of pseudo users is defined by a pseudo user data rate control index and wherein each pseudo user has an associated pseudo user buffer; for each of the plurality of pseudo users adding at least two of the plurality of users to a set of users for the pseudo user if the user data rate control indexes of the at least two users are compatible with the pseudo user data rate control index; and for each of the plurality of pseudo users combining user packets from the user buffers for the set of users for the pseudo user into the pseudo user buffer for the pseudo user; forming a multi-user packet using packets from the pseudo user buffer of at least one of the plurality of pseudo users, wherein the packets in the multi-user packet have older expiration times as compared to expiration times of other packets in the pseudo user buffer; and transmitting the multi-user packet to the mobile station.