Patent ID: 7558204

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: at least two first-type link control components, wherein each first-type link control component is configured to transform a first-type data unit into a second-type data unit and vice versa, and is configured to provide a first interface for said first-type data units and a second interface for said second type data units, and a second-type link control component with interfaces for said second-type data units, wherein the second interface of each of said first-type link control components is directly connected to one respective interface of said second-type link control component, wherein said second-type link control component comprises a flow control component configured to separately control respective flows of the second-type data units, which are transferred over said respective interfaces; wherein said first-type link control components and said second-type link control component are both within a data link layer, wherein said first-type link control components are logical link control entities of a logical link control protocol, wherein said second-type link control component is configured to implement functionality of a radio link control protocol, and wherein services of said first-type link control components are provided for protocols of a network layer via each of said first interface for said first-type data units.