Patent ID: 7680076

Claim:
A method for combining data packets using a telecommunication device, comprising: transmitting data packets from a transmitter; receiving a first data packet at the telecommunication device via a telecommunication channel, the first data packet being associated with a first retransmission number; receiving a second data packet at the telecommunication device via the telecommunication channel, the second data packet being the next received data packet after the first data packet, the second data packet being received at a delay time after receipt of the first data packet, the second data packet being associated with a second retransmission number; incrementing retransmission numbers for the data packets if a data packet is retransmitted, the retransmission numbers being incremented up to a maximum retransmission number such that once the maximum retransmission number is reached, the retransmission number remains at the maximum retransmission number for all further retransmissions of a data packet, if any; and retransmitting data packets at a fixed time interval after an initial transmission or a previous retransmission, such that the delay time is determined by a number of retransmission time steps, wherein if the second retransmission number is less than the maximum retransmission number and a difference between the second and the first retransmission numbers is equal to the number of retransmission time steps, the first and the second data packets are combined to a resulting data packet, and the first and second data packets are not combined to a resulting data packet if the second retransmission number is less than the maximum retransmission number and the difference between the second and the first retransmission numbers is not equal to the number of retransmission time steps.