Patent ID: 8130781

Claim:
A method for communicating in a multi-carrier system, the method comprising: determining whether a station operates according to a single carrier mode or a multiple carrier mode at a device; selecting one or more carriers from a plurality of carriers for transport of data over the multi-carrier system at the device, wherein the plurality of carriers include a dedicated carrier, a shared carrier, and a combined carrier, wherein the combined carrier supports capacity that is partially shared and partially dedicated, and wherein the combined carrier is selected for the station if the station is determined to operate in the single carrier mode, wherein the dedicated carrier and the shared carrier are implemented at a same time slot; operating a carrier in single carrier mode or multi-carrier mode based on the determination of an operating mode, wherein operating in single carrier mode enables communication with a conventional 1X system; from the device, sending the station the determined mode of operation using a same band and a same channel that is to be used to transport the data; and from the device, initiating transmission of the data using the one or more selected carriers.