Patent ID: 8416734

Claim:
A method for multiplexing voice and data communication using a communications network, comprising: retrieving at least one data bit from at least one data bit stream; determining whether a voice bit stream is in a discontinuous transmission (DTX) period; when the voice bit stream is not in the DTX period: retrieving at least one voice bit from a voice bit stream, and using the at least one voice bit and the at least one data bit to generate a modulated symbol; when the voice bit stream is in the DTX period, using at least two data bits to generate the modulated symbol; and transmitting the modulated symbol using the communications network, wherein using the at least one voice bit and the at least one data bit to generate a modulated symbol includes using an eight phase shift keying (8PSK) constellation and wherein the at least one voice bit is allocated to a most-protected bit of the 8PSK constellation.