Patent ID: 8619889

Claim:
A method for transmitting uplink control signaling and uplink user data in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing communication system comprising: receiving one or more of user data non-associated control signaling and user data associated control signaling, wherein the one or more of user data non-associated control signaling and user data-associated control signaling comprises a plurality of control fields, by jointly coding the plurality of control fields to produce a single codeword and receiving the single codeword and wherein receiving the single codeword comprises applying a repetition factor to the single codeword to produce the single codeword with redundancy and receiving the single codeword with redundancy; receiving user data; multiplexing the user data non-associated control signaling and user data associated control signaling into a user data stream by puncturing the user data non-associated control signaling and user data associated control signaling onto the user data stream to produce a data stream, wherein the user data non-associated control signaling and user data stream are conveyed in the same frequency and time slots; and conveying the data stream to a radio access network via an air interface.