Patent ID: 7599334

Claim:
A method for processing shared sub-packets in a communication system, the method comprising: generating a first control channel comprising (a) an indicator that a sub-packet of a traffic channel is to be shared by a plurality of subscriber stations, the sub-packets comprising at least one slot, the slot comprising a variable number of sub-slots including at least a first set of sub-slots and a second set of sub-slots, the first set of sub-slots comprising a first data transmission assigned to a first subscriber station, the second set of sub-slots comprising a second data transmission assigned to a second subscriber station, the second data transmission different than the first data transmission, and (b) parameters of the shared sub-packet of the traffic channel including a variable number of subscriber stations sharing the sub-packet of the traffic channel; and generating at least one second control channel only if the sub-packet is shared, the number of second control channels equal to the variable number of subscriber stations sharing the sub-packet of the traffic channel, each of said at least one second control channel comprising (a) an identity of at least one subscriber station intended to share the sub-packet and (b) information enabling the subscriber station to demodulate the traffic channel.