Patent ID: 8792449

Claim:
A method for a base station of a radio network comprising the steps of: assigning by a processing unit of the base station a shared uplink state flag (USF) value common to all mobile stations capable of shared USF operation, requiring the use of shared USF operation for an uplink temporary block flow (TBF) and having at least one common uplink timeslot for their respective uplink TBFs; assigning by a processing unit of the base station one or more predefined symbol segments within an overall symbol space of a plurality of uplink shared uplink notification (SUN) bursts associated with a shared Uplink State Flag (USF) unique to each mobile station within a plurality of mobile stations assigned the use of the same shared USF value; and transmitting over the radio interface of the base station the unique predefined symbol segment(s) and shared USF value to each mobile station within a plurality of mobile stations assigned the use of the same shared USF value as part of the signaling procedures performed for initial establishment or ongoing maintenance of an uplink TBF.