Patent ID: 7050397

Claim:
Apparatus for a radio communication system having a sending station that sends data, the data formatted at an upper-level logical layer and into an upper-level data frame, and the upper-level data frame provided to a lower-level logical sublayer, the upper-level data frame further formatted thereat into at least one lower-level frame, the lower-level logical layer operable pursuant to an H-ARQ feedback scheme, said apparatus for facilitating retransmission by the sending station of the upper-level data frame if the the at least one lower-level frame fails to be adequately received, said apparatus comprising: an H-ARQ detector embodied at the lower-level logical sublayer, said H-ARQ detector for detecting H-ARQ indications returned to the sending station; and an H-ARQ status response generator embodied at the lower-level logical sublayer of the sending station and adapted to receive indications of detections made by said H-ARQ detector, said H-ARQ status response generator for generating an H-ARQ status response message for delivery to the upper-level logical layer to notify the upper-level logical layer of the sending station when said H-ARQ detector detects an H-ARQ indication indicating that the at least one lower-level frame fails to be adequately received, the upper-level logical layer selectably operable responsive to receipt of the H-ARQ status response message to provide again the upper-level data frame to the lower-level logical sublayer.