Patent ID: 8102880

Claim:
A method for transmitting data packets, the method comprising the steps of: forming a data packet payload comprising one of (i) a plurality of full service data units, (ii) a plurality of segments of service data units, or (iii) at least one full service data unit and at least one segment of a service data unit, the service data units in each of options (i), (ii) or (iii) including a first service data unit and a last service data unit; forming a data packet header comprising a single indicator consisting of a first bit and a second bit even when the number of the service data units in the data packet payload is more than two, the first bit relating to the first service data unit and the second bit relating to the last service data unit that is different from the first service data unit; forming a data packet comprising the data packet header and the data packet payload; and transmitting, by a transmitter, the data packet over a channel, wherein: the first bit and the second bit of the indicator indicate only (i) whether or not the data packet payload begins with a segment of the first service data unit, and (ii) whether or not the data packet payload ends with a segment of the last service data unit.