Piggyback requests in scheduled transmission

A method for conducting communications over a shared communication medium involving a plurality of nodes including a first node and a second node, the method comprising:

• (a) at the second node, receiving a request from the first node, the shared communication medium organized to include a request signal space and a scheduled transmission signal space, the request signal space including a plurality of request segments each having a different location within the request signal space, the scheduled transmission signal space including a plurality of scheduled transmission segments each having a different location within the scheduled transmission signal space, the request sent in a request segment that is one of the plurality of request segments;
• (b) at the second node, making an assignment associating the request with a scheduled transmission segment selected from the plurality of scheduled transmission segments, the assignment taking into account location of the request within the request signal space, and sending a corresponding assignment message;
• (c) at the second node, receiving a current data transmission from the first node in the scheduled transmission segment associated with the request;
• and
• (d) wherein a portion of the current data transmission includes a piggyback request from the first node for a subsequent data transmission.

An apparatus for conducting communications over a shared communication medium involving a plurality of nodes, comprising:

• (a) a first node capable of sending a request over the shared communication medium, the shared communication medium organized to include a request signal space and a scheduled transmission signal space, the request signal space including a plurality of request segments each having a different location within the request signal space, the scheduled transmission signal space including a plurality of scheduled transmission segments each having a different location within the scheduled transmission signal space, the first node capable of sending the request in a request segment that is one of the plurality of request segments;
• (b) wherein the first node is capable of obtaining an assignment associating the request with a scheduled transmission segment selected from the plurality of scheduled transmission segments, the assignment taking into account location of the request within the request signal space;
• (c) wherein the first node is capable of sending a current data transmission in the scheduled transmission segment associated with the request in accordance with the assignment;
• and
• (d) wherein a portion of the current data transmission includes a piggyback request from the first node for a subsequent data transmission.

An apparatus for conducting communications over a shared communication medium involving a plurality of nodes, comprising:

• (a) a second node capable of receiving a request from a first node, the shared communication medium organized to include a request signal space and a scheduled transmission signal space, the request signal space including a plurality of request segments each having a different location within the request signal space, the scheduled transmission signal space including a plurality of scheduled transmission segments each having a different location within the scheduled transmission signal space, the second node capable of receiving the request in a request segment that is one of the plurality of request segments;
• (b) wherein the second node is capable of making an assignment associating the request with a scheduled transmission segment selected from the plurality of scheduled transmission segments, the assignment taking into account location of the request within the request signal space, and sending a corresponding assignment message;
• (c) wherein the second node is capable of receiving a data transmission from the first node in the scheduled transmission segment associated with the request;
• and
• (d) wherein a portion of the current data transmission includes a piggyback request from the first node for a subsequent data transmission.