Adaptive rate transmission over a radio interface

A wireless device comprising:

• a radio interface configured to receive and send data between the wireless device and a network comprising a radio layer node;
• a local buffer coupled to the radio interface;
• an application entity configured to define download locations for data chunks making up a data block requested by the wireless device, to send download requests to said download locations over said radio interface if the download requests cannot be satisfied by the local buffer, and to receive respective requested data chunks over said radio interface,
• wherein said local buffer is a two port buffer, a first port of the two port buffer enabling said application entity to communicate with the local buffer and a second port of the two port buffer allowing said radio layer node to write unrequested data chunks into the local buffer.

A method of transmitting a given block of data to a wireless device over a radio interface controlled by a radio layer node, the method comprising:

• defining, at said radio layer node, download locations for data chunks making up said data block;
• forwarding download requests, received at the radio layer node from the wireless device, to respective download locations, and receiving respective requested data chunks at the radio layer node and forwarding them to the wireless device;
• and
• maintaining, at said radio layer node, a record of data chunks requested by the wireless device while monitoring capacity on said radio interface and, if sufficient capacity is available, sending further data chunks that have not as yet been requested by the wireless device, to the wireless device over the radio interface using an Internet Protocol (IP) connection established between the radio layer node and the wireless device, for storage in a local buffer of the wireless device.