Method and apparatus for exploitation of voice inactivity to increase the capacity of a time division multiple access radio communications system

Apparatus for implementing TDMA communications between a plurality of user stations, including at least one mobile station, and a base station, comprising:

• a) means, at the base station for establishing a pool of available traffic transmission channels, each traffic transmission channel comprising a time slot in a repeating time division multiple access frame at a predetermined carrier frequency,
• b) means responsive to detection of a speech spurt at a user station for transmitting a request for assignment of a traffic transmission channel,
• c) means responsive to receipt of the request at the base station for searching for an available traffic transmission channel from the pool of available traffic transmission channels,
• d) means responsive to location of an available traffic transmission channel at the base station for transmitting an identification of the located channel to the user station, removing the located channel from the pool of available traffic channels, and
• e) means responsive to receipt of the identification of the located channel at the user station for initiating transmission of the speech spurt in the located and identified traffic transmission channel of the repeating time division multiple access frame.

In a radio telephony system having a plurality of transmitting stations, each station transmitting information bursts to another station, the bursts being transmitted on radio carrier frequencies which are divided into time slots, the time slots being associated with either a control channel exclusively for carrying control messages or an information channel for carrying the information bursts, the control messages controlling the transmission of the information bursts between stations, a method for transmitting the information bursts from a transmitting station to a receiving station comprising:

• detecting an information burst;
• selecting a first slot associated with a control channel for transmitting a control message;
• selecting a second slot associated with an information channel for transmitting the burst;
• transmitting a control message in the first selected slot for identifying the second selected slot;
• and
• transmitting the information burst in the second selected slot.

In a radio telephony system having a controlling station and a plurality of controlled stations, each controlled station transmitting and receiving information bursts to and from the controlling station, the bursts being transmitted on radio carrier frequencies divided into information channels for carrying the information bursts and control channels for carrying control messages controlling the transmission of the information bursts between stations, each channel having a predetermined sequence of carrier frequency time slots, a method for transmitting the information bursts from the controlling station to the controlled station comprising:

• detecting at the controlling station an information burst;
• selecting at the controlling station a first slot for transmitting a control message;
• selecting at the controlling station a second slot for transmitting the burst;
• transmitting in the first selected slot, from the controlling station to the controlled station, a control message for identifying the second selected slot;
• and
• transmitting in the second selected slot, from the controlling station to the controlled station, the information burst;

In a radio telephony system having a controlling station and a plurality of controlled stations, each controlled station transmitting and receiving information bursts to and from the controlling station, the bursts being transmitted on radio carrier frequencies divided into information channels for carrying the information bursts and control channels for carrying control messages controlling the transmission of the information bursts between stations, each channel having a predetermined sequence of carrier frequency time slots, a method for transmitting the information bursts from the controlled station to the controlling station comprising:

• detecting at the controlled station an information burst;
• transmitting, from the controlled station to the controlling station, an information channel allocation request in a first selected control channel slot;
• selecting at the controlling station an information channel for transmitting the burst;
• transmitting in a second selected control channel slot, from the controlling station to the controlled station, a control message for identifying the selected channel;
• and
• transmitting in the selected information channel, from the controlled station to the controlling station, the information burst.