Method and apparatus for mapping voice activity detection to a scheduled access media

A system for transmitting and receiving audio packets, comprising:

• a network processing device including a packet queue buffering audio packets generated from audio signals;
• the network processing device transmitting the buffered audio packets according to grants received periodically at a selected time interval and that terminate when audio packets are no longer transmitted from the packet queue;
• and
• the network processing device generating a notification signal that restarts the periodic receiving of the grants at the selected time interval and upon sending the notification signal also receiving one or more unsolicited grants between the periodically issued grants enabling transmission of at least one additional audio packet within the selected time interval.

A method for transmitting audio packets in a network, comprising:

• allocating unsolicited grants to a same endpoint periodically at a selected time interval for scheduling transmission of audio packets;
• switching from allocating unsolicited grants to providing a polled transmission request when the audio packets are not transmitted in response to the unsolicited grants;
• switching back to allocating unsolicited grants to the same endpoint periodically at the selected time interval when there is a response to the polled transmission request;
• and
• inserting one of more additional unsolicited grants to the same endpoint within the selected time interval after switching back to allocating unsolicited grants.

A method for scheduling transmission of audio packets, comprising:

• encoding audio signals into audio packets;
• queuing the audio packets for transmission over a network;
• transmitting the queued audio packets according to unsolicited grants received periodically at a given time interval;
• terminating packet transmission when no more audio packets are queued;
• generating a notification signal to restart unsolicited grant allocation at the periodic time interval when new audio packets are queued for transmission;
• receiving one or more additional unsolicited grants within a first one of the periodic time intervals after the unsolicited grant allocation is restarted;
• and
• transmitting multiple audio packets during the same time interval of the reallocated grants in response to received unsolicited grants.

An electronic storage medium containing computer executable code for transmitting audio packets in a network, the electronic storage medium comprising:

• code for periodically allocating unsolicited grants at a selected time interval for enabling transmission of audio packets from an endpoint;
• code for switching from allocating unsolicited grants to providing a polled transmission request when the audio packets are not transmitted in response to the unsolicited grants;
• code for switching back to periodically allocating unsolicited grants at the selected time interval to the same endpoint when there is a response to the polled transmission request;
• and
• code for inserting one or more additional unsolicited grants within one of the same selected time intervals to the same endpoint after switching back to allocating unsolicited grants.

An electronic storage medium storing computer executable code for scheduling transmission of audio packets, the electronic storage medium comprising:

• code for encoding audio signals into audio packets;
• code for queuing the audio packets for transmission over a network;
• code for transmitting the queued audio packets according to unsolicited grants;
• code for terminating packet transmission when no more audio packets are queued;
• code for generating a notification signal to restart unsolicited grant allocation when new audio packets are queued for transmission;
• and
• code for transmitting multiple audio packets during the same time interval of the reallocated grants in response to received back-to-back unsolicited grants to flush out queued audio packets that may have built up since terminating packet transmission.

A system for transmitting audio packets in a network, comprising:

• means for periodically allocating unsolicited grants at a selected time interval for enabling transmission of audio packets at an endpoint;
• means for switching from allocating unsolicited grants to providing a polled transmission request when the audio packets are not transmitted in response to the unsolicited grants;
• means for switching back to periodically allocating unsolicited grants at the selected time interval to the same endpoint when there is a response to the polled transmission request;
• and
• means for inserting one or more additional unsolicited grants within one of the same selected time intervals to the same endpoint after switching back to allocating unsolicited grants.

A system for scheduling transmission of audio packets, comprising:

• means for encoding audio signals into audio packets;
• means for queuing the audio packets for transmission over a network;
• means for transmitting the queued audio packets according to unsolicited grants;
• means for terminating packet transmission when no more audio packets are queued;
• means for generating a notification signal to restart unsolicited grant allocation when new audio packets are queued for transmission;
• and
• means for transmitting multiple audio packets during the same time interval of the reallocated grants in response to received back-to-back unsolicited grants.