Methods and apparatus of transmitting user data using traffic channels

A communications apparatus, comprising:

• a memory including a plurality of sets of information each set of information defining one of a plurality of different transmission segment types, said plurality of sets of information being stored prior to a segment corresponding to one of said transmission segment types being assigned to at least one of a plurality of transmitters;
• a first set of information in said plurality of sets of information defining a first transmission segment type, the first set of information defining a first number of transmission units to be transmitted per unit time in a segment of the first type, and information indicating a first total number of transmission units to be transmitted as part of a segment of the first type over a first period of time, said first period of time being segmented into time slots;
• a second set of information in said plurality of sets of information defining a second transmission segment type, the second set of information defining a second number of transmission units to be transmitted per unit time in a segment of the second type, and information indicating a second total number of transmission units to be transmitted as part of a segment of the second type over a second period of time, said second period of time being segmented into time slots;
• and
• a transmitter coupled to said memory for transmitting data in segments of the first and second types at the same time.

An apparatus comprising:

• a processor configured to:
• store in memory a plurality of sets of information each set of information defining one of a plurality of different transmission segment types, said plurality of sets of information being stored prior to a segment corresponding to one of said transmission segment types being assigned to at least one of a plurality of transmitters,
• a first set of information in said plurality of sets of information defining a first transmission segment type, the first set of information defining a first number of transmission units to be transmitted per unit time in a segment of the first type, and information indicating a first total number of transmission units to be transmitted as part of a segment of the first type over a first period of time, said first period of time being segmented into time slots, and
• a second set of information in said plurality of sets of information defining a second transmission segment type, the second set of information defining a second number of transmission units to be transmitted per unit time in a segment of the second type, and information indicating a second total number of transmission units to be transmitted as part of a segment of the second type over a second period of time, said second period of time being segmented into time slots;
• and
• transmit information using segments of the first and second types at the same time.

A computer readable medium embodying computer executable instructions for controlling a device to implement a communications method, the method comprising:

• storing in memory a plurality of sets of information each set of information defining one of a plurality of different transmission segment types, said plurality of sets of information being stored prier to a segment corresponding to one of said transmission segment types being assigned to at least one of a plurality of transmitters,
• a first set of information in said plurality of sets of information defining a first transmission segment type, the first set of information defining a first number of transmission units to be transmitted per unit time in a segment of the first type, and information indicating a first total number of transmission units to be transmitted as part of a segment of the first type over a first period of time, said first period of time being segmented into time slots, and
• a second set of information in said plurality of sets of information defining a second transmission segment type, the second set of information defining a second number of transmission units to be transmitted per unit time in a segment of the second type, and information indicating a second total number of transmission units to be transmitted as part of a segment of the second type over a second period of time, said second period of time being segmented into time slots;
• and
• transmitting information using segments of the first and second types at the same time.

A communications apparatus, comprising:

• memory means including a plurality of sets of information each set of information defining one of a plurality of different transmission segment types, said plurality of sets of information being stored prior to a segment corresponding to one of said transmission segment types being assigned to at least one of a plurality of transmitters,
• a first set of information in said plurality of sets of information defining a first transmission segment type, the first set of information defining a first number of transmission units to be transmitted per unit time in a segment of the first type, and information indicating a first total number of transmission units to be transmitted as part of a segment of the first type over a first period of time, said first period of time being segmented into time slots, and
• a second set of information in said plurality of sets of information defining a second transmission segment type, the second set of information defining a second number of transmission units to be transmitted per unit time in a segment of the second type, and information indicating a second total number of transmission units to be transmitted as part of a segment of the second type over a second period of time, said second period of time being segmented into time slots;
• and
• transmitter means coupled to said memory means for transmitting data in segments of the first and second types at the same time.

A communications method, comprising:

• allocating communications segments of a first transmission segment type and segments of a second transmission segment type to different communications devices for use in communicating information, said allocating being performed as a function of transmission channel conditions, segments of the first transmission segment type having a first number of transmission units per unit time, a first total number of transmission units, and a first segment duration, said first segment duration including a first number of units of time, segments of the second transmission segment type having a second number of transmission units per unit time, a second total number of transmission units and a second number of units of time, said second number of units of time being greater than one whereby said second segment duration includes multiple units of time, segments of said first segment type differing from segments of the second segment type by at least one of:
• i) segment duration and ii) number of transmission units per unit time;
• and
• transmitting information using segments of the first and second types at the same time to said different communications devices.