Method and system for packing management messages in a communication system

A method of packing a plurality of management messages into packets of information for conveyance across a communication link, the method comprising:

• generating, by a first communication station, the plurality of management messages;
• transmitting, by first communication station to a second communication station, a first group of packets containing the plurality of management messages, the management messages being more numerous than the first group of packets, and said plurality of management messages comprising bandwidth requests, and at least one of the first group of packets being associated with a special connection identifier indicating the plurality of management messages being carried in a payload of a packet;
• receiving, by the first communication station from the second communication station bandwidth allocations packed in a second group of packets via said communication link at the first communication station, the bandwidth allocations being more numerous than the second group of packets, and at least one of the second group of packets being associated with the special connection identifier;
• and
• forwarding, by the first communication station, said bandwidth allocations to a plurality of service connections coupled to the first communication station, for transmission of information from the service connections to the second communication station via the first communication station and said communication link.

A wireless communication system comprising:

• a base station adapted to determine bandwidth allocations in response to bandwidth requests and send them out in one or more packets;
• at least one CPE station adapted to:
• transmit to the base station, a first group of packets containing management messages, the management messages being more numerous than the first group of packets, said management messages comprising bandwidth requests, and the first group of packets having a header portion indicating presence of a plurality of the management messages in at least one of the first group of packets;
• receive from the base station, a plurality of bandwidth allocations packed in a second group of packets, the bandwidth allocations being more numerous than the second group of packets, and the second group of packets having a header portion indicating presence of the plurality of bandwidth allocations in at least one of the second group of packets;
• and
• forward to a plurality service connections coupled to the CPE, said bandwidth allocations for transmission of information from the service connections to the base station via the CPE and the communication link.

A method of transmitting management messages in fixed length ATM packets for transmission across a communication link between a base station and a CPE station, wherein at least one management message includes a management message type ID field and a management message body field, and wherein at least one fixed length packet includes an ATM header and an ATM body, the method comprising:

• transmitting, from the CPE station to the base station, a first group of fixed length ATM packets containing the management messages, the management messages being more numerous than the first group of packets, said management messages comprising bandwidth requests, wherein the management message type ID field is stripped and combined from the plurality of management messages for transmission in an ATM header;
• receiving by the CPE station from the base station, a second group of fixed length ATM packets containing bandwidth allocations at said CPE station, said bandwidth allocations have a greater number than the second group of ATM packets;
• and
• forwarding, by the CPE station to a plurality of service connections coupled to the CPE station, said bandwidth allocations for transmission of information from the service connections to the base station, via the CPE station and the communication link.

A CPE station comprising:

• a receiver to receive data packets from a base station over a communication link, at least some of said received data packets being addressed to a plurality of service connections coupled to the CPE station;
• a transmitter to transmit data packets to the base station and forward bandwidth allocations to the plurality of service connections;
• and
• a computer and/or logic adapted to:
• transmit to the base station a first group of packets containing management messages, the management messages being more numerous than the first group of packets, and said management messages comprising bandwidth requests, and the first group of packets having a header portion indicating presence of plurality of management messages in one packet;
• receive bandwidth allocations packed in a second group of packets from the base station, the bandwidth allocations being more numerous than the second group of packets, and the second group of packets having a header portion indicating presence of plurality of bandwidth allocations in one packet;
• and
• forward to the plurality of service connections, said bandwidth allocations for transmission of information from the service connections to the base station, via the CPE station and the communication link.