Dynamic bitloading

An article comprising a storage medium comprising machine-readable instructions stored thereon which, if executed by an execution device, are adapted to direct said execution device to:

• a) determine bitloading capability of a plurality of channels to clients;
• b) associate said clients into aggregation groups based at least in part on said bitloading capability;
• and
• c) aggregate information by combining the data portion of at least a first packet intended for a first client and not a second client, said first packet having a first overhead portion, with the data portion of at least a second packet intended for said second client and not said first client, said second packet having a second overhead portion different from said first overhead portion, while using an aggregation header comprising an address of said first client and an address of said second client, wherein the aggregated information for transmission to two or more of said clients is based at least in part on whether said clients are members of the same aggregation group, and wherein said aggregated information is performed by combining the data portion of the at least first packet sequentially with the data portion of the at least second packet, wherein each of the data portion of the at least first packet and the data portion of the at least second packet comprises a header, and wherein said aggregated information include data portions of packets intended only for clients in the same aggregation group.

An apparatus comprising:

• a) means for determining bitloading capability of a plurality of channels to clients by transmitting probes intended only for determining the characteristics of the channel and that do not have a payload intended to be received for its content;
• b) means for associating said clients into aggregation groups based at least in part on said bitloading capability;
• and
• c) means for aggregating information by combining the data portion of at least a first packet intended for a first client and not a second client, said first packet having a first overhead portion, with the data portion of at least a second packet intended for said second client and not said first client, said second packet having a second overhead portion different from said first overhead portion, while using an aggregation header comprising an address of said first client and an address of said second client, wherein the aggregated information for transmission to two or more of said clients is based at least in part on whether said clients are members of the same aggregation group, and wherein said aggregated information is performed by combining the data portion of the at least first packet sequentially with the data portion of the at least second packet, wherein each of the data portion of the at least first packet and the data portion of the at least second packet comprises a header, and wherein said aggregated information include data portions of packets intended only for clients in the same aggregation group.

A network controller comprising:

• a) a transceiver to receive data packets from a source and to forward the data packets to a plurality of clients;
• b) a processor to determine bitloading capability of a plurality of channels to said clients and to associate said clients into aggregation groups based at least in part on said bitloading capability;
• and
• c) a memory to aggregate information by combining the data portion of at least a first packet intended for a first client and not a second client, said first packet having a first overhead portion, with the data portion of at least a second packet intended for said second client and not said first client, said second packet having a second overhead portion different from said first overhead portion, while using an aggregation header comprising an address of said first client and an address of said second client, wherein the aggregated information for transmission to two or more of said clients is based at least in part on whether said clients are members of the same aggregation group, and wherein said aggregated information is performed by combining the data portion of the at least first packet sequentially with the data portion of the at least second packet, wherein each of the data portion of the at least first packet and the data portion of the at least second packet comprises a header, and wherein said aggregated information include data portions of packets intended only for clients in the same aggregation group.