Channel bonding and packet fragment retransmission method and apparatus

A method of reassembling transmitted data packets, comprising:

• receiving packet fragments recovered from data units transmitted over a plurality of bonded communication lines without error, the plurality of bonded communication lines forming a single logical link;
• reassembling a data packet from the received packet fragments based on a sequence in which the packet fragments are transmitted over the bonded communication lines, wherein the data packet is reassembled by a bonding sublayer and handshake logic included in or associated with the bonding sublayer controls the transfer of the received packet fragments from one or more physical sublayers to the bonding sublayer for reassembly;
• determining whether a packet fragment in the sequence is missing;
• and determining whether to stop requesting new packet fragments when a packet fragment in the sequence is missing or skip the missing packet fragment and continue requesting new packet fragments.

A receiver, comprising:

• a buffer configured to store received packet fragments recovered from data units transmitted over a plurality of bonded communication lines without error, the plurality of bonded communication lines forming a single logical link;
• a bonding sublayer configured to:
• reassemble a data packet from the received packet fragments based on a sequence in which the packet fragments are transmitted over the bonded communication lines;
• determine whether a packet fragment in the sequence is missing;
• and determine whether to stop requesting new packet fragments when a packet fragment in the sequence is missing or skip the missing packet fragment and continue requesting new packet fragments;
• and handshake logic included in or associated with the bonding sublayer and configured to control the transfer of the received packet fragments from one or more physical sublayers to the bonding sublayer for reassembly.

A receiver, comprising:

• a buffer configured to store recovered packet fragments transmitted in a particular sequence over a plurality of bonded communication lines which form a single logical link;
• a bonding sublayer configured to reassemble a data packet from the packet fragments stored in the buffer based on the sequence in which the packet fragments are transmitted over the bonded communication lines;
• plurality of physical sublayers configured to:
• recover the packet fragments from data units received without error from the bonded communication lines;
• transfer the recovered packet fragments to the bonding sublayer until the next packet fragment in the sequence to be processed by the bonding sublayer cannot be recovered because of a transmission error;
• and prevent the recovered packet fragments from being transferred to the bonding sublayer responsive to the transmission error being detected unless the transmission error is corrected or the packet fragment having the transmission error is skipped;
• and handshake logic included in or associated with the bonding sublayer and configured to control the transfer of the recovered packet fragments from the plurality of physical sublayers to the bonding sublayer for reassembly.