Extension of radio link control transmit window

A mobile station in a wireless communication network, the mobile station comprising:

• a receive apparatus,
• a transmit apparatus,
• a memory apparatus, and
• a control processor that executes computer program code residing in the memory apparatus,
• wherein the control processor is configured to acknowledge receipt of RLC blocks in an acknowledgment transmitted through the transmit apparatus, the RLC blocks received via the receive apparatus in an extended sequence number space, SNS, and extended transmit window size, WS, the acknowledgment including one or more BSN indices received in respective BSN fields of an expanded BSN space in a RLC/MAC header,
• wherein the control processor is further configured to re-arrange the BSN fields by expanding a first BSN field used for a first BSN and further pre-existing BSN fields are reduced in the BSN space,
• wherein the expanded BSN space includes one or more redefined bits of the RLC/MAC header, and
• wherein an upper limit of RLC blocks received prior to acknowledgment is limited by the extended transmit window size increased in correspondence with the expanded BSN space.

A base station subsystem in a wireless communication network, the base station subsystem, BSS, comprising:

• a receive apparatus,
• a transmit apparatus,
• a memory apparatus, and
• a control processor that executes computer program code residing in the memory apparatus,
• wherein the control processor is configured to transmit through the transmit apparatus RLC blocks in an extended sequence number space, SNS, and extended transmit window size, WS, each RLC block including an RLC/MAC header comprising a BSN index selected from a range of block indices representing the extended sequence number space, SNS, and extended transmit window size, WS,
• wherein the BSN index is included in a BSN field of an expanded BSN space in the RLC/MAC header, wherein the expanded BSN space includes one or more redefined bits of the RLC/MAC header, and
• wherein the control processor is further configured to re-arrange the BSN fields by expanding a first BSN field used for a first BSN and further pre-existing BSN fields are reduced in the BSN space.