Method of accommodating fragmentation and burst in a wireless protocol
View Patent ↗A method is provided for sending information in a wireless network. A service data unit is broken up by a transmitter into multiple fragments that are sent as the payloads of respective data frames transmitted to a receiver. Each of these frames includes a service data unit identifier identifying the service data unit the fragment is associated with, a fragment number indicating the position of the fragment within the associated service data unit, and a total fragment value indicating the total number of fragments in the service data unit. The receiver extracts the service data unit fragments, buffers them, and uses the fragments to reconstruct the service data unit. The receiver is able to efficiently buffer the fragments because of the service data unit identifier, fragment number, and total fragment value contained in each frame.
1. A method of sending information in a wireless network, comprising:
breaking a service data unit into first through N th service data unit fragments;
assigning the first through N th service data unit fragments as payloads for first through N th frames, respectively; and
transmitting the first through N th frames,
wherein each the first through N th frames contains a first designator, a second designator, and a third designator, the first designator identifying the service data unit, the second designator identifying a position in the service data unit of the respective first through N th service data unit fragment assigned as payload, and the third designator identifying a total number of fragments N that the service data unit has been broken into, and
wherein N is an integer greater than 1.
2. A method of passing a service data unit between devices in a wireless network, as recited in claim 1 , wherein the first, second, and third designators in each of the first through N th frames are formed in a header.
3. A method of passing a service data unit between devices in a wireless network, as recited in claim 1 ,
wherein N is an integer greater than 2, and
wherein the first through (N−1) th service data unit fragments are the same size.
4. A method of sending information in a wireless network, comprising:
breaking a service data unit into first through N th service data unit fragments;
assigning the first through N th service data unit fragments as payloads for first through N th frames, respectively; and
transmitting the first through N th frames,
wherein each the first through N th frames contains a first designator, a second designator, and a third designator, the first designator identifying the service data unit, the second designator identifying a position in the service data unit of the respective first through N th service data unit fragment assigned as payload, and the third designator indicating whether the frame is the N th frame or not, and
wherein N is an integer greater than 1.
5. A method of passing a service data unit between devices in a wireless network, as recited in claim 4 , wherein the first, second, and third designators in each of the first through N th frames are formed in a header.
6. A method of passing a service data unit between devices in a wireless network, as recited in claim 4 ,
wherein N is an integer greater than 2, and
wherein the first through (N−1) th service data unit fragments are the same size.
7. A method of sending information in a wireless network, comprising:
breaking a service data unit into first through N th service data unit fragments in a transmitter device;
assigning the first through N th service data unit fragments as payloads for first through N th frames, respectively, the first through N th frames each containing a first designator, a second designator, and a third designator;
transmitting the first through N th frames from the transmitter device;
receiving the first through N th frames from the transmitter device at a receiver device;
extracting the first through N th service data unit fragments from the first through N th frames; and
reconstructing the service data unit using the first through N th service data unit fragments and the first, second, and third designators from each of the first through N th frames,
wherein the first designator identifies the service data unit, the second designator identifies a position in the service data unit of the respective first through N th service data unit fragment assigned as payload, and the third designator identifies a total number of fragments N that the service data unit has been broken into, and
wherein N is an integer greater than 1.
8. A method of passing a service data unit between devices in a wireless network, as recited in claim 7 , wherein the first, second, and third designators in each of the first through N th frames are formed in a header.
9. A method of passing a service data unit between devices in a wireless network, as recited in claim 7 ,
wherein N is an integer greater than 2, and
wherein the first through (N−1) th service data unit fragments are the same size.
10. A method of passing a service data unit between devices in a wireless network, as recited in claim 7 , wherein the step of reconstructing the service data unit further comprises:
assigning each of the first through N th service data unit fragments into a buffer defined by the first designator, each of the first through N th service data unit fragments being assigned a place in the buffer based on the second designator associated with the respective first through N th service data unit fragment; and
reconstructing the service data unit based on the contents of the buffer when the buffer is filled.