Allocation of signal-to-noise ratio margin in multi-carrier systems

1. A method for assigning signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) margins to carriers in a multi-carrier system, comprising:

assigning a first SNR margin to a first data service based upon a first service characteristic;

assigning a second SNR margin to a second data service based upon a second service characteristic;

modulating the first and second groups of carriers, wherein carriers of the first group of carriers are modulated, and thereafter carriers of the second group of carriers are modulated;

transmitting data associated with the first data service on the first group of carriers using the first signal-to-noise margin; and

transmitting data associated with the second data service on the second group of carriers using the second signal-to-noise margin.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second service characteristics are selected from the group consisting of: a data rate; a latency requirement; a traffic type; impulse noise protection; retransmission techniques and a bit error rate requirement.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first group of carriers and the second group of carriers are transmitted on the same physical medium.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the physical medium is a wireline connection.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the physical medium is a wireless connection.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first group of carriers are assigned to a first set of sequential frequencies, and the second group of carriers are assigned to a second set of sequential frequencies.

7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first group of carriers and the second group of carriers are assigned to non-subsequent frequencies.

8. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first and second groups of carriers are modulated using a trellis coder.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first signal-to-noise margin is higher than the second signal-to-noise margin.

10. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the first group of carriers and the second group of carriers are assigned to non-subsequent frequencies and wherein the carriers are reordered for trellis code modulation.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: identifying a third data service being transmitted in the multi-carrier system; determining a third service characteristic for the third data service; assigning a third SNR margin to the third data service based upon the third service characteristic; and transmitting the third data service using the third signal-to-noise margin.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the multi-carrier system is an Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) system or a Very high speed Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) system.

13. A method for allocating signal-to-noise (SNR) margin, comprising:

identifying a first data service being transmitted in a multi-carrier system;

identifying a second data service being transmitted in the multi-carrier system;

determining a first service characteristic for the first data service;

determining a second service characteristic for the second data service;

assigning a first SNR margin to the first data service based upon the first service characteristic;

assigning a second SNR margin to the second data service based upon the second service characteristic;

modulating a first and second groups of carriers, wherein carriers of the first group of carriers are modulated, and thereafter carriers of the second group of carriers are modulated;

transmitting the first data service on the first group of carriers using the first signal-to-noise margin; and

transmitting the second data service on the second group of carriers using the second signal-to-noise margin.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first and second service characteristics are selected from the group consisting of: a data rate; a latency requirement; a traffic type; and a bit error rate requirement.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first group of carriers and the second group of carriers are transmitted on the same physical medium.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first group of carriers are assigned to a first set of sequential frequencies, and the second group of carriers are assigned to a second set of sequential frequencies.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first group of carriers and the second group of carriers are assigned to non-subsequent frequencies.

18. A transceiver for transmitting data in a multi-carrier system, comprising:

a first apparatus to assign a first SNR margin to a first data service based upon a first service characteristic;

a second apparatus to assign a second SNR margin to a second data service based upon a second service characteristic;

a modulator to modulate a first group of carriers and a second group of carriers, wherein carriers of the first group of carriers are modulated, and thereafter carriers of the second group of carriers are modulated; and

a transmitter to transmit, to a remote transceiver, data complying with the first data service on the first group of carriers using the first signal-to-noise margin and to transmit, to the remote transceiver, and data complying with the second data service on the second group of carriers using the second signal-to-noise margin.

19. The transceiver of claim 18 , further comprising: a receiver to receive, from the remote transceiver, data complying with the first data service, wherein the received data is assigned a third SNR margin.

20. The transceiver of claim 18 , wherein the multi-carrier system is an Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) system or a Very high speed Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) system.

21. The transceiver of claim 18 , wherein the first and second service characteristics are selected from the group consisting of: a data rate; a latency requirement; a traffic type; and a bit error rate requirement.