MULTIPLE PACKET SOURCE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

摘要

A multi-bit acknowledgement word ( 44 ) is prepared by a first communications station 22 (such as a base station) for separately acknowledging the success or failure of data packets received over plural communication channels ( 42 ) from respective plural second communication stations 28 (such as terminals). The acknowledgement word ( 44 ) is a "joint" or "common" acknowledgement word in the sense that one and the same acknowledgement word provides acknowledgement information for data packets received from plural second communication stations. Either separately or in conjunction with the joint acknowledgement word, a terminal checking code ( 62 ) can be employed for determining whether a packet is received on a both in a correct channel and from a correct terminal. The terminal checking code ( 62 ) comprise a cyclic redundancy check code formed over data bits ( 66 ) of the data packet and a terminal identifier ( 68 ) of the terminal ( 28 ).