Methods, Mobile Station and Base Station, for Extended Sharing of Uplink Packet Data Channels in a GSM Network

摘要

A method in a mobile station (120) for enabling more than eight mobile stations to share one uplink Packet Data Channel (PDCH) in a GSM network (100) is provided. A combination of Uplink State Flag values in a set of two or more downlink radio blocks is received. The received Uplink State Flag values of the combination are jointly interpreted. Packet data are only transmitted (706; 1402) when an assigned combination of Uplink State Flag values has been received. Conventionally in GSM only a maximum of 8 unique mobile stations can share one PDCH using one timeslot (of eight conventionally available). By the combination of the USF values and joint interpretation thereof, more than 8 unique mobile station can share the same PDCH. Compatibility is also enabled with legacy mobile stations supporting only a single USF value.