摘要 |
A wireless, cellular radio link is provided from a base station to a plurality of subscriber stations within a cell reception area. Information data, which may be of textual, video or other format, are communicated asymmetrically as high bandwidth transmissions in the downstream direction to the users while low upstream bandwidth is provided to permit users to request the data or to provide return radio link condition information. Buffers associated with respective subscribers collect requested data from information providers for transmission by the base station in a statistical time division multiplexed (STDM) fashion, whereby each subscriber may be assigned a minimum transmission time interval during which data will be transferred from the associated buffer. Controlled logical token passing governs a variable token interval during which data transmission for each buffer is permitted in turn. Data fed from the buffers are combined in successive time intervals to form a data stream having a bit rate that can vary from interval to interval. The data stream is output as radio signals from a radio tower, each subscriber being equipped to receive that portion of the stream with which it is identified.
|