Minicell sequence number count

Claim 2

In a telecommunication system that transports data packets from a sending station to a receiving station, a method for detecting lost data, comprising the steps of: transporting at least one data cell that does not contain any data packet sequence number to a receiving station; generating a data packet sequence number that represents a number of data packets transmitted via data cells to the receiving station; inserting the data packet sequence number into a select data cell as a function of a predefined transmission interval; generating a data cell sequence number that represents a number of data cells transmitted to the receiving station; inserting the data cell sequence number into the select data cell as a function of the predefined transmission interval; transporting the select data cell to a receiving station; and at the receiving station, determining whether data has been lost as a function of the data packet sequence number and the data cell sequence number.

Claim 3

The method of claim 1, wherein said data cells are Asynchronous Transfer Mode cells and said data packet is a minicell.

Claim 4

In a telecommunication system that transports data packets from a sending station to a receiving station, a method for detecting lost data, comprising the steps of: generating a data packet sequence number that represents a number of data packets transmitted via data cells to the receiving station; inserting the data packet sequence number into a select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval; transporting the data cell containing the data packet sequence number to a receiving station; and at the receiving station, determining whether data has been lost as a function of the data packet sequence number.

Claim 5

In a telecommunication system that transports data packets from a sending station to a receiving station, a method for detecting lost data, comprising the steps of: generating a data packet sequence number that represents a number of data packets transmitted via data cells to the receiving station; inserting the data packet sequence number into a select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval; transporting the data cell containing the data packet sequence number to a receiving station; and at the receiving station, determining whether data has been lost as a function of the data packet sequence number.

Claim 6

The method of claim 3 further comprising the steps of: at the sending station, updating the data packet sequence number in response to the transportation of each data cell; and inserting an updated data packet sequence number into select data cells at the predefined and adjustable transmission interval.

Claim 7

The method of claim 3, wherein said step of determining whether data has been lost as a function of the data packet sequence number comprises the steps of: tracking a number of data packets received by the receiving station; comparing the number of data packets received with the data packet sequence number; and determining whether data has been lost as a function of said comparison between the number of data packets received and the data packet sequence number.

Claim 8

The method of claim 3, wherein said step of inserting the data packet sequence number into a select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval comprises the step of: inserting the data packet sequence number into a predefined location of a payload portion of the select data cell, wherein said data packets are minicells, said data cells are Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) cells, and said transmission interval is measured by a number of ATM cells.

Claim 9

The method of claim 3, wherein said step of inserting the data packet sequence number into the select data cell as a function of the predefined and adjustable transmission interval comprises the steps of: inserting the data packet sequence number into a sequence number minicell; and inserting the sequence number minicell into a payload portion of the data cell, wherein said data packets are minicells and said data cells are Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) cells.

Claim 10

The method of claim 7, wherein said predefined and adjustable transmission interval is measured by a number of ATM cells.

Claim 11

The method of claim 7, wherein said predefined and adjustable transmission interval is measured by a number of minicells.

Claim 12

The method of claim 3 further comprising the steps of: at the sending station, updating a data packet sequence number in response to the transportation of each data packet; and inserting the updated data packet sequence numbers at the predefined and adjustable transmission interval.

Claim 13

The method of claim 3 further comprising the steps of: generating a data cell sequence number that represents a number of data cells transmitted to the receiving station; inserting the data cell sequence number into the select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval; and determining whether data has been lost as a function of the data cell sequence number.

Claim 14

The method of claim 11 further comprising the steps of: updating the data cell sequence number in response to the transportation of each data cell; and inserting an updated data cell sequence number into select data cells at the predefined and adjustable transmission interval.

Claim 15

The method of claim 12, wherein said step of determining whether data has been lost as a function of the data cell sequence number comprises the steps of: tracking a number of data cells received by the receiving station; comparing the number of data cells received with a received data cell sequence number; and determining whether data has been lost as a function of said comparison between the number of data cells received and the data cell sequence number.

Claim 16

The method of claim 11, wherein said step of inserting the data cell sequence number into a select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval comprises the step of: inserting the data cell sequence number into a predefined location of a payload portion of the select data cell, wherein said data cells are ATM cells, and wherein said transmission interval is measured by a number of ATM cells.

Claim 17

The method of claim 11, wherein said step of inserting the data cell sequence number into a select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval comprises the steps of: inserting the data cell sequence number into a sequence number minicell; and inserting the sequence number minicell into a payload portion of the select data cell, wherein said data cells are ATM cells, and wherein said predefined and adjustable transmission interval is measured by a number of ATM cells.

Claim 18

The method of claim 3 further comprising the steps of: generating a sequence identifier; and inserting the sequence number identifier into the select data cell, thereby indicating that the data cell contains a data packet sequence number.

Claim 19

In a telecommunication system that transports data packets from a sending station to a receiving station, an apparatus for detecting lost data comprising: means for transporting a data cell that does not contain a data packet sequence number to a receiving station; means for generating a data packet sequence number that represents a number of data packets transmitted via data cells to the receiving station; means for inserting the data packet sequence number into a select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval; means for generating a data cell sequence number that represents a number of data cells transmitted to the receiving station; means for inserting the data cell sequence number into the select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval; means for transporting the select data cell to a receiving station; and at the receiving station, means for determining whether data has been lost as a function of the data packet sequence number and the data cell sequence number.

Claim 20

In a telecommunication system that transports data packets from a sending station to a receiving station, an apparatus for detecting lost data comprising: means for transporting a data cell that does not contain a data packet sequence number to a receiving station; means for generating a data packet sequence number that represents a number of data packets transmitted via data cells to the receiving station; means for inserting the data packet sequence number into a select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval; means for generating a data cell sequence number that represents a number of data cells transmitted to the receiving station; means for inserting the data cell sequence number into the select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval; means for transporting the select data cell to a receiving station; and at the receiving station, means for determining whether data has been lost as a function of the data packet sequence number and the data cell sequence number.

Claim 21

The apparatus of claim 17, wherein said data cells are Asynchronous Transfer Mode cells and said data packet is a minicell.

Claim 22

In a telecommunication system that transports data packets from a sending station to a receiving station, an apparatus for detecting lost data comprising: means for generating a data packet sequence number that represents a number of data packets transmitted via data cells to the receiving station; means for inserting the data packet sequence number into a select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval; means for transporting the data cell containing the data packet sequence number to a receiving station; and means for determining whether data has been lost as a function of the data packet sequence number.

Claim 23

In a telecommunication system that transports data packets from a sending station to a receiving station, an apparatus for detecting lost data comprising: means for generating a data packet sequence number that represents a number of data packets transmitted via data cells to the receiving station; means for inserting the data packet sequence number into a select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval; means for transporting the data cell containing the data packet sequence number to a receiving station; and means for determining whether data has been lost as a function of the data packet sequence number.

Claim 24

The apparatus of claim 19 further comprises: means for updating the data packet sequence number with the transmission of each data cell; and means for inserting an updated data packet sequence number into select data cells at the predefined and adjustable transmission interval.

Claim 25

The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said means for determining whether data has been lost as a function of the data packet sequence number comprises: means for tracking a number of data packets received by the receiving station; means for comparing the number of data packets received with a data packet sequence number; and means for determining whether data has been lost as a function of said comparison between the number of data packets received and the data packet sequence number.

Claim 26

The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said means for inserting the data packet sequence number into a select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval comprises: means for inserting the data packet sequence number into a predefined location of a payload portion of the select data cell, wherein said data packets are minicells, wherein said data cells are ATM cells, and wherein said transmission interval is measured by a number of ATM cells.

Claim 27

The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said step of inserting the data packet sequence number into a select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval comprises: means for inserting the data packet sequence number into a sequence number minicell; and means for inserting the sequence number minicell into a payload portion of the data cell, wherein said data packets are minicells and said data cells are ATM cells.

Claim 28

The apparatus of claim 23, wherein said predefined and adjustable transmission interval is measured by a number of ATM cells.

Claim 29

The apparatus of claim 23, wherein said predefined and adjustable transmission interval is measured by a number of minicells.

Claim 30

The apparatus of claim 19 further comprising: means for updating a data packet sequence number with the transmission of each data packet; and means for inserting the updated data packet sequence numbers at the predefined and adjustable transmission interval.

Claim 31

The apparatus of claim 19 further comprising: means for generating a data cell sequence number that represents a number of data cells transmitted to the receiving station; means for inserting the data cell sequence number into the select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval; and means for determining whether data has been lost as a function of the data cell sequence number.

Claim 32

The apparatus of claim 27 further comprising: means for updating the data cell sequence number with the transmission of each data cell; and means for inserting an updated data cell sequence number into select data cells at the predefined and adjustable transmission interval.

Claim 33

The apparatus of claim 28, wherein said means for determining whether data has been lost as a function of the data cell sequence number comprises: means for tracking a number of data cells received by the receiving station; means for comparing the number of data cells received with a data cell sequence number; and means for determining whether data has been lost as a function of said comparison between the number of data cells received and the data cell sequence number.

Claim 34

The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said means for inserting the data cell sequence number into a select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval comprises: means for inserting the data cell sequence number into a predefined location of a payload portion of the select data cell, wherein said data cells are ATM cells, and wherein said transmission interval is measured by a number of ATM cells.

Claim 35

The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said means for inserting the data cell sequence number into a select data cell as a function of a predefined and adjustable transmission interval comprises: means for inserting the data cell sequence number into a sequence number minicell; and means for inserting the sequence number minicell into a payload portion of the select data cell, wherein said data cells are ATM cells, and wherein said predefined and adjustable transmission interval is measured by a number of ATM cells.

Claim 36

The apparatus of claim 19 further comprising: means for generating a sequence identifier; and means for inserting the sequence number identifier into the select data cell, thereby indicating that the data cell contains a data packet sequence number.