Communication of physical layer control parameters

Claim 2

In a point to multipoint communication system, a subscriber unit comprising: a receiver system that receives a plurality of codewords from a central access point; a decoder block that decodes said codewords, obtaining decoded data for each of said codewords; and a data segmentation block that extracts from decoded data of one of said codewords, first data and second data, said first data being transferred to a protocol entity within said subscriber unit implementing a layer above a physical layer of said communication system, said second data comprising physical layer control information; and wherein operation of said protocol entity is defined by the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS).

Claim 3

The subscriber unit of claim 1 wherein said second data comprises an identifier indicating an intended recipient of said physical layer control information.

Claim 4

The subscriber unit of claim 1 wherein said physical layer control information comprises a collision back off parameter.

Claim 5

The subscriber unit of claim 1 wherein said physical layer control information comprises a scheduling message for allocating access to physical layer frames within a MAC layer frame.

Claim 6

The subscriber unit of claim 1 wherein said physical layer control information comprises power adjustment information.

Claim 7

The subscriber unit of claim 1 wherein said physical layer control information comprises a frequency adjustment command.

Claim 8

The subscriber unit of claim 1 wherein said first data comprises MCNS data.

Claim 9

The subscriber unit of claim 1 wherein said receiver system receives said plurality of codewords via a wireless transmission medium.

Claim 10

The subscriber unit of claim 1 wherein said receiver system comprises an OFDM receiver system.

Claim 11

In a point to multipoint communication system, a method for operating one of a plurality of subscriber units to receive data from a central access point: receiving a plurality of codewords from said central access point, said codewords being encoded in accordance with an error correction coding scheme; dividing data received within one of said codewords into a first subsegment and a second subsegment; transferring data within said first subsegment to a protocol entity implementing a layer above a physical layer, operation of said protocol entity being specified by the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS); and transferring data within said second subsegment to a physical layer control processor.

Claim 12

In a point to multipoint communication system, a method for operating one of a plurality of subscriber units to receive data from a central access point: receiving a plurality of codewords from said central access point, said codewords being encoded in accordance with an error correction coding scheme; dividing data received within one of said codewords into a first subsegment and a second subsegment; transferring data within said first subsegment to a protocol entity implementing a layer above a physical layer, operation of said protocol entity being specified by the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS); and transferring data within said second subsegment to a physical layer control processor.

Claim 13

The method of claim 10 wherein said codewords are encoded in accordance with a Reed-Solomon encoding scheme.

Claim 14

The method of claim 10 wherein said data within said second subsegment comprises an address of said one subscriber unit.

Claim 15

The method of claim 10 wherein said data within said second subsegment comprises a power adjustment command.

Claim 16

In a point to multipoint communication system, a method for operating a central access point to transmit data to a plurality of subscriber units, said method comprising: within said central access point, transferring first data from an entity implementing a layer above a physical layer to said physical layer, operation of said entity implementing said layer above said physical layer being specified by the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS); forming codewords for transmission in accordance with an error correction coding scheme wherein at least one of said codewords comprises a first subsegment and a second subsegment, said first subsegment comprising said first data and said second subsegment comprising control data generated within said physical layer at said central access point; and transmitting said codewords from said central access point.

Claim 17

In a point to multipoint communication system, a method for operating a central access point to transmit data to a plurality of subscriber units, said method comprising: within said central access point, transferring first data from an entity implementing a layer above a physical layer to said physical layer, operation of said entity implementing said layer above said physical layer being specified by the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS); forming codewords for transmission in accordance with an error correction coding scheme wherein at least one of said codewords comprises a first subsegment and a second subsegment, said first subsegment comprising said first data and said second subsegment comprising control data generated within said physical layer at said central access point; and transmitting said codewords from said central access point.

Claim 18

The method of claim 14 wherein said control data comprises a power adjustment command.

Claim 19

The method of claim 14 wherein said control data comprises a power adjustment command to control power of access requests.

Claim 20

The method of claim 14 wherein transmitting comprises: employing OFDM to transmit via a wireless transmission medium.

Claim 21

In a point to multipoint communication system, a central access point comprising: a MAC layer system implementing a MAC layer protocol of said communication system, said MAC layer protocol being specified by the Data over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS); a physical layer control processor that generates physical layer control information; and a segment formation block that generates physical layer data segments to be transformed into signals to be transmitted via a transmission medium, at least one of said data segments including both data received from said MAC layer system and said physical layer control information; and an encoding block that encodes said data segments individually according to an encoding scheme to form codewords.

Claim 22

In a point to multipoint communication system, a central access point comprising: a MAC layer system implementing a MAC layer protocol of said communication system, said MAC layer protocol being specified by the Data over Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS); a physical layer control processor that generates physical layer control information; and a segment formation block that generates physical layer data segments to be transformed into signals to be transmitted via a transmission medium, at least one of said data segments including both data received from said MAC layer system and said physical layer control information; and an encoding block that encodes said data segments individually according to an encoding scheme to form codewords.

Claim 23

The central access point of claim 18 wherein said at least one data segment comprises a first subsegment comprising said data received from said MAC layer system and a second subsegment comprising said physical layer control information.

Claim 24

The central access point of claim 18 wherein said second subsegment further comprises an identifier indicating an intended recipient of said physical layer control information.

Claim 25

The central access point of claim 18 wherein said physical layer control information comprises a collision back off parameter.

Claim 26

The central access point of claim 18 wherein said physical layer control information comprises a scheduling message for allocating access to physical layer frames within a MAC layer frame.

Claim 27

The central access point of claim 18 wherein said physical layer control information comprises a power adjustment command.

Claim 28

The central access point of claim 18 wherein said physical layer control information comprises a frequency adjustment command.

Claim 29

The central access point of claim 18 further comprising an OFDM transmitter that transmits said signals via a transmission medium.

Claim 30

The central access point of claim 18 wherein said transmission medium comprises a wireless transmission medium.

Claim 31

In a point to multipoint communication system, a central access point comprising: an encoding processor that encodes a series of codewords according to an encoding scheme for transmission to a plurality of subscriber units; a physical layer control processor that generates power adjustment information for one of said subscriber units; and a codeword formation block that forms at least of said codewords by combining 1) power adjustment information controlling power of one of said subscriber units and 2) application data formatted in accordance with DOCSIS protocol by including said power adjustment information in a reserved codeword segment that is allocated to a physical layer control channel.

Claim 32

In a point to multipoint communication system, a central access point comprising: an encoding processor that encodes a series of codewords according to an encoding scheme for transmission to a plurality of subscriber units; a physical layer control processor that generates power adjustment information for one of said subscriber units; and a codeword formation block that forms at least of said codewords by combining 1) power adjustment information controlling power of one of said subscriber units and 2) application data formatted in accordance with DOCSIS protocol by including said power adjustment information in a reserved codeword segment that is allocated to a physical layer control channel.

Claim 33

The central access point of claim 27 wherein said encoding scheme comprises a Reed-Solomon coding scheme.

Claim 34

In a point to multipoint communication system, a subscriber unit comprising: a decoding processor that decodes a series of codewords received from a central access point according to a decoding scheme; a codeword segmentation block that extracts from at least one of said codewords 1) power adjustment information and 2) application data formatted in accordance with DOCSIS protocol, said power adjustment information being extracted from a reserved codeword segment that is allocated to a physical layer control channel; and a physical layer control processor that controls output power of said subscriber unit in response to said power adjustment information.

Claim 35

In a point to multipoint communication system, a subscriber unit comprising: a decoding processor that decodes a series of codewords received from a central access point according to a decoding scheme; a codeword segmentation block that extracts from at least one of said codewords 1) power adjustment information and 2) application data formatted in accordance with DOCSIS protocol, said power adjustment information being extracted from a reserved codeword segment that is allocated to a physical layer control channel; and a physical layer control processor that controls output power of said subscriber unit in response to said power adjustment information.

Claim 36

The subscriber unit of claim 29 wherein said decoding scheme comprises a Reed-Solomon decoding scheme.

Claim 37

In a point to multipoint communication system, apparatus for operating one of a plurality of subscriber units to receive data from a central access point: means for receiving a plurality of codewords from said central access point, said codewords encoded in accordance with an encoding scheme; means for dividing data received within one of codewords into a first subsegment and a second subsegment; means for transferring data within said first subsegment to a protocol entity implementing a layer above a physical layer, operation of said protocol entity being specified by Data Over Cable Interface Specifications; and means for transferring data within said second subsegment to a physical layer control processor.

Claim 38

In a point to multipoint communication system, apparatus for operating one of a plurality of subscriber units to receive data from a central access point: means for receiving a plurality of codewords from said central access point, said codewords encoded in accordance with an encoding scheme; means for dividing data received within one of codewords into a first subsegment and a second subsegment; means for transferring data within said first subsegment to a protocol entity implementing a layer above a physical layer, operation of said protocol entity being specified by Data Over Cable Interface Specifications; and means for transferring data within said second subsegment to a physical layer control processor.

Claim 39

In a point to multipoint communication system, apparatus for operating a central access point to transmit data to a plurality of subscriber units, said apparatus comprising: means for, within said central access point, transferring first data from an entity implementing a layer above a physical layer to an entity implementing said physical layer, operation of said entity implementing a layer above said physical layer being specified by Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications; means for forming data segments for transmission wherein at least one of said segments comprises a first subsegment and a second subsegment, said first subsegment comprising said first data and said second subsegment comprising control data generated within said physical layer at said central access point; means for encoding said data segments to form codewords; and means for transmitting said codewords from said central access point.

Claim 40

In a point to multipoint communication system, apparatus for operating a central access point to transmit data to a plurality of subscriber units, said apparatus comprising: means for, within said central access point, transferring first data from an entity implementing a layer above a physical layer to an entity implementing said physical layer, operation of said entity implementing a layer above said physical layer being specified by Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications; means for forming data segments for transmission wherein at least one of said segments comprises a first subsegment and a second subsegment, said first subsegment comprising said first data and said second subsegment comprising control data generated within said physical layer at said central access point; means for encoding said data segments to form codewords; and means for transmitting said codewords from said central access point.