US Patent 8467353 Time-slotted data packets with a preamble

A method and apparatus are used to support the transmission of data to a user over multiple allocated data channels. Data packets are transmitted in time-slots of the allocated data channels to corresponding target receivers without the need for explicitly assigning particular time-slots to a target user well in advance of transmitting any data packets in the time-slots. Instead, each data packet transmitted in a time-slot includes a header label or preamble indicating to which of multiple possible receivers a data packet is directed. The preamble also preferably includes decoding information indicating how a corresponding data payload of the data packet is to be processed for recapturing transmitted raw data.