Method and system for packing management messages in a communication system

Abstract

A method and apparatus for packing management messages in a broadband wireless communication system. Management messages are sent across a link in packets addressed to a particular connection, where the address identifies messages which may be specially treated. Such special treatment may include recognition of an overall message conveyed in such packets as containing one or more implicit messages embedded within the overall message. Two methods are disclosed to efficiently convey such management messages. First, each packet of information sent across the link may include a message type identifier, in which case it need not be repeated in the payload of the packet, and a number of such messages may be sent within a packet. Second, a packet of information may contain mixed management messages, in which case the byte with the message type identifier should be included with each such message. In this case, an overall message may be constructed from individual management messages simply concatenated together. Using either method, the management messages are packed into packets so that messages in a first packet may be parsed and acted upon without a need for any subsequent packets which may be necessary to convey an entire message. This is accomplished by taking any message which will not fit in a first packet may be made to be ignored, such as by being replaced with a padding pattern. In this way, any subsequent packet will have management messages which begin at the start of the effective data payload. Padding may also be added before or after an end of message or trailer information which defines the end of an overall message.