Abstract: In a broadband wireless communication system, a spread spectrum signal is intentionally overlapped with an OFDM signal, in a time domain, a frequency domain, or both. The OFDM signal, which inherently has a high spectral efficiency, is used for carrying broadband data or control information. The spread spectrum signal, which is designed to have a high spread gain for overcoming severe interference, is used for facilitating system functions such as initial random access, channel probing, or short messaging. Methods and techniques are devised to ensure that the mutual interference between the overlapped signals is minimized to have insignificant impact on either signal and that both signals are detectable with expected performance by a receiver.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for content multicasting and broadcasting and data unicasting in a broadband multicarrier wireless communication system. A base station is configured to transmit, and a mobile station is configured to receive, a sequence of consecutive frames. The frames comprise two types: frames containing time-frequency resources for content multicasting and broadcasting via a single frequency network, and frames containing time-frequency resources for data unicasting without the use of a single frequency network. The two types of frames are intermixed in accordance with an intermixing configuration pattern. The intermixing configuration pattern is indicated by a bit-map contained in a scheduling signal.

Abstract: A reception method and apparatus for use in a multi-cell orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) wireless system. In a unicast receive mode during a first receive time period, a first group of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols is received by a mobile device from multiple of a plurality of antennas at a serving base station. In a single-frequency-network (SFN) receive mode during a second receive time period, a second group of OFDM symbols is received by the mobile device from one of a plurality of antennas at the serving base station. The transition between the first receive time period and the second receive time period occurs during a cyclic prefix or a cyclic postfix between OFDM symbols, and the plurality of antennas produce a first beam pattern during the unicast receive mode and a second beam pattern during the SFN receive mode.

Abstract: A method and system for minimizing the control overhead in a multi-carrier wireless communication network that utilizes a time-frequency resource is disclosed. In some embodiments, one or more zones in the time-frequency resource are designated for particular applications, such as a zone dedicated for voice-over-IP (VoIP) applications. By grouping applications of a similar type together within a zone, a reduction in the number of bits necessary for mapping a packet stream to a portion of the time-frequency resource can be achieved. In some embodiments, modular coding schemes associated with the packet streams may be selected that further reduce the amount of necessary control information. In some embodiments, packets may be classified for transmission in accordance with application type, QoS parameters, and other properties. In some embodiments, improved control messages may be constructed to facilitate the control process and minimize associated overhead.