Importance

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Abstract

A method and apparatus for accessing a communication system relies on the use of varying access probabilities for subscribers or messages of varying priority. A serving infrastructure entity (e.g., a base station) determines access probabilities (e.g., p.sub.hi and p.sub.lo where there are two classes of subscribers) in response to known system parameters like the current rate of access attempts for each priority class of user/message. Values representative of these access probabilities are then transmitted to the subscriber unit(s), for example by use of a system broadcast channel or control channels. These values are then used by the subscriber units in determining when to access an uplink channel. A temporal and/or proportional priority distribution approach is preferably used in determining the access values. As a result of this contention-based prioritization, an expedited access is achieved by higher priority units/traffic, thus increasing their throughput.

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First Claim