A communication system including a mobile station ( 202, 322 ) sending a plurality of uplink radio link control data blocks ( 328, 332, 336, 340 ) to a base station ( 208, 320 ) in an uplink temporary block flow ( 248 ), and receiving a plurality of downlink radio link control data blocks ( 326, 330, 334, 338, 342 ) from the base station in a downlink temporary block flow ( 225 ). The communication system includes a protocol control unit ( 214 ) within the base station, having a base station medium access control layer ( 213 ) that sends an identifier during setup of the downlink temporary block flow ( 224 ), and sends an uplink state flag indicating channel availability in a first one of the plurality of downlink radio link control data blocks ( 326 ). A GPRS/EDGE subsystem ( 210 ) is located within the mobile station, having a mobile station medium access control layer ( 211 ) that receives the identifier and the uplink state flag, and sends uplink data in a first one of the plurality of uplink radio link control data blocks ( 32 ) to the base station in response to the uplink state flag indicating channel availability. The base station medium access control layer sends a directed acknowledgement in a subsequent one of the plurality of downlink radio link control data blocks ( 330 ) in response to receipt of the uplink data from the mobile station, and the mobile station sends uplink data in a second one of the plurality of uplink radio link control data blocks ( 332 ) in response to the directed acknowledgement.
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