A Quality of Service (QoS) Link Protocol (QLP) for use in a wireless telecommunications network. A plurality of data inputs are provided, each utilized for receiving packet data streams from respective applications over an IP network. Each of the applications has at least one QoS requirement. The QLP comprises a transmission confirmation receiving mechanism for receiving indications from mobile terminals whether data transmitted to the terminal has been successful. The QLP also has a plurality of automatic retransmission request (ARQ) units each coupled to an input for a packet data stream and to the transmission confirmation receiving mechanism, and which is responsible for transmitting each packet and retransmitting each packet if the packet was not transmitted successfully. Finally, the QLP comprises a QoS multiplexor that receives a data stream from each ARQ and adds header data to each packet for identifying the particular physical layer treatment for each packet in accordance with the QoS associated with the data stream. The QoS and the physical layer treatment are influenced by the status of the network.
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