Method for reducing transmission delays in a packet transmission system

A packet transmission system (100) with reduced transmission delays includes a communications controller (110) and a plurality of remote requesting units (112) requesting packet transmission services. Each remote unit (112) sequentially stores transmitted access requests (302) in a memory queue (500) and awaits a resource grant (306) from the communications controller (110). Upon receipt of a granted resource the remote unit (112) will apply the granted resource to the oldest request (502) stored in the queue (500) in order to transmit data (310) to the communications controller (110). A separate and distinct aspect of the transmission system (100) resides within the communications controller (110). In response to the receipt of a data packet (310) from a remote unit (112), the communications controller (110) identifies missing data within the data packet transmission, determines whether communication resources are available to support retransmission of the missing data, and if so, transmits a response to the requesting remote unit identifying the missing data and simultaneously granting sufficient resources for retransmission of the missing data.