A method of generating an aggregate frame having a header unit, which
carries MAC-header information applicable to one or more data units of
said aggregate frame. Since each data unit of the aggregate frame no
longer needs to carry the full MAC-header information, the overhead
associated with the MAC header can be significantly reduced. At the
receiver, the full MAC header corresponding to the data unit is
reconstructed by (i) matching the appropriate header and data units to
one another and (ii) combining the information present in the header unit
and the compressed header portion of the data unit. Embodiments of the
present invention are capable of improving the data throughput, for
example, in an entertainment network having paired source and destination
devices (e.g., a DVD player and an LCD screen) with a relatively large
amount of data streamed from the former to the latter.