The present invention relates to a wireless data system which has a transmitter including a transmission buffer. The transmitter is configured to transmit a plurality of packets of encoded data, wherein a level of the transmission buffer is encoded in one of the packets of encoded data. The system further has a wireless receiver for receiving the plurality of packets. The receiver has at least one receiving component that receives the plurality of packets to generate a plurality of decoded signals, wherein the at least one receiving component is configured to receive one of the packets of encoded data from the transmitter to determine the level of transmission buffer. The receiving component is further configured to store the plurality of packets received in a receive buffer, to determine the level of the receive buffer, and to calculate an aggregate buffer level from the transmission buffer and the receive buffer. The receiver controls a packet output rate from the receive buffer to maintain the aggregate buffer level at a desired level.