Selective usage of scheduled and unscheduled transmissions to a cellular network

A communication device, comprising:

• at least one radio interface;
• and
• at least one processor, the at least one processor being configured to:
• detect a need to transmit a data element of a protocol via the at least one radio interface to an access node of a cellular network;
• in response to detecting said need, select between a scheduled transmission of the data element to the access node and an unscheduled transmission of the data element to the access node, wherein the selection between the scheduled transmission and the unscheduled transmission is based on a defined time limit for which the unscheduled transmission is prioritized over the scheduled transmission, and wherein, to select between the scheduled transmission and the unscheduled transmission, the at least one processor is configured to select the scheduled transmission when a delay associated with the unscheduled transmission is greater than the defined time limit;
• in response to selecting the scheduled transmission:
• request allocation of radio resources by the cellular network,
• receive an indication of allocated radio resources from the cellular network, and
• perform a radio transmission of the data element to the access node using the allocated radio resources;
• and
• in response to selecting the unscheduled transmission, perform a radio transmission of the data element to the access node using further radio resources, without requesting allocation of radio resources by the cellular network.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program comprising program instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry of a communication device having at least one radio interface, configure the communication device to:

• detect a need to transmit a data element of a protocol via the at least one radio interface to an access node of a cellular network;
• in response to detecting said need, select between a scheduled transmission of the data element to the access node and an unscheduled transmission of the data element to the access node, wherein the selection between the scheduled transmission and the unscheduled transmission is based on a defined time limit for which the unscheduled transmission is prioritized over the scheduled transmission, and wherein, to select between the scheduled transmission and the unscheduled transmission, the program instructions configure the communication device to select the scheduled transmission when a delay associated with the unscheduled transmission is greater than the defined time limit;
• in response to selecting the scheduled transmission:
• request allocation of radio resources by the cellular network,
• receive an indication of allocated radio resources from the cellular network, and
• perform a radio transmission of the data element to the access node using the allocated radio resources;
• and
• in response to selecting the unscheduled transmission, perform a radio transmission of the data element to the access node using further radio resources, without requesting allocation of radio resources by the cellular network.