Scheduling transmissions of internet of things devices

A node in a communications network for scheduling transmissions of a plurality of Internet of Things (IoT) devices to network resources in the communications network, the node comprising:

• a memory comprising instruction data representing a set of instructions;
• and
• a processor configured to communicate with the memory and to execute the set of instructions, the set of instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the processor to:
• obtain transmission patterns of transmissions from the IoT devices;
• cluster the IoT devices into clusters based on the obtained transmission patterns;
• schedule transmissions of IoT devices in different clusters to different network resources;
• obtain transmission patterns for one or more User Equipments (UEs) that are making transmissions using the network resources, the one or more UEs being different devices having a different device type from the IoT devices;
• select new transmission patterns for the IoT devices, the new transmission patterns being predicted to result in clustering with increased synchronisation of the transmission patterns of the IoT devices in the clusters, selecting the new transmission patterns for the IoT devices comprising selecting new transmission patterns for the IoT devices so as to increase a measure of overlap between the transmission patterns of the IoT devices and the transmission patterns of the one or more UEs;
• and
• repeat the clustering and scheduling for the new transmission patterns.

A non-transitory computer storage medium storing a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method for scheduling transmissions of a plurality of Internet of Things (IoT) devices to network resources in the communications network, the method comprising:

• obtaining transmission patterns of transmissions from the IoT devices;
• clustering the IoT devices into clusters based on the obtained transmission patterns;
• scheduling transmissions of IoT devices in different clusters to different network resources;
• obtaining transmission patterns for one or more User Equipments (UEs) that are making transmissions using the network resources, the one or more UEs being different devices having a different device type from the IoT devices;
• selecting new transmission patterns for the IoT devices, the new transmission patterns being predicted to result in clustering with increased synchronisation of the transmission patterns of the IoT devices in the clusters, selecting the new transmission patterns for the IoT devices comprising selecting new transmission patterns for the IoT devices so as to increase a measure of overlap between the transmission patterns of the IoT devices and the transmission patterns of the one or more UEs;
• and
• repeating the clustering and scheduling for the new transmission patterns.