System for allocating resources in a communication system
AssigneeQUALCOMM Incorporated
InventorRajesh K. Pankaj
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for allocating and using a finite resource to transmit wireless information signals to a plurality of subscriber units is disclosed. Individual subscriber units transmit data rate requests to serving base stations. The data rate requests and weight values associated with each subscriber unit are compared in order to select a subscriber unit as the recipient of data transmitted through the finite resource at any given time. To maximize throughput without starving any single subscriber unit, the method includes calculation and comparison of a desirability metric in choosing a subscriber unit from among a subset of the plurality of subscriber units having comparable weight values.
Claims33
A method of allocating a finite resource in a communication system, the communication system including a common node and a plurality of customer nodes associated with the common node, each of the customer nodes having a requested data rate, wherein during any particular service interval the common node allocates the finite resource to one of the customer nodes to the exclusion of any remaining customer nodes, the method comprising the steps of:
- maintaining a set of weights having one weight corresponding to each of the customer nodes;
- identifying a minimum weight M from said set of weights;
- identifying a subset of said customer nodes having weights less than or equal to the sum of M and an offset K;
- determining a desirability metric value for each customer node in said subset;
- selecting, from said subset, a most desired customer node having the greatest desirability metric value;
- exchanging data between the common node and said most desired customer node through the finite resource and at the data rate associated with said most desired customer node;
- and
- changing said set of weights based on said most desired customer node and the data rate associated with said most desired customer node.
A wireless transmitter apparatus comprising:
- at least one antenna for receiving requested data rate signals from each of a plurality of customer nodes and for directing information signals to said plurality of customer nodes;
- a channel element for modulating a data signal for transmission through said at least one antenna to each of said plurality of customer nodes;
- and
- a channel scheduler for maintaining a set of weights corresponding to each of the customer nodes, identifying a minimum weight M from said set of weights, identifying a subset of said customer nodes having weights less than or equal to the sum of M and an offset K, determining a desirability metric value for each customer node in the subset, selecting from the subset a most desired customer node having the greatest desirability metric value, providing information corresponding to the most desired customer node to said channel element, and updating the set of weights.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.