Method and device of resource allocation

A method of resource allocation in a network containing at least one transmitter associated to a transmitter ARQ unit, and configured to transmit PDUs according to an ARQ protocol, at least one receiver associated to a receiver ARQ unit, and configured to receive said transmitted PDUs and to acknowledge each of said PDUs by sending back to said transmitter one or more FeedBack Information (FBI) messages containing feedback acknowledgement status information indicating correct or incorrect reception of said transmitted PDUs, and a Radio Resource Management (RRM) unit configured to allocate resources to at least one of said transmitter and receiver based on a TDMA scheme providing a series of Time Frames (TFs), the method comprising:

• transmitting PDUs from said transmitter ARQ unit to said receiver and managing a transmitter ARQ sliding window having a bottom end corresponding to the oldest transmitted PDU not yet acknowledged and a top end corresponding to the next PDU to be transmitted;
• managing, upon reception of said PDUs by said receiver ARQ unit, a receiver ARQ sliding window having a bottom end corresponding to the oldest PDU not yet correctly received and a top end corresponding to the last correctly received PDU;
• sending back, after reception by said receiver ARQ unit of said PDUs, the FBI message or messages to the transmitter;
• and
• updating said transmitter ARQ sliding window according to feedback acknowledgement status information in said FBI message received by said transmitter ARQ unit;
• and
• retransmitting PDUs interpreted as not correctly received by the receiver based on said transmitter ARQ sliding window thus updated;
• receiving, using the RRM unit, said FBI messages and managing, using the RRM unit, an extended ARQ sliding window having a bottom end updated according to the feedback acknowledgement status information and a top end updated according to an amount of resources computed by the RRM unit for initial PDUs transmission;
• allocating, using the RRM unit, at least one of an amount of forward resources to the transmitter for initial PDUs transmission, an amount of forward resources to the transmitter for PDUs retransmission, and an amount of feedback resources to the receiver for sending back the FBI messages, said amount of forward resources and said amount of feedback resources computed based on said extended ARQ sliding window;
• sending, using the transmitter, a Resource Request for Retransmission (RRR) message to the RRM unit containing an amount of resources required for PDUs retransmission;
• updating, using the RRM unit, the extended ARQ sliding window based on said amount of resources required for PDUs retransmission;
• computing, using the RRM unit, the amount of resources to be allocated based on the extended ARQ sliding window;
• sending, using the transmitter, a Resource Request for Retransmission (RRR) message to the RRM unit containing an amount of resources required for PDUs retransmission;
• comparing, using the RRM unit, the amount of resources requested in said RRR message with the amount of resources for PDUs retransmission computed from the current extended ARQ sliding window;
• sending upon said comparison by the RRM unit of an EFBI message to the transmitter when said amount of resources requested and said amount of resources computed are different;
• and
• allocating, using the RRM unit, an amount of resources selected among the amount of resources requested and the amount of resources computed, according to a characteristic of the ARQ protocol.

A method of resource allocation in a network containing at least one transmitter associated to a transmitter ARQ unit, and configured to transmit PDUs according to an ARQ protocol, at least one receiver associated to a receiver ARQ unit, and configured to receive said transmitted PDUs and to acknowledge each of said PDUs by sending back to said transmitter one or more FeedBack Information (FBI) messages containing feedback acknowledgement status information indicating correct or incorrect reception of said transmitted PDUs, and a Radio Resource Management (RRM) unit configured to allocate resources to at least one of said transmitter and receiver based on a TDMA scheme providing a series of Time Frames (TFs), the method comprising:

• transmitting PDUs from said transmitter ARQ unit to said receiver and managing a transmitter ARQ sliding window having a bottom end corresponding to the oldest transmitted PDU not yet acknowledged and a top end corresponding to the next PDU to be transmitted;
• managing, upon reception of said PDUs by said receiver ARQ unit, a receiver ARQ sliding window having a bottom end corresponding to the oldest PDU not yet correctly received and a top end corresponding to the last correctly received PDU;
• sending back, after reception by said receiver ARQ unit of said PDUs, the FBI message or messages to the transmitter;
• updating said transmitter ARQ sliding window according to feedback acknowledgement status information in said FBI message received by said transmitter ARQ unit;
• and
• retransmitting PDUs interpreted as not correctly received by the receiver based on said transmitter ARQ sliding window thus updated;
• receiving, using the RRM unit, said FBI messages and managing, using the RRM unit, an extended ARQ sliding window having a bottom end updated according to the feedback acknowledgement status information and a top end updated according to an amount of resources computed by the RRM unit for initial PDUs transmission;
• allocating, using the RRM unit, at least one of an amount of forward resources to the transmitter for initial PDUs transmission, an amount of forward resources to the transmitter for PDUs retransmission, and an amount of feedback resources to the receiver for sending back the FBI messages, said amount of forward resources and said amount of feedback resources computed based on said extended ARQ sliding window;
• sending, using the transmitter, an End of Window Indication (EWI) message to the RRM unit containing the top end of the transmitter ARQ sliding window, after initial PDU transmission, for synchronizing the top end of the transmitter ARQ sliding window and the extended ARQ sliding window;
• detecting, using the RRM unit, when an FBI message has been lost on the transmitter side by comparing the top end of the transmitter ARQ sliding window contained in the EWI message and the top end of the extended ARQ sliding window;
• and
• updating upon said detection by the RRM unit of the extended ARQ sliding window accordingly, before computing the next amount of forward resources to be allocated from the extended ARQ sliding window thus updated.

A network communication system comprising at least one transmitter associated to a transmitter ARQ unit, at least one receiver associated to a receiver ARQ unit, and a Radio Resource Management (RRM) unit,

• said transmitter comprising:
• a first transmission unit configured to transmit PDUs according to an ARQ protocol;
• said receiver comprising:
• a first receiver unit configured to receive said transmitted PDUs, and
• an acknowledgement unit configured to acknowledge each of said PDUs by sending back to said transmitter one or more FeedBack Information (FBI) messages containing feedback acknowledgement status information indicating correct or incorrect reception of said transmitted PDUs;
• said RRM unit comprising:
• a first allocation unit configured to allocate resources to at least one of said transmitter and receiver based on a TDMA scheme providing a series of Time Frames (TFs),
• a second receiver unit configured to receive said FBI messages,
• a first management unit configured to manage an extended ARQ sliding window having a bottom end updated according to the feedback acknowledgement status information and a top end updated according to an amount of resources computed by the RRM unit for initial PDUs transmission, and
• a second allocation unit configured to allocate at least one of an amount of forward resources to the transmitter for initial PDUs transmission, an amount of forward resources to the transmitter for PDUs retransmission, and an amount of feedback resources to the receiver for sending back the FBI messages, said amount of forward resources and said amount of feedback resources computed based on said extended ARQ sliding window;
• said transmitter ARQ unit comprising:
• a second transmission unit configured to transmit PDUs to the receiver,
• a second management unit configured to manage a transmitter ARQ sliding window having a bottom end corresponding to oldest transmitted PDU not yet acknowledged and a top end corresponding to the next PDU to be transmitted,
• an updating unit configured to update said transmitter ARQ sliding window according to feedback acknowledgement status information in said FBI message received by said transmitter ARQ unit, and
• retransmission means, for retransmitting PDUs interpreted as not correctly received by the receiver based on said transmitter ARQ sliding window thus updated;
• said receiver ARQ unit comprising:
• a third management unit configured to manage, upon reception of the PDUs, a receiver ARQ sliding window having a bottom end corresponding to the oldest PDU not yet correctly received and a top end corresponding to the last correctly received PDU, and
• a sending back unit, configured to send back, after reception of the PDUs, FBI message or messages to the transmitter.