Method and apparatus for a scheduler for a macro-diversity portion of a transmission

#1. Field

#This invention relates generally to a wireless communication system, and in particular to a wireless broadcast communication system.

#2. Background

#These and other aspects, advantages and details of the present invention, both as to its structure and operation, may be gleaned in part by a study of the accompanying exemplary drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example network in which a data frame comprising a macro-diversity region may be used for broadcasting data to a plurality of client stations in accordance with an embodiment.

#FIG. 2 is a block diagram of another example network in which a data frame comprising a macro-diversity region may be used for broadcasting data.

#Certain embodiments as disclosed herein provide for methods and systems for communication over a broadband wireless air interface. After reading this description it will become apparent how to implement the invention in various alternative embodiments and alternative applications. However, although various embodiments of the present invention will be described herein, it is understood that these embodiments are presented by way of example only, and not limitation. As such, this detailed description of various alternative embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope or breadth of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.

#Methods, apparatuses, and techniques are described for allocating data bursts to a macro-diversity region of a downlink communication signal transmitted from multiple base stations, or base transceiver stations, (BTS), such as, for example, BTSs in a single frequency network (SFN). As is known to those of skill in the art, a SFN refers to a network capable of simultaneously broadcasting the same signal (i.e., the same content) over the same frequency channel from multiple transmitters. Further, as used herein the term “macro-diversity region” refers to a portion of a data frame useable for broadcasting information. Exemplary macro-diversity regions include, for example, a Multicast and Broadcast Services (MBS) region of an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) data frame, such as, for example, an OFDMA data frame in accordance with the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) standards (i.e., the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access Standards). A further description of an exemplary macro-diversity region of a data frame is presented below. Further, as used herein the terms macro-diversity region and broadcast region are interchangeable.

#In one embodiment, data bursts are allocated to the macro-diversity region to broadcast data using the macro-diversity region of a data frame. As used herein, the term data burst refers to a consecutive group of data bits or data packets. In accordance with one embodiment, data bursts are allocated to the macro-diversity region in a manner that optimizes the throughput and overall coding gain of the data transmitted via the macro-diversity region. For example, because there is overhead associated with each individual data burst, decreasing the number of data bursts may decrease the total amount of overhead associated with the macro-diversity region. Decreasing the required overhead, accordingly increases the amount of data that may be transmitted by the data frame and thus the overall throughput (i.e., transmitted data) may be increased. Thus, in accordance with one embodiment, larger data bursts are typically preferred over smaller bursts in allocating data bursts to a macro-diversity region of a data frame. A further description of exemplary methods and systems for allocating data bursts to a data frame is provided in more detail below.