Method and arrangement for allocation of resources in a radio communication system

• US 20030096616A1
• Filed: 10/24/2002
• Published: 05/22/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures II LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: IPWireless Inc. (NVIDIA Corporation)
• Inventors: Speight, Timothy James
• Granted Patent: US 7,062,278 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/450
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/26 Resource reservation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/04 Wireless resource allocation

Abstract

A method and arrangement for fair control of resources amongst users with different instantaneous throughputs in a radio communication system such as a UMTS system. Respective indications of users among whom resources are to be allocated are placed in a ‘round robin’ queue (200) and each user whose indication is at the head of the queue is allocated a number of resource units as a function of: β, a predetermined parameter determining the extent to which a fixed number of resource units should be allocated to the user and the extent to which a fixed volume of data should be transferred from/to the user; φ, the volume of data that the user is allowed to transfer if β=1; λ, the number of resource units that can be allocated if β=0; and θ, the number of information bits per resource unit that can be transferred to/from the user.

This provides the following advantages:

the resources can be allocated in the manner chosen by the operator.

the function requires very few input parameters, and so is simple to operate.

Claims

1. A method for allocation of resources amongst users in a radio communication system, the method comprising:

storing respective indications of users among whom resources are to be allocated; and

repetitively allocating predefined resource units in turn to each user whose indication is stored, the number, γ

, of resource units allocated to a user being a function of;

φ

, the volume of data that the user is allowed to transfer if a fixed volume of data is transferred;

λ

, the number of resource units that can be allocated to a user if a fixed number of resource units is allocated to the user;

θ

, the number of information bits per resource unit that can be transferred to/from the user; and

β

, a predetermined parameter determining the extent to which a fixed number of resource units should be allocated to the user and the extent to which a fixed volume of data should be transferred from/to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the number, γ

, of resource units allocated to a user is substantially equal to

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of storing respective indications of users among whom resources are to be allocated comprises storing the indications in a FIFO queue.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of storing respective indications of users among whom resources are to be allocated comprises storing the indications in RAM memory with a pointer register.

5. The method of claim 1 performed in a radio network controller of the system.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the radio communication system is a UMTS system.

13. A computer program element comprising computer program means for performing substantially the method of claim 1.

7. An arrangement for allocation of resources amongst users in a radio communication system, the arrangement comprising:

means for storing respective indications of users among whom resources are to be allocated; and

means for repetitively allocating predefined resource units in turn to each user whose indication is stored, the number, γ

, of resource units allocated to a user being a function of;

φ

, the volume of data that the user is allowed to transfer if a fixed volume of data is transferred;

λ

, the number of resource units that can be allocated to a user if a fixed number of resource units is allocated to the user;

θ

, the number of information bits per resource unit that can be transferred to/from the user; and

β

, a predetermined parameter determining the extent to which a fixed number of resource units should be allocated to the user and the extent to which a fixed volume of data should be transferred from/to the user.

8. The arrangement of claim 7, wherein the number, γ

, of resource units allocated to a user is substantially equal to

9. The arrangement of claim 7 wherein the means for storing respective indications of users among whom resources are to be allocated comprises a FIFO queue.

10. The arrangement of claim 7 wherein the means for storing respective indications of users among whom resources are to be allocated comprises RAM memory with a pointer register.

11. The arrangement of claim 7 wherein the radio communication system is a UMTS system.

12. A radio network controller for a radio communication system, the radio network controller containing the arrangement of claim 7.

14. An integrated circuit comprising the arrangement of claim 7.