METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ADAPTIVELY OBTAINING BANDWIDTH ALLOCATION REQUESTS

• US 20090207795A1
• Filed: 02/12/2009
• Published: 08/20/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Quarterhill Inc. (f/k/a Wi-LAN Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Quarterhill Inc. (f/k/a Wi-LAN Inc.)
• Inventors: Stanwood, Kenneth L., Spinar, Brian
• Application Number:
  US12/370,511
• Publication Number:
  US 20090207795A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/20 Negotiating bandwidth
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/21 in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/06 using polling

Abstract

A method and apparatus for adaptively obtaining bandwidth requests in a broadband wireless communication system. The method and apparatus includes dynamically varying technique combinations enabling a plurality of users to efficiently request bandwidth from a shared base station. A user may “piggyback” a new bandwidth request upon, or set a “poll-me bit” within, presently allocated bandwidth. A base station may poll users, individually or in groups, by allocating unrequested bandwidth for new requests. Polling may respond to a “poll-me bit,” and/or it may be adaptively periodic at a rate based on communication status parameters, such as recent communication activity and connection QoS levels. Group polling permits a possibility of collisions. Polling policies may be established for dynamically varying user groups, or may be determined for each user. Dynamic selection of appropriate polling techniques makes use of efficiency benefits associated with each technique.

Claims

1. A subscriber station for a broadband wireless communication system comprising:

a transceiver; and

a Media Access Control (MAC) module configured to

provision a bandwidth request specifying a requested amount of uplink (UL) bandwidth pertaining to a connection established at the subscriber station,

receive a UL bandwidth grant for the connection, and

allocate the UL bandwidth grant to at least one of a plurality of connections established at the subscriber station.

2. A subscriber station as claimed in claim 1, wherein the MAC module is further configured to identify the UL bandwidth grant.

3. A subscriber station as claimed in claim 1, wherein the UL bandwidth grant is specified in a UL frame map received by the subscriber station.

4. A subscriber station as claimed in claim 1, wherein the UL bandwidth grant is specified in a UL frame map received by the subscriber station.

5. A subscriber station as claimed in claim 1, wherein the UL bandwidth grant is based on a type of service established for the specified connection.

6. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 1, wherein the UL bandwidth grant is based on a respective communication parameter associated with the subscriber station.

7. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 6, wherein the communication parameter includes the quality of service required by at least one of a plurality of user connections served by the subscriber station.

8. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 6, wherein the communication parameter further includes the amount of bandwidth available for sharing among the subscriber stations.

9. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 6, wherein the communication parameter further includes the number of active subscriber stations.

10. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 6, wherein the communication parameter further includes the bandwidth currently used by the downlink (DL) traffic.

11. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 6, wherein the communication parameter further includes a composite priority parameter.

12. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 6, wherein the communication parameter further includes an estimated amount of bandwidth needed to accommodate bandwidth requests.

13. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 1, wherein the UL bandwidth grant is allocated between connections based on a type of service established for each connection.

14. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 1, wherein the UL bandwidth grant is allocated based on the current state of the queues associated with the plurality of connections.

23. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 1, wherein the BW request has a specified structure for identification by a receiver.

15. A subscriber station for a broadband wireless communication system comprising:

transmit and receive circuitry; and

a Media Access Control (MAC) module configured to

transmit an explicit message requesting a polling opportunity for enabling the subscriber station to request UL bandwidth,

receive a polling opportunity as a given amount of UL bandwidth, and

provision a bandwidth request within the given amount of UL bandwidth, the BW request specifying a requested amount of UL bandwidth pertaining to a specified connection established at the subscriber station.

16. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 15, wherein the MAC module is further configured to receive a UL bandwidth grant identified in a UL frame map.

17. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 15, wherein the explicit message is a poll-me message.

18. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 17, wherein the poll-me message is a poll-me bit provided in a reserved field in the header of a packet.

19. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 17, wherein the poll-me message is a particular combination of bits provided in a reserved field of a packet.

20. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 17, wherein the poll-me message specifies the required amount of bandwidth in bandwidth units.

21. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 17, wherein the poll-me message further identifies an additional bandwidth request message within the UL traffic.

22. A subscriber stations as claimed in claim 15, wherein the MAC module is further configured to insert the bandwidth request within bandwidth already allocated to UL traffic.