COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20150351118A1
• Filed: 01/24/2014
• Published: 12/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: ARNOTT, Robert, GUO, Tao
• Granted Patent: US 9,872,308 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/10 Dynamic resource partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/569 of the traffic information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

A wireless telecommunication system is described comprising a shared base station able to divide resources between multiple network operators sharing the base station. The base station resources are divided into sets of resources reserved for each network operator respectively and resources shared by all network operators. The shared base station is configured to monitor the usage of its resources by each operator and to determine, for each scheduling round, an appropriate prioritisation of communication bearers associated with the network operators.

Claims

1. A base station for sharing resources of a communication bandwidth between a plurality of network operators including first and second network operators, the base station comprising:

a defining circuit configured to define;

(a) a first operator proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which first operator proportion represents a target average minimum proportion of the resources to be prioritised for communication bearers of the first network operator, over time;

(b) a second operator proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which second operator proportion represents a target average minimum proportion of the resources to be prioritised for communication bearers of the second network operator, over time; and

(c) a shared proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which shared proportion represents a proportion of the resources to be shared between communication bearers of the first network operator and communication bearers of the second network operator;

a determining circuit configured to determine, for each of a sequence of sub-frames, whether the resources should be allocated on a shared basis or on a network operator based priority basis, in dependence on respective sizes of the first operator proportion, the second operator proportion and the shared proportion; and

an allocating circuit configured to allocate, for each sub-frame, resources to the communication bearers of the network operators on a shared basis or a network operator based priority basis based on said determining by said determining circuit.

2. The base station according to claim 1, wherein said determining circuit is operable to determine whether the resources should be allocated on a shared basis or on a network operator based priority basis further:

i) in dependence on a measure of resource usage;

or

ii) in dependence on respective weightings determined for communication on a shared basis, communication using communication bearers of the first network operator, and communication using communication bearers of the second network operator.

4. The base station according to claim 2, wherein the respective weightings for communication using the communication bearers of the first network operator and for communication using the communication bearers of the second network operator is dependent on a measure of resource usage by the communication bearers of that network operator,

and, optionally, wherein the measure of resource usage for the communication bearers of a network operator is based on the resources assigned to communication bearers of that network operator in a current sub-frame.

6. The base station according to claim 4, wherein the measure of resource usage for the communication bearers of a network operator is based on the resources assigned to communication bearers of that network operator in at least one previous sub-frame,

and/or wherein the respective weightings for communication using the communication bearers of the first network operator and for communication using the communication bearers of the second network operator can be represented by the following equation:

8. The base station according to claim 6, wherein the measure of resource usage by network operator denoted ‘

g’

as measured for sub-frame denoted ‘

j’

can be represented by one of the following equations;

10. The base station according to claim 2,

wherein the weighting for communication on a shared basis is dependent on a measure of combined resource usage by the communication bearers of the plurality of network operators;

and/or

wherein the measure of resource usage for communication on a shared basis is based on the resources assigned to communication bearers of each of the plurality of network operators in a current sub-frame; and

/or

wherein the measure of resource usage for communication on a shared basis is based on the resources assigned to communication bearers of each of the plurality of network operators in at least one previous sub-frame.

13. The base station according to claim 1, wherein the weighting for communication on a shared basis can be represented by the following equation:

15. The base station according to claim 2, wherein when said weighting determined for communication using communication bearers of the first network operator, or said weighting determined for communication using communication bearers of the second network operator, is higher than said weighting determined for communication on a shared basis, said determining circuit is operable to determine that resources should be allocated on a network operator based priority basis, and, optionally,

wherein when said weighting determined for communication using communication bearers of the first network operator is higher than said weighting determined for communication using communication bearers of the second network operator said determining circuit is operable to determine a priority order for allocation of resources in which resources are allocated to communication bearers of the first network operator before resources are allocated to communication bearers of the second network operator.

17. The base station according to claim 2, wherein the respective weightings for communication using the communication bearers of the first network operator and for communication using the communication bearers of the second network operator is dependent on historic allocation of resources to the communication bearers of that network operator during at least one previous scheduling opportunity,

and/or wherein when said weighting determined for communication on a shared basis is higher than each said weighting determined for communication using the respective communication bearers of each of said plurality of network operators, said determining circuit is operable to determine that resources should be allocated on a shared basis.

19. The base station according to claim 1, wherein in a sub-frame for which resources are to be allocated on a shared basis, communication bearers are allocated without using a network operator based priority,

or wherein in a sub-frame for which resources are to be allocated on a shared basis, communication bearers are allocated using a network operator based priority basis having a priority order which changes depending on the sub-frame for which resources are to be allocated.

21. The base station according to claim 1 wherein said allocating means is further operable to prioritise Guaranteed Bit Rate (‘

GBR’

) communication bearers (e.g. for each operator in turn) over non-GBR communication bearers whilst allocating said resources on a shared basis,

and/or wherein said determining means is operable to determine a network operator based priority order for allocation of resources when said determining circuit determines that said resources should be allocated on a network operator based priority basis,

and/or further comprising;

an admission controlling circuit configured to control admission of a new communication bearer for a specific network operator in dependence on the size of the operator proportion for that specific network operator.

25. The base station according to claim 21 wherein said admission controlling circuit is operable to admit said new communication bearer in dependence on an estimate of a current load across all communication bearers of said specific network operator,

and/or wherein said admission controlling circuit is operable to admit said new communication bearer in dependence on an estimate of an expected additional load that will result if said new communication bearer is admitted,

and/or wherein said admission controlling circuit is operable to admit said new communication bearer when the following condition is met:

ρ

_g+ρ

_new<

ρ

_g^(th)t_g^rsv

where ρ

_g is an estimated current load represented by all communication bearers of network operator g;

ρ

_new is an estimate of an expected additional load that will result if said new communication bearer is admitted;

ρ

_g^(th) is an operator specific threshold value expressed as a fraction of the respective proportion of the resources of operator g, selected between 0 and 1; and

t_g^rsv is the size of the proportion of operator g.

28. The base station according to claim 25 wherein said admission controlling circuit is operable to apply at least one further admission condition if said condition is not met,

and, optionally, wherein said admission controlling circuit is operable to reject admission of said new communication bearer into said shared proportion if said condition is not met and said at least one further admission condition is not met.

30. The base station according to claim 28, wherein compliance with said at least one further admission condition is determined based on whether an estimated expected load if the new communication bearer were to be admitted is no more than a predefined fraction (between 0 and 1) of the communication bandwidth remaining when:

i) an estimated load associated with the communication bearers of each of the other network operator is taken into account; and

/or

ii) the respective operator proportion associated with each other network operator is taken into account,

wherein, optionally, said admission controlling circuit is operable to determine that said at least one further admission condition has been met when;

33. The base station according to claim 28 wherein compliance with said at least one further admission condition is determined based on whether an estimated expected load if the new communication bearer were to be admitted, and if resources were allocated to the new communication bearer on a shared basis, is no more than a predefined fraction (between 0 and 1) of the shared proportion of the communication bandwidth,

and, optionally, wherein said admission controlling circuit is operable to determine that said at least one further admission condition has been met when:

ρ

_shared+Δ

ρ

_shared<

ρ

_shared^(th)t_shared^rsv

where ρ

_shared is a current load represented by all communication bearers in said shared proportion of the resources;

Δ

ρ

_shared is an expected change in a current load in said shared proportion if said new communication bearer would be admitted in said shared proportion;

ρ

_shared^(th) is a threshold value expressed as a fraction of the shared proportion of the resources, selected between 0 and 1; and

t_shared^rsv is the size of said shared proportion,

and, optionally, wherein ρ

_shared is calculated as;

37. The base station according to claim 21, wherein said admission controlling circuit is operable to reject said new communication bearer if said admission condition, and any further admission condition, has not been met,

and/or wherein if said new communication bearer can be classified as a non-GBR bearer, said admission controlling circuit is operable to admit said new communication bearer.

39. The base station according to claim 1, wherein said shared proportion comprises the communication bandwidth less said first operator proportion and said second operator proportion.

56. A computer program product comprising computer implementable instructions for causing a programmable computer device to become configured as the base station of claim 1.

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40. A base station for sharing resources of a communication bandwidth between a plurality of network operators including first and second network operators, the base station comprising:

a defining circuit configured to define;

(a) a first operator proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which first operator proportion represents a target average minimum proportion of the resources to be prioritised for communication bearers of the first network operator, over time;

(b) a second operator proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which second operator proportion represents a target average minimum proportion of the resources to be prioritised for communication bearers of the second network operator, over time; and

(c) a shared proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which shared proportion represents a proportion of the resources to be shared between communication bearers of the first network operator and communication bearers of the second network operator;

an admission control circuit configured to control admission of a new communication bearer into one of said first operator proportion, said second operator proportion, in dependence on the size of an operator proportion for that specific network operator.

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47. A mobile communication device for use in a communication system in which a base station shares resources of a communication bandwidth between a plurality of network operators wherein said mobile communication device is associated with at least one of said plurality of network operators, the mobile communication device comprising:

a set UP requesting circuit configured to request set up of a new communication bearer for communication in a network of a network operator with which said mobile communication device is associated;

a receiving circuit configured to receive, from said base station, an allocation of resources associated with a communication bearer of said mobile communications device, on a shared basis or on a network operator based priority basis, in dependence on respective sizes of;

(a) a first operator proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which first operator proportion represents a target average minimum proportion of the resources to be prioritised for communication bearers of the network operator with which said mobile communication device is associated, over time;

(b) a second operator proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which second operator proportion represents a target average minimum proportion of the resources to be prioritised for communication bearers of another network operator, over time; and

(c) a shared proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which shared proportion represents a proportion of the resources to be shared between communication bearers of the network operator with which said mobile communication device is associated and communication bearers of the another network operator; and

a communicating circuit configured to communicate, via said base station, using said new communication bearer and said received allocation of resources.

48. The mobile communications device according to claim 47, further comprising an activation requesting circuit configured to request activation of a new communication bearer via said base station including an indicating circuit configured to indicate resource requirements and/or service type associated with said new communication bearer.

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53. A method performed by a base station for sharing resources of a communication bandwidth between a plurality of network operators including first and second network operators, the method comprising:

defining;

(a) a first operator proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which first operator proportion represents a target average minimum proportion of the resources to be prioritised for communication bearers of the first network operator, over time;

(b) a second operator proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which second operator proportion represents a target average minimum proportion of the resources to be prioritised for communication bearers of the second network operator, over time; and

(c) a shared proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which shared proportion represents a proportion of the resources to be shared between communication bearers of the first network operator and communication bearers of the second network operator;

determining, for each of a sequence of sub-frames, whether the resources should be allocated on a shared basis or on a network operator based priority basis, in dependence on respective sizes of the first operator proportion, the second operator proportion and the shared proportion; and

allocating, for each sub-frame, resources to the communication bearers of the network operators on a shared basis or a network operator based priority basis based on said determining.

54. A method performed by a base station for sharing resources of a communication bandwidth between a plurality of network operators including first and second network operators, the method comprising:

defining;

(a) a first operator proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which first operator proportion represents a target average minimum proportion of the resources to be prioritised for communication bearers of the first network operator, over time;

(b) a second operator proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which second operator proportion represents a target average minimum proportion of the resources to be prioritised for communication bearers of the second network operator, over time; and

(c) a shared proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which shared proportion represents a proportion of the resources to be shared between communication bearers of the first network operator and communication bearers of the second network operator;

controlling admission of a new communication bearer into one of said first operator proportion, said second operator proportion, in dependence on the size of an operator proportion for that specific network operator.

55. A method performed by a mobile communication device in a communication system in which a base station shares resources of a communication bandwidth between a plurality of network operators wherein said mobile communication device is associated with at least one of said plurality of network operators, the method comprising:

requesting set up of a new communication bearer for communication in a network of a network operator with which said mobile communication device is associated;

receiving, from said base station, an allocation of resources associated with a communication bearer of said mobile communication device, on a shared basis or on a network operator based priority basis, in dependence on respective sizes of;

(a) a first operator proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which first operator proportion represents a target average minimum proportion of the resources to be prioritised for communication bearers of the network operator with which said mobile communication device is associated, over time;

(b) a second operator proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which second operator proportion represents a target average minimum proportion of the resources to be prioritised for communication bearers of another network operator, over time; and

(c) a shared proportion of the resources in said communication bandwidth, which shared proportion represents a proportion of the resources to be shared between communication bearers of the network operator with which said mobile communication device is associated and communication bearers of the another network operator; and

communicating, via said base station, using said new communication bearer and said received allocation of resources.