Method and apparatus for allocating bandwidth in a wireless communication system
DCFirst Claim
1. A method for allocating bandwidth in a broadband wireless communication system, wherein the wireless communication system includes a plurality of customer premise equipment (CPE) in communication with associated and corresponding base stations, and wherein the base stations maintain uplink and downlink sub-frame maps representative of the bandwidth allocations in the uplink and downlink communication paths, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) determining whether there is sufficient available bandwidth to individually poll a selected CPE;
(b) if sufficient bandwidth is determined to be available in step (a), determining whether there are either unpolled inactive CPEs present or unpolled active CPEs requesting to be polled, else proceeding to step (e);
(c) polling a selected CPE by allocating bandwidth to the CPE in the uplink sub-frame map;
(d) continuing to individually poll other selected CPEs by repeating steps (a)-(c) until it is determined in step (a) that there is insufficient available bandwidth to individually poll the CPEs;
(e) initiating a multicast and broadcast polling process;
(f) determining whether any individual CPE polls were initiated in step (c);
(g) if no individual CPE polls were initiated in step (c), terminating the method, else awaiting individual bandwidth requests from the CPEs polled in step (c);
(h) receiving a bandwidth request from a selected CPE; and
(i) initiating a bandwidth allocation process and allocating bandwidth in the uplink sub-frame map for the selected CPE that transmitted the bandwidth request received in step (h).
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for requesting and allocating bandwidth in a broadband wireless communication system. The inventive method and apparatus includes a combination of techniques that allow a plurality of CPEs to communicate their bandwidth request messages to respective base stations. One technique includes a “polling” method whereby a base station polls CPEs individually or in groups and allocates bandwidth specifically for the purpose of allowing the CPEs to respond with bandwidth requests. The polling of the CPEs by the base station may be in response to a CPE setting a “poll-me bit” or, alternatively, it may be periodic. Another technique comprises “piggybacking” bandwidth requests on bandwidth already allocated to a CPE. In accordance with this technique, currently active CPEs request bandwidth using previously unused portions of uplink bandwidth that is already allocated to the CPE. The CPE is responsible for distributing the allocated uplink bandwidth in a manner that accommodates the services provided by the CPE. By using a combination of bandwidth allocation techniques, the present invention advantageously makes use of the efficiency benefits associated with each technique.
99 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method for allocating bandwidth in a broadband wireless communication system, wherein the wireless communication system includes a plurality of customer premise equipment (CPE) in communication with associated and corresponding base stations, and wherein the base stations maintain uplink and downlink sub-frame maps representative of the bandwidth allocations in the uplink and downlink communication paths, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining whether there is sufficient available bandwidth to individually poll a selected CPE;
(b) if sufficient bandwidth is determined to be available in step (a), determining whether there are either unpolled inactive CPEs present or unpolled active CPEs requesting to be polled, else proceeding to step (e);
(c) polling a selected CPE by allocating bandwidth to the CPE in the uplink sub-frame map;
(d) continuing to individually poll other selected CPEs by repeating steps (a)-(c) until it is determined in step (a) that there is insufficient available bandwidth to individually poll the CPEs;
(e) initiating a multicast and broadcast polling process;
(f) determining whether any individual CPE polls were initiated in step (c);
(g) if no individual CPE polls were initiated in step (c), terminating the method, else awaiting individual bandwidth requests from the CPEs polled in step (c);
(h) receiving a bandwidth request from a selected CPE; and
(i) initiating a bandwidth allocation process and allocating bandwidth in the uplink sub-frame map for the selected CPE that transmitted the bandwidth request received in step (h). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for allocating bandwidth in a broadband wireless communication system, wherein the wireless communication system includes a plurality of customer premise equipment (CPE) in communication with associated and corresponding base stations, and wherein the base stations maintain uplink and downlink sub-frame maps representative of the bandwidth allocations in the uplink and downlink communication paths, the method comprising:
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(a) determining whether there is sufficient available bandwidth to individually poll a selected CPE;
(b) if sufficient bandwidth is determined to be available in step (a), determining whether there are either unpolled inactive CPEs present or unpolled active CPEs requesting to be polled, else proceeding to step (e);
(c) polling a selected CPE by allocating bandwidth to the CPE in the uplink sub-frame map;
(d) continuing to individually poll other selected CPEs by repeating steps (a)-(c) until it is determined in step (a) that there is insufficient available bandwidth to individually poll the CPEs;
(e) initiating a multicast and broadcast polling process;
(f) determining whether any individual CPE polls were initiated in step (c);
(g) if no individual CPE polls were initiated in step (c), terminating the method, else awaiting individual bandwidth requests from the CPEs polled in step (c);
(h) receiving a bandwidth request from a selected CPE; and
(i) initiating a bandwidth allocation process and allocating bandwidth in the uplink sub-frame map for the selected CPE that transmitted the bandwidth request received in step (h).
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22. An apparatus for allocating bandwidth in a broadband wireless communication system, wherein the wireless communication system includes a plurality of customer premise equipment (CPE) in communication with associated and corresponding base stations, and wherein the base stations maintain uplink and downlink sub-frame maps representative of the bandwidth allocations in the uplink and downlink communication paths, comprising:
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a means for allocating bandwidth which performs the steps of (a) determining whether there is sufficient available bandwidth to individually poll a selected CPE;
(b) if sufficient bandwidth is determined to be available in step (a), determining whether there are either unpolled inactive CPEs present or unpolled active CPEs requesting to be polled, else proceeding to step (e);
(c) polling a selected CPE by allocating bandwidth to the CPE in the uplink sub-frame map;
(d) continuing to individually poll other selected CPEs by repeating steps (a)-(c) until it is determined in step (a) that there is insufficient available bandwidth to individually poll the CPEs;
(e) initiating a multicast and broadcast polling process;
(f) determining whether any individual CPE polls were initiated in step (c);
(g) if no individual CPE polls were initiated in step (c), terminating the method, else awaiting individual bandwidth requests from the CPEs polled in step (c);
(h) receiving a bandwidth request from a selected CPE; and
(i) initiating a bandwidth allocation process and allocating bandwidth in the uplink sub-frame map for the selected CPE that transmitted the bandwidth request received in step (h).
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Specification