Method and system for managing radio resources in a time-slotted communication system

• US 7,170,877 B2
• Filed: 07/08/2004
• Issued: 01/30/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Interdigital Technology Corporation (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rahman, Shamim Akbar, Zaki, Maged, Lu, Guang, Livet, Catherine
• Primary Examiner(s): Ngo; Ricky Q.
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHANG, RICHARD K
• Application Number:
  US10/886,735
• Publication Number:
  US 20050041623A1
• Time in Patent Office: 936 Days
• Field of Search: 370/337, 370/347, 370/412, 370/468
• US Class Current: 370/337
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/24 Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0268 using specific QoS parameters for wireless networks, e.g. QoS class identifier [QCI] or guaranteed bit rate [GBR] negotiating SLA or negotiating QoS H04W28/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0289 Congestion control load shedding arrangements in network planning H04W16/08; performing reselection for handling the traffic H04W36/22; wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/543 based on requested quality, e.g. QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/56 based on priority criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]

Abstract

A method and system for managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system is based on the quality of service (QoS) information of a user. A plurality of time slots of a radio resource are sorted into a plurality of different categories, such as high QoS time slots, high capacity time slots, and balanced time slots. Each category is associated with a different level of QoS. QoS information with respect to a user is obtained in response to a radio resource request received from the user. The user is associated with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user.

Claims

1. A method of managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the method comprising:

(a) sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) obtaining QoS information with respect to a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, the QoS information includes information regarding a particular one of a plurality of subscriber classes, each class having a different level of QoS, and a user designated as belonging to a higher subscriber class has a higher priority during handover than a user in a lower subscriber class;

(d) constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes, dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation;

(f) if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed, freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion; and

(g) if data packet scheduling is required, adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

50. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

2. A time-slotted wireless system for managing radio resources, the system comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) means for obtaining QoS information of a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) means for associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, wherein the QoS information includes information regarding a particular one of a plurality of subscriber classes, each class having a different level of QoS, and a user designated as belonging to a higher subscriber class has a higher priority during handover than a user in a lower subscriber class;

(d) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(f) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(g) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.

22. The system of claim 2 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

51. The system of claim 2 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

3. A radio network controller (RNC) for managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the RNC comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) means for obtaining QoS information of a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) means for associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, wherein the QoS information includes information regarding a particular one of a plurality of subscriber classes, each class having a different level of QoS, and a user designated as belonging to a higher subscriber class has a higher priority during handover than a user in a lower subscriber class;

(d) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(f) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(g) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.

23. The RNC of claim 3 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

52. The RNC of claim 3 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

4. A base station for managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the base station comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) means for obtaining QoS information of a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) means for associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, wherein the QoS information includes information regarding a particular one of a plurality of subscriber classes, each class having a different level of QoS, and a user designated as belonging to a higher subscriber class has a higher priority during handover than a user in a lower subscriber class;

(d) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(f) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(g) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.

24. The base station of claim 4 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

53. The base station of claim 4 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

5. A method of managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the method comprising:

(a) sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) obtaining QoS information with respect to a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, wherein the QoS information indicates the priority of the radio resource request of the user, and a radio resource request for an emergency call is designated the highest level of QoS;

(d) constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes, dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation;

(f) if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed, freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion; and

(g) if data packet scheduling is required, adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation.

25. The method of claim 5 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

54. The method of claim 5 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

6. A method of managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the method comprising:

(a) sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) obtaining QoS information with respect to a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, wherein the QoS information includes information regarding a particular one of a plurality of subscriber classes, each class having a different level of QoS, and a user designated as belonging to a higher subscriber class is provided with a lower delay and jitter for packet scheduling than a user designated as belonging to a lower class;

(d) constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes, dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation;

(f) if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed, freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion; and

(g) if data packet scheduling is required, adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation.

26. The method of claim 6 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

55. The method of claim 6 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

7. A method of managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the method comprising:

(a) sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) obtaining QoS information with respect to a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user; and

(c) associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, wherein the QoS information includes information regarding a particular one of a plurality of different geographic regions, each region having a different level of QoS, whereby only a user having a proper level of priority is allowed to access a radio resource in the particular geographic region;

(d) constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes, dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation;

(f) if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed, freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion; and

(g) if data packet scheduling is required, adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation.

27. The method of claim 7 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

56. The method of claim 7 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

8. A method of managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the method comprising:

(a) sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(c) if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes, dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation;

(d) if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed, freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion; and

(e) if data packet scheduling is required, adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation.

28. The method of claim 8 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

57. The method of claim 8 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

9. A time-slotted wireless system for managing radio resources, the system comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) means for obtaining QoS information of a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) means for associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, wherein the QoS information indicates the priority of the radio resource request of the user, and a radio resource request for an emergency call is designated the highest level of QoS;

(d) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(f) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(g) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.

29. The system of claim 9 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

58. The system of claim 9 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

10. A time-slotted wireless system for managing radio resources, the system comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) means for obtaining QoS information of a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) means for associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, wherein the QoS information includes information regarding a particular one of a plurality of subscriber classes, each class having a different level of QoS, and a user designated as belonging to a higher subscriber class is provided with a lower delay and jitter for packet scheduling than a user designated as belonging to a lower class;

(d) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(f) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(g) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.

30. The system of claim 10 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

59. The system of claim 10 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

11. A time-slotted wireless system for managing radio resources, the system comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) means for obtaining QoS information of a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) means for associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, wherein the QoS information includes information regarding a particular one of a plurality of different geographic regions, each region having a different level of QoS, whereby only a user having a proper level of priority is allowed to access a radio resource in the particular geographic region;

(d) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(f) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(g) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.

31. The system of claim 11 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

60. The system of claim 11 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

12. A time-slotted wireless system for managing radio resources, the system comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(c) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(d) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(e) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.

32. The system of claim 12 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

61. The system of claim 12 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

13. A radio network controller (RNC) for managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the RNC comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) means for obtaining QoS information of a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) means for associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, wherein the QoS information indicates the priority of the radio resource request of the user, and a radio resource request for an emergency call is designated the highest level of QoS;

(d) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(f) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(g) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.

33. The RNC of claim 13 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

62. The RNC of claim 13 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

14. A radio network controller (RNC) for managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the RNC comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) means for obtaining QoS information of a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) means for associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, wherein the QoS information includes information regarding a particular one of a plurality of subscriber classes, each class having a different level of QoS, and a user designated as belonging to a higher subscriber class is provided with a lower delay and jitter for packet scheduling than a user designated as belonging to a lower class;

(d) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(f) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(g) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.

34. The RNC of claim 14 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

63. The RNC of claim 14 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

15. A radio network controller (RNC) for managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the RNC comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) means for obtaining QoS information of a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) means for associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, wherein the QoS information includes information regarding a particular one of a plurality of different geographic regions, each region having a different level of QoS, whereby only a user having a proper level of priority is allowed to access a radio resource in the particular geographic region;

(d) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(f) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(g) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.

35. The RNC of claim 15 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

64. The RNC of claim 15 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

16. A radio network controller (RNC) for managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the RNC comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) means for obtaining QoS information of a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) means for associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user;

(d) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(f) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(g) means for adjusting delay and jitter for seheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.

36. The RNC of claim 16 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

65. The RNC of claim 16 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

17. A base station for managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the base station comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) means for obtaining QoS information of a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) means for associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, wherein the QoS information indicates the priority of the radio resource request of the user, and a radio resource request for an emergency call is designated the highest level of QoS;

(d) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(f) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(g) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.

37. The base station of claim 17 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

66. The base station of claim 17 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

18. A base station for managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the base station comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) means for obtaining QoS information of a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) means for associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, wherein the QoS information includes information regarding a particular one of a plurality of subscriber classes, each class having a different level of QoS, and a user designated as belonging to a higher subscriber class is provided with a lower delay and jitter for packet scheduling than a user designated as belonging to a lower class;

(d) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(f) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(g) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data nacket scheduling is required.

38. The base station of claim 18 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

67. The base station of claim 18 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

19. A base station for managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the base station comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) means for obtaining QoS information of a user in response to a radio resource request received from the user;

(c) means for associating the user with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user, wherein the QoS information includes information regarding a particular one of a plurality of different geographic regions, each region having a different level of QoS, whereby only a user having a proper level of priority is allowed to access a radio resource in the particular geographic region;

(d) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(e) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(f) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(g) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.

39. The base station of claim 19 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

68. The base station of claim 19 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

20. A base station for managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the base station comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;

(b) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;

(c) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(d) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(e) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.

40. The base station of claim 20 wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot.

69. The base station of claim 20 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

41. A method of managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the method comprising:

(a) sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of QoS designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein the QoS designations include high QoS time slots, high capacity time slots, and balanced time slots, each user is classified into one of three subscriber classes including a high QoS service subscriber, a high capacity service subscriber and a balanced service subscriber;

(b) obtaining QoS information with respect to users in response to radio resource requests received from the users;

(c) assigning high QoS time slots to users classified as high QoS service subscribers based on the obtained QoS information;

(d) assigning balanced time slots to users classified as balanced service subscribers based on the obtained QoS information;

(e) assigning high capacity time slots to users classified as high capacity service subscribers based on the obtained QoS information;

(f) adjusting the available number of at least one of the high QoS time slots, the balanced time slots and the high capacity time slots if congestion occurs;

(g) constantly monitoring a state of traffic;

(h) if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes, dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation;

(i) if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed, freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion; and

(j) if data packet scheduling is required, adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation.

42. The method of claim 41 wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

44. Apparatus for managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

(a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource over which a communication is transmitted into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of QoS designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein the QoS designations include high QoS time slots, high capacity time slots, and balanced time slots, each user is classified into one of three subscriber classes including a high QoS service subscriber, a high capacity service subscriber and a balanced service subscriber;

(b) means for obtaining QoS information with respect to users in response to radio resource requests received from the users;

(c) means for assigning high QoS time slots to users classified as high QoS service subscribers based on the obtained QoS information;

(d) means for assigning balanced time slots to users classified as balanced service subscribers based on the obtained QoS information;

(e) means for assigning high capacity time slots to users classified as high capacity service subscribers based on the obtained QoS information;

(f) means for adjusting the available number of at least one of the high QoS time slots, the balanced time slots and the high capacity time slots if congestion occurs;

(g) means for constantly monitoring a state of traffic;

(h) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;

(i) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and

(j) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.

45. The apparatus of claim 44 wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic.

46. The apparatus of claim 45 wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.

47. The apparatus of claim 44 wherein the apparatus is a time-slotted wireless system.

48. The apparatus of claim 44 wherein the apparatus is a radio network controller (RNC).

49. The apparatus of claim 44 wherein the apparatus is a base station.