Reverse link differentiated services for a multiflow communications system using autonomous allocation

ES 2 398 754 T3

DESCRIPTION

Procedure and corresponding means of obtaining the current power allocation for flows in an access terminal

Background

Field

The present invention relates generally to wireless communication systems and more specifically to improvements in the operation of a medium access control (MAC) layer of an access terminal in a wireless communication system.

Background

Communication systems have been developed to allow the transmission of information signals from a source station to a physically distinct destination station. By transmitting the information signal from an originating station over a communication channel, the information signal is first converted into a form suitable for efficient transmission over the communication channel. Conversion, or modulation, of the information signal involves varying a parameter of a carrier wave according to the information signal in such a way that the spectrum of the resulting modulated carrier is confined within the bandwidth of the communications channel. At the destination station, the original information signal is replicated from the modulated carrier wave received by the communications channel. Such replication is generally achieved using the inverse of the modulation procedure employed by the home station.

Modulation also facilitates multiple access, that is, the simultaneous transmission and / or reception of several signals over a common communication channel. Multiple access communication systems often include a plurality of remote subscriber units that require relatively short intermittent service rather than continuous access to the common communication channel. Various multiple access techniques are known in the art, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), and multi-channel access. amplitude modulation (AM).

A multiple access communication system can be a wireless or wired line and can carry voice and / or data. In a multiple access communication system, communications between users are carried out through one or more base stations. A first user at a subscriber station communicates with a second user at a second subscriber station by transmitting data on a reverse link to a base station. The base station receives the data and can route the data to another base station. The data is transmitted over a direct channel from the same base station or from the other base station to the second subscriber station. The forward channel refers to the transmission from a base station to a subscriber station and the reverse channel refers to the transmission from a subscriber station to a base station. Also, communication can take place between a first user at a subscribing mobile station and a second user at a land line station. A base station receives data from the user on a reverse channel and routes the data through a public switched telephone network (PSTN) to the second user. In many communication systems, eg IS-95, W-CDMA, IS-2000, separate frequencies are assigned to the forward channel and the reverse channel.

An example of a data optimized communication system is a high data rate (HDR) communication system. In an HDR communication system, the base station is sometimes called an access network, and the remote station is sometimes called an access terminal (AT). The functionality carried out by an AT can be organized as a stack of layers, including a medium access control (MAC) layer. The MAC layer offers certain services to the higher layers, including services that are related to the operation of the reverse channel. Benefits can be achieved through improvements in the operation of a MAC layer of an AT in a wireless communication system.

EP-A-1 309 120 discloses a method of allocating resources of a base station among a plurality of wireless units. The method includes transmitting packets over a shared wireless channel by varying the time interval and bandwidth of the transmission. The time interval and bandwidth can be varied based on various considerations, including the channel quality of the wireless unit receiving the downlink transmission.

US 5914950 discloses a communication system capable of variable speed transmission in which scheduling a high speed transmission improves reverse link utilization and decreases transmission delay in data communication. Each remote station is assigned a maximum unscheduled transmission rate and receives an assignment from a channel scheduler for the scheduled transmission of data traffic at high transmission rates.

ES 2 398 754 T3

Document WO 03/055254 A discloses a structure and a method of communication channels in a wireless communication system. The communication system includes a base station and a plurality of subscriber stations and the subscriber stations are given access to various channels, including at least one uplink data channel. The uplink data channel may operate in at least one random access mode and one interrogation access mode. The base station informs each subscriber station it serves of the current uplink channel mode via an associated downlink signaling channel and, in random access mode, each subscriber station is able to randomly access the shared channel of uplink. In polling mode, each subscribing station waits for permission from the base station before sending data on the uplink shared channel.

Summary

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of obtaining the current power allocation for flows in an access terminal.

The invention comprises a method of obtaining the current power allocation for flows in an access terminal, a means of obtaining the current power allocation for flows in an access terminal and a computer program product, as set forth in the appended claims.

An access terminal is disclosed that is configured for wireless communication with an access network within a sector. The access terminal includes a transmitter for transmitting a reverse traffic channel to the access network, an antenna for receiving signals from the access network, a processor and memory in electronic communication with the processor. Instructions are stored in memory. The instructions are executable to implement a procedure that involves estimating a current value of a reverse activity bit transmitted by the access network.

If the estimated current value of the reverse activity bit indicates that the sector is busy, the procedure also involves decreasing the current power allocation for each stream of a plurality of streams at the access terminal. The magnitude of the decay for a particular flow can be determined based on a down ramp function that is designed for the flow. The ramp down function can be a function of the current power allocation for the flow.

If the estimated current value of the reverse activity bit indicates that the sector is idle, the procedure also involves increasing the current power allocation for each stream of a plurality of streams at the access terminal. The magnitude of the increase for a particular flow can be determined according to an up ramp function that is designed for the flow. The up ramp function can be a function of the current power allocation for the flow.

In some embodiments, the estimation of the current value of the reverse activity bit can be performed once in each slot. Estimation may involve filtering a signal received from the access network with a filter having an adjustable time constant.

The method may further involve estimating a sector load level, and determining a peak power allocation for each stream of the plurality of streams. The peak power allocation for a particular stream may be a function of the current power allocation for the stream and the sector load level estimate.

In some embodiments, the method may further involve, for each stream, determining a cumulative power allocation for the stream. The current power allocation for the flow and the accumulated power allocation for the flow can be used to determine a total power available for the flow. The total power available for the flow can be used to determine a power level for a packet that is transmitted to the access network. In some embodiments, the accumulated power allocation for the flow may be limited by a saturation level. The saturation level can be a configurable factor above a peak power allocation.

The ramp-down function and the ramp-up function can both depend on an estimate of the sector load level. Alternatively, or in addition, the ramp down function and the ramp up function can both depend on the pilot current measured by the access terminal.

Another embodiment of an access terminal that is configured for wireless communication with an access network within a sector is also disclosed. The access terminal includes means for estimating a current value of a reverse activity bit transmitted by the access network.

The access terminal also includes a means for decreasing the current power allocation for each stream of a plurality of streams in the access terminal if the estimated current value of the reverse activity bit indicates that the sector is busy. The magnitude of the decrease for a particular flow can be determined according to a function

ES 2 398 754 T3 descending ramp that is designed for flow. The ramp down function can be a function of the current power allocation for the flow.

The access terminal also includes a means for increasing the current power allocation for each stream of the plurality of streams in the access terminal if the estimated current value of the reverse activity bit indicates that the sector is idle. The magnitude of the increase for a particular flow can be determined according to an up ramp function that is designed for the flow. The up ramp function can be a function of the current power allocation for the flow.

The access terminal may also include a means of estimating a sector load level. The access terminal may also include means for determining a peak power allocation for each stream of the plurality of streams. The peak power allocation for a particular stream can be a function of the current power allocation for the stream and the sector load level estimate.

The access terminal may also include, for each flow, a means for determining a cumulative power allocation for the flow, and a means for using the current power allocation for the flow and the accumulated power allocation for the flow to determine a total power available for the flow. The access terminal may also include a means for using the total power available to the flow to determine a power level for a packet that is transmitted to the access network.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 illustrates an example of a communication system that supports multiple users and is capable of implementing at least some aspects of embodiments disclosed herein;

Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating an access network and an access terminal in a high-speed data communication system;

Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating a layer stack in an access terminal;

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary interaction between the upper layers in an access terminal, the media access control layer, and the physical layer;

Figure 5A is a block diagram illustrating a high capacity packet that is transmitted to the access network;

Figure 5B is a block diagram illustrating a low latency packet that is transmitted to the access network;

Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating different types of flows that can exist in an access network;

Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary flow set for a high capacity packet;

Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary flow set for a low latency packet;

Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating information that can be maintained at an access terminal to determine whether a high capacity stream is included in the stream set of a low latency packet;

Figure 10 is a block diagram illustrating an access network and a plurality of access terminals within a sector;

Figure 11 illustrates an exemplary mechanism that can be used to determine the total power available to an access terminal;

Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment in which at least some of the access terminals within a sector include multiple streams;

Figure 13 is a block diagram illustrating one way in which the access terminal can obtain the current power allocation for flows at the access terminal;

Figure 14 is a block diagram illustrating a reverse activity bit that is transmitted from the access network to the access terminals within a sector;

Figure 15 is a block diagram illustrating information that can be maintained at the access terminal to determine the current power allocation for one or more streams at the access terminal;

Figure 16 is a functional block diagram illustrating exemplary functional components in an access terminal that can be used to determine an estimate of the reverse activity bit and an estimate of the current load level of the sector;

Figure 17 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary procedure for determining the current power allocation for a flow at the access terminal;

Figure 18 is a block diagram illustrating an access terminal sending a request message to a programmer on the access network;

Figure 19 is a block diagram illustrating information that can be maintained at the access terminal for the access terminal to determine when to send a request message to the access network; Figure 20 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary interaction between a scheduler running on the access network and access terminals within the sector;

Figure 21 is a block diagram illustrating another exemplary interaction between a scheduler running on the access network and an access terminal;

Figure 22 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of a grant message that is transmitted from the programmer in the access network to the access terminal;

Figure 23 is a block diagram illustrating a power profile that can be stored in the access terminal;

Figure 24 is a block diagram illustrating a plurality of transmission conditions that can be stored in the access terminal;

Figure 25 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary procedure that the access terminal may perform to determine the payload size and power level for a packet; and Figure 26 is a functional block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an access terminal.

Detailed description

The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, case, or illustration." Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" should not be construed as being preferable or advantageous over other embodiments.

Note that the exemplary embodiment is presented as an example throughout this discussion; however, alternative embodiments may incorporate various aspects without departing from the scope of the present invention. specifically, the present invention is applicable to a data processing system, a wireless communication system, a mobile IP network and any other system that wishes to receive and process a wireless signal.

The exemplary embodiment employs a spread spectrum wireless communication system. Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication, such as voice, data, and so on. These systems can be based on code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA) or some other modulation techniques. A CDMA system provides certain advantages over other types of systems, including greater system capacity.

A wireless communications system can be designed to support one or more standards, such as the "TIA / EIA / IS-95-B Mobile Station-Base Station Compatibility Standard for Dual-Mode Wideband Spread Spectrum Cellular System", which is referred to in this document as the IS-95 standard, the standard offered by a consortium called “Project of Association of 3^to Generation ”, referred to herein as 3GPP, and implemented in a set of documents including documents n^you 3GPP TS 25.211, 3GPP TS 25.212, 3GPP TS 25.213 and 3GPP TS 25.214, 3GPP TS 25.302, referred to as the W-CDMA standard, the standard offered by a consortium called “3rd Generation Association Project 2”, which referred to herein as 3GPP2, and TR-45.5, referred to herein as the cdma2000 standard, previously referred to as IS-2000 MC.

The systems and procedures described herein can be used with high data rate (HDR) communication systems. An HDR communications system can be designed to comply with one or more standards such as the "cdma2000 High Rate Packet Data Air Interface Specification", 3GPP2 C.S0024-A, Version 1, March 2004, promulgated by the Project consortium 2 of the 3rd Generation Association ”.

An HDR subscriber station, which may be referred to herein as an access terminal (AT), can be mobile or stationary, and can communicate with one or more HDR base stations, which can be made referenced herein as Modem Battery Transceivers (MPT). An access terminal transmits and receives data packets through one or more transceivers of a modem bank to an HDR base station controller, which may be referred to herein as a modem battery controller (MPC). The modem battery transceivers and the modem battery controllers are parts of a network called the access network. An access network carries data packets between multiple access terminals. The access network can further be connected to additional networks outside the access network, such as a collective intranet or the Internet, and can carry data packets between each access terminal and such external networks. An access terminal that has established an active connection over a traffic channel with one or more transceivers in a battery of modems is called an active access terminal, and is said to be in a busy state. An access terminal that is in the process of establishing an active connection over a traffic channel with one or more transceivers in a battery of modems is said to be in a connection setup state. An access terminal can be any data device that communicates over a wireless channel or through a wired channel, for example using fiber optic or coaxial cables. An access terminal can further be any of several types of devices, including, without limitation, a PC card, compact flash, an internal or external modem, or a land line or cordless telephone. the communication channel through which the access terminal sends signals to the transceiver

ES 2 398 754 T3 of a modem bank is called reverse channel. The communication channel through which a modem battery transceiver sends signals to an access terminal is called the forward channel.

Figure 1 illustrates an example of a communication system 100 that supports multiple users and is capable of implementing at least some aspects of embodiments discussed herein. Any of a variety of algorithms and procedures can be used to schedule transmissions in system 100. System 100 provides communication for a number of cells 102A-102G, each of which is served by a corresponding base station 104A-104G, respectively. In the exemplary embodiment, some of the base stations 104 have multiple receive antennas and others have only one receive antenna. Also, some of the base stations 104 have multiple transmitting antennas, and others previously have single transmitters. There are no restrictions on the combinations of transmitting and receiving antennas. Thus, it is possible for a base station 104 to have multiple transmitting antennas and a single receiving antenna, or having multiple receiving antennas and a single transmitting antenna, or having both single or multiple transmitting and receiving antennas.

Remote stations 106 in the coverage area can be fixed (ie stationary) or mobile. As shown in Figure 1, various remote stations 106 are scattered throughout the system. Each remote station 106 communicates with at least one and possibly more base stations 104 on the forward channel and the reverse channel at any given time, depending, for example, on whether soft handoff is employed or whether the terminal is designed and operated ( concurrently or sequentially) to receive multiple transmissions from multiple base stations. Soft handoff in CDMA communication systems is well known in the art and is described in detail in US Patent No. 5,101,501, entitled "Method and System for Providing a Soft Handoff in a CDMA Cellular Telephone System", which is transferred to the assignee of the present invention.

The forward channel refers to the transmission from the base station 104 to the remote station 106, and the reverse channel refers to the transmission from the remote station 106 to the base station 104. In the exemplary embodiment, some of the remote stations 106 they have multiple receiving antennas and others have a single receiving antenna. In Figure 1, base station 104A transmits data to remote stations 106A and 106J over the forward channel, base station 104B transmits data to remote stations 106B and 106J, base station 104C transmits data to remote station 106C, and so on. .

In a high data rate (HDR) communication system, the base station is sometimes referred to as an access network (AN), and the remote station is sometimes referred to as an access terminal (AT). Figure 2 illustrates an AN 204 and an AT 206 in an HDR communication system.

The AT 206 is in wireless communication with the AN 204. As noted above, the reverse channel refers to transmissions from the AT 206 to the AN 204. Reverse traffic channel 208 is shown in Figure 2. The reverse traffic channel 208 is the portion of the reverse channel that carries information from a specific AT 206 to the AN 204. Of course, the reverse channel can include other channels in addition to the reverse traffic channel 208. Furthermore, the forward channel can include a plurality of channels, including a pilot channel.

The functionality performed by the AT 206 can be organized as a stack of layers. Figure 3 illustrates a stack of layers in the AT 306. Between the layers is a medium access control (MAC) layer 308. Upper layers 310 are located above MAC layer 308. MAC layer 308 offers certain services to upper layers 310, including services that are related to the operation of reverse traffic channel 208. The MAC layer 308 includes an implementation of the reverse traffic channel (PSTN) MAC protocol 314. The PSTN MAC 314 protocol provides the procedures followed for the AT 306 to transmit, and for the AN 204 to receive, reverse traffic channel 208.

A physical layer 312 is located below the MAC layer 308. The MAC layer 308 requests certain services from the physical layer 312. These services are related to the physical transmission of packets to the AN 204.

Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary interaction between AT 406 upper layers 410, MAC layer 408, and physical layer 412. As shown, MAC layer 408 receives one or more streams 416 from upper layers 410. A stream 416 is a stream of data. Typically, a 416 stream corresponds to a specific application, such as Voice over IP (VolP), video telephony, file transfer protocol (FTP), games, etc.

Data from flows 416 from AT 406 is transmitted to AN 204 in packets. According to the MAC protocol 414 of the PSTN, the MAC layer determines a set 418 of flows for each packet. Sometimes multiple streams 416 on the AT 406 have data to transmit at the same time. A packet may include data from more than one stream 416. However, sometimes there may be one or more streams 416 in the AT 406 that have data to transmit, but are not included in a packet. The set 418 of flows in a packet indicates the flows 416 of the AT 406 to be included in that packet. Exemplary procedures for determining the flow set 418 of a packet will be described below.

The MAC layer 408 also determines the size 420 of the payload for each packet. The payload size 420 of a packet indicates how much data from the stream set 418 is included in the packet.

ES 2 398 754 T3

The MAC layer 408 also determines the power level 422 of the packet. In some embodiments, the packet power level 422 is determined relative to the reverse pilot channel power level.

For each packet that is transmitted to the AN 204, the MAC layer 408 communicates to the physical layer 412 the set 418 of flows to be included in the packet, the size 420 of the packet payload and the power level 422 of the packet. package. The physical layer 412 then transmits the packet to An 204 according to the information provided by the MAC layer 308.

Figures 5A and 5B illustrate packets 524 that are transmitted from the AT 506 to the AN 504. A packet 524 can be transmitted in one of several possible transmission modes. For example, in some embodiments there are two possible transmission modes: a high capacity transmission mode and a low latency transmission mode. Figure 5A illustrates a high capacity packet 524a (that is, a packet 524a that is transmitted in the high capacity mode) that is transmitted to the AN 504. Figure 5B illustrates a low latency packet 524b (ie, a packet 524b that is transmitted in the low latency mode) that is transmitted to the AN 504.

A low latency packet 524b is transmitted at a higher power level 422 than a high capacity packet 524a of the same packet size. Therefore, a low-latency packet 524b is likely to reach the AN 504 more quickly than a high-capacity packet 524a. However, a low latency packet 524b causes a greater load on the system 100 than a high capacity packet 524a.

Figure 6 illustrates different types of streams 616 that may exist in an AT 606. In some embodiments, each stream 616 of an AT 606 is associated with a particular transmission mode. When the possible transmission modes are a high capacity transmission mode and a low latency transmission mode, an AT 606 may include one or more high capacity streams 616a and / or one or more low latency streams 616b. It is preferable that a high capacity stream 616a is transmitted in a high capacity packet 524a. It is preferable that a low latency stream 616b is transmitted in a low latency packet 524b.

Figure 7 illustrates an exemplary set 718 of streams for a high capacity packet 724a. In some embodiments, a packet 724a is transmitted in high capacity mode only if all streams 716 that have data to transmit are on high capacity stream 716a. Consequently, in such embodiments, the set 718 of streams in a high-capacity packet 724a only includes high-capacity streams 716a. Alternatively, low latency streams 616b may be included in high capacity packets 724a, at the discretion of the AT 606. An exemplary reason for doing this is when the low latency stream 616b does not achieve sufficient throughput. For example, it could be detected that the tail of the low latency stream 616b is growing. Streaming can improve its performance by using high-capacity mode instead, at the expense of higher latency.

Figure 8 illustrates an exemplary set 818 of streams for a low latency packet 824b. In some embodiments, if there is at least one low latency stream 816 that has data to transmit, packet 824b is transmitted in low latency mode. The set 818 of streams in a low latency packet 824b includes each low latency stream 816b that has data to transmit. One or more of the high capacity streams 816a having data to transmit may also be included in the stream set 818. However, one or more of the high capacity streams 816a having data to transmit may not be included in the stream set 818.

Figure 9 illustrates information that may be maintained in the AT 906 to determine whether a high capacity stream 916a is included in the stream set 818 of a low latency packet 824b. Each AT 906 high capacity stream 916a has a certain amount of data 926 that is available for transmission. Furthermore, a melt threshold 928 may be defined for each high capacity stream 916a in the AT 906. In addition, a melt threshold 930 may be defined for the AT 906 as a whole. Finally, a high-capacity stream merge can occur when the sector load level estimate is less than a threshold value. (In what follows, it will be explained how the estimation of the load level of the sector is determined). That is, when the sector is sufficiently lightly loaded, the loss of fusion efficiency is not significant and aggressive use is allowed.

In some embodiments, a high capacity stream 916a is included in a low latency packet 524b if either one of two conditions is satisfied. The first condition is that the sum of the transmissible data 926 for all the high capacity streams 916a of the AT 906 exceeds the melting threshold 930 that is defined for the AT 906. The second condition is that the transmissible data 926 for the high capacity stream 916a exceeds the melt threshold 928 that is defined for the high capacity stream 916a.

The first condition is related to the power transition from low latency packets 824b to high capacity packets 724a. If no high capacity streams 916a are included in the low latency packets 824b, data from the high capacity streams 916a is accumulated as long as data is available for transmission from at least one low latency stream 816b. If too much data is allowed to accumulate from the high capacity streams 916a, then the next time a high capacity packet 724a is transmitted there may be an unacceptably sharp power transition from the last low latency packet 824b to the high capacity packet 724a. high capacity. Therefore, according to the first condition, once the amount of transmittable data 926 from the high capacity streams 916a in the AT 906 exceeds

ES 2 398 754 T3 certain value (defined by the fusion threshold 930), the fusion of the data from the high capacity streams 916a into the low latency packets 824b is allowed.

The second condition is related to the quality of service (QoS) requirements for high-capacity 916a flows in the AT 906. If the melt threshold 928 for a high-capacity 916a flow is set to a very large value, it means that high-capacity stream 916a is rarely included in a low-latency 824b packet, assuming it ever is. Consequently, such a high capacity stream 916a may experience delays in its transmission, because it is not transmitted as long as there is at least one low latency stream 816b with data to transmit. Conversely, if the melt threshold 928 for a high capacity stream 916a is set very small, it means that the high capacity stream 916a is almost always included in a low latency packet 824b. Consequently, such high capacity streams 916a may experience very little delay in their transmission. However, such high capacity streams 916a consume more industry resources to transmit their data.

Advantageously, in some embodiments, the melt threshold 928 for some of the high capacity streams 916a in the AT 906 can be set to a very large value, while the melt threshold 928 for other high capacity flows 916a in the AT 906 it can be set to a very small melt threshold 928. Such a design is advantageous because some types of high-capacity 916a streams may have stringent QoS requirements, while others may not. An example of a 916 stream that has strict QoS requirements and can be transmitted in high capacity mode is real-time video. Real-time video has a high bandwidth requirement, which can make it inefficient to stream in low latency mode. However, arbitrary transmission delays are not desired for real-time video. An example of a stream 916 that does not have strict QoS delay requirements and can be transmitted in high capacity mode is a reasonable effort stream 916.

Figure 10 illustrates an AN 1004 and a plurality of ATs 1006 within a sector 1032. A sector 1032 is a geographic area in which an AT 1006 can receive signals from an AN 1004, and vice versa.

A property of some wireless communication systems, such as CDM systems, is that the transmissions interfere with each other. Therefore, to ensure that there is not too much interference between AT 1006s within the same sector 1032, there is a limited amount of received power in AN 1004 that can be used by AT 1006 collectively. To ensure that ATs 1006 stay within this limit, there is a certain amount of power 1034 available to each AT 1006 within sector 1032 for transmissions on reverse traffic channel 208. Each AT 1006 establishes the power level 422 of the packets 524 that it transmits on the reverse traffic channel 208 so as not to exceed its total available power 1034.

The power level 1034 that is assigned to an AT 1006 may not be exactly the same as the power level 422 that the AT 1006 uses to transmit packets 524 on reverse traffic channel 208. For example, in some embodiments there is a set of discrete power levels that the AT 1006 selects from when determining the power level 422 of a packet 524. The total power available 1034 for an AT 1006 may not be exactly the same as any of the differentiated power levels.

The total available power 1034 that is not used at any given time is allowed to accumulate, so that it can be used at a later time. Thus, in such embodiments, the total available power 1034 for an AT 1006 is (approximately) equal to the current power allocation 1034a plus at least some portion of a cumulative power allocation 1034b. The AT 1006 determines the power level 422 of a package 524 so that it does not exceed the total power available 1034 for the AT 1006.

The total available power 1034 for an AT 1006 may not always equal the AT 1006's current power allocation 1034a plus the AT 1006's cumulative power allocation 1034b. In some embodiments, the AT 1006's total available power 1034 may be limited. by a 1034c peak assignment. The peak allocation 1034c for an AT 1006 may be equal to the current power allocation 1034a for the AT 1006 multiplied by some limiting factor. For example, if the limiting factor is two, then At 1006's peak allocation 1034c is equal to twice its current power allocation 1034a. In some embodiments, the limiting factor is a function of the current power allocation 1034a for the AT 1006.

Providing a 1034c peak allocation for the AT may limit the burst "richness" that AT 1006 transmissions are allowed to have. For example, an AT 1006 may have no data to transmit for a certain period of time. During this time period, the AT 1006 can still be assigned power. Since there is no data to transmit, the assigned power accumulates. At some point, the AT 1006 may suddenly have a relatively large amount of data to transmit. At that point, the accumulated power allocation 1034b can be relatively large. If the AT 1006 is allowed to use all of the accumulated power allocation 1034b, then the transmitted power 422 of the AT 1006 may experience a rapid surge. However, if the transmitted power 422 of the AT 1006 increases too rapidly , this may affect the stability of the system 100. Consequently, the peak allocation 1034c can be provided for the AT 1006 to limit the total available power 1034 of the AT 1006 at circumstances like this. Note that the

ES 2 398 754 T3 cumulative power allocation 1034b is still available, but its use is spread over more packets when peak allocation 1034c is limited.

Figure 11 illustrates an exemplary mechanism that can be used to determine the total available power 1034 for an AT 206. The mechanism involves the use of a virtual "cube" 1136. At periodic intervals, a new power allocation 1034a is added to the cube 1136 current. Also at periodic intervals, the power level 422 of the packets 524 transmitted by the AT 206 leaves the cube 1136. The amount by which the current power allocation 1034a exceeds the packet power level 422 is the accumulated power allocation 1034b. The accumulated power allocation 1034b remains in the cube 1136 until it is used.

The total power available 1034 minus the current power allocation 1034a is the total potential draw of the cube 1136. The AT 1006 ensures that the power level 422 of the packets 524 it transmits does not exceed the total power available 1034 for the AT 1006. Such As noted above, in some circumstances the total available power 1034 is less than the sum of the current power allocation 1034a and the accumulated power allocation 1034b. For example, the total available power 1034 may be limited by the peak power allocation 1034c.

The accumulated power allocation 1034b may be limited by a saturation level 1135. In some embodiments, the saturation level 1135 is a function of the amount of time the AT 1006 is allowed to use its peak power allocation 1034c.

Figure 12 illustrates an embodiment in which at least some of the AT 1206s within a sector 1232 include multiple streams 1216. In such an embodiment, a separate amount of available power 1238 can be determined for each stream 1216 in the AT 1206. The power Available 1238 for a flow 1216 in the AT 1206 can be determined according to the procedures previously described in connection with Figures 10-11. More specifically, the total available power 1238 for a stream 1216 may include a current power allocation 1238a for the stream 1216 plus at least some portion of a cumulative power allocation 1238b for the stream 1216. In addition, the total available power 1238 for a flow 1216 may be limited by a peak allocation 1238c for flow 1216. A separate hub mechanism, as shown in Figure 11, can be maintained for each flow 1216 to determine the total power available 1238 for each flow 1216. The total power available 1234 for the AT 1206 can be determined by taking the sum of the total power 1238 available for the different 1216 flows in the AT 1206.

The following provides a mathematical description of various formulas and algorithms that can be used in determining the total available power 1238 for a flow 1216 in the AT 1206. In the equations described below, the total available power 1238 for each flow i in the AT 1206 is determined once each subframe. (In some embodiments, one subframe equals four timeslots, and one timeslot equals 5/3 ms.) The equations refer to the total power available 1238 for a flow as PotentialT2POutflow.

The total power 1238 available for stream i transmitted in a high capacity packet 524a can be expressed as:

PotentialT2POutflow. _TT^ = i, HC

<td></td><td>í</td><td>í</td><td>í BucketLevel.</td><td> / \</td>

<td rowspan="2">max</td><td rowspan="2">0, min</td><td rowspan="2">(1 + AllocationStagger xr jx</td><td></td><td rowspan="2">, BucketFactor (T 2PInflow, FRAB | x T 2PInflow \ i, ni, n) i, ​​n</td>

<td></td>

<td></td><td>k</td><td>k</td><td>kk ⁴ ) TO</td><td> ))</td>

The total power 1238 available for stream i transmitted in a low latency packet 524b can be expressed as:

PoíeníialT 2POutflow =

<td></td><td>_í</td><td>_í</td><td>í BucketLevel.</td><td> / \</td>

<td rowspan="2">max</td><td rowspan="2">0, min</td><td rowspan="2">(1 + AllocationStagger xr jx</td><td></td><td rowspan="2">, BucketFactor (T 2PInflow, FRAB | x T 2PInflow \ i, ni, n) i, ​​n</td>

<td></td>

<td></td><td>^k</td><td>^k</td><td>kk ² ) P</td><td> ))</td>

BucketLeve /, η is the cumulative power allocation 1238b for stream i in subframe n. T2PInflow, n is the current power allocation 1238a for flow i in subframe n. The expression BucketFactor (T2PInfloWi_¡n, FRAB, n) x T2PInfloWin is the peak power allocation 1238c for stream i in subframe n. BucketFactor (T2PInflow, n, FRAB, n) is a function to determine the limiting factor for the total available power 1238, that is, the factor by which the total available power 1238 for flow i in subframe n is allowed to exceed the current power allocation 1238a for stream i in subframe n. FRAB, n is an estimate of the load level for sector 1232, and will be discussed in more detail below. AllocationStagger is the width of a random term that causes the allocation levels to oscillate slightly to avoid synchronization problems, and rn is a real-valued random number uniformly distributed in the interval [-1,1].

ES 2 398 754 T3

The cumulative power allocation 1238b for stream i in subframe n + 1 can be expressed as:

BucketLevel = i, n + 1

Íí \ \ (3) min ((BucketLevel_tn + T2PInflow_in - T2POutflow_in), BucketLevelSat_{t n +}hee

T2POutfloWi, n is the portion of the transmitted power 422 that is allocated to stream i in subframe n. An exemplary equation for T2POutflow is provided below,_r!. BucketLevelSati, n + i is saturation level 1135 for allocation 1238b of accumulated power for stream i in subframe n + 1. An exemplary equation for BucketLevelSat, n + 1, is provided below.

T2POutfloWi_n can be expressed as:

T 2 POutflow_in =

<img file="ES2398754T3_D0001.tif" />

--------- Ix TxT 2 P _γ Suml'ayload J (4)

In Equation 4, di, n is the amount of data from stream i that is included in the sub-packet that is transmitted during subframe n. (A sub-packet is the portion of a packet that is transmitted during a sub-frame.) SumPayloadn is the sum of di, n. TxT2Pn is the sub-packet power level 422 that is transmitted during sub-frame n.

BucketLevelSatin + 1 can be expressed as:

BucketLevelSat = i, n + 1

BurstDurationFactor x BucketFactor (T2PInflow _n, FRAB T2 PIflow _n

BurstDurationFactori is a limitation on the length of time that stream i is allowed to transmit with the 1238c peak power allocation.

Figure 13 illustrates one way the AT 1306 can obtain the current power allocation 1338a for flows 1316 on the AT 1306. As shown, the AT 1306 can receive a grant message 1342 from a scheduler 1340 that is running in AN 1304. Grant message 1342 may include a current power allocation grant 1374 for some or all of the flows 1316 in AT 1306. For each current power allocation grant 1374 that is received, the AT 1306 makes the current power allocation 1338a for the corresponding stream 1316 equal to the current power allocation grant 1374.

In some embodiments, obtaining the current power allocation 1338a is a two-step procedure. The first stage involves determining whether a current power allocation grant 1374 has been received from the AN 1304 for a stream 1316. If not, then the AT 1306 autonomously determines the current power allocation 1338a for the stream 1216. In other words, the AT 1306 determines the current power allocation 1338a for stream 1216 without the intervention of the programmer 1340. The following discussion relates to exemplary procedures for the AT 1306 to autonomously determine the current power allocation 1338a for one. or more flows 1316 in AT 1306.

Figure 14 illustrates a reverse activity bit 1444 (RAB) that is transmitted from AN 1404 to AT 1406s within a sector 1432. RAB 1444 is an indication of overload. The RAB 1444 can have one of two values: a first value (for example, +1) that indicates that sector 1432 is currently busy, or a second value (for example, -1) that indicates that sector 1432 is currently inactive. . As will be explained below, RAB 1444 can be used to determine current power assignments 1238a for streams 1216 in AT 1206.

Figure 15 illustrates information that you can hold on the AT 1506 to determine the current power allocation 1238a for one or more streams 1516 on the AT 1506. In the illustrated embodiment, each stream 1516 is associated with a "fast" estimate from the RAB 1444 This quick estimate will be referred to herein as the QRAB 1546. An exemplary procedure for determining the QRAB 1546 will be described below.

Each stream 1516 is also associated with an estimate of the long term load level of sector 1232, referred to herein as FRAB 1548 (representing the "filtered" RAB 1444). The FRAB 1548 is a real number that falls somewhere between the two possible values ​​of the RAB 1444. The closer the FRAB 1548 gets to the value of the RAB 1444 that indicates that sector 1432 is busy, the more loaded is sector 1432. In contrast, the closer the FRAB 1548 gets to the value of the RAB 1444 indicating that the sector 1432 is inactive, the less loaded the sector 1432 is. An exemplary procedure for determining the FRAB 1548 will be described below.

ES 2 398 754 T3

Each flow 1516 is also associated with a ramp up function 1550 and a ramp down function 1552. Ramp up function 1550 and ramp down function 1552 associated with a particular flow 1516 are functions of the current power allocation 1238a for flow 1516. Ramp up function 1550 associated with a flow 1516 is used to determine an increment at current power allocation 1238a for stream 1516. In contrast, the ramp-down function 1552 associated with a flow 1516 is used to determine a decrease in current power allocation 1238a for flow 1516. In some embodiments, both the ramp-up function 1550 and the ramp function 1552 downstream depend on the value of the FRAB 1548 and the current power allocation 1238a for the 1516 stream.

Ramp up function 1550 and ramp down function 1552 are defined for each flow 1516 in the network, and are downloadable from the AN 1404 that controls the AT 1506 of the flow. The ramp up function and the ramp down function have the current flow power allocation 1238a as their argument. Ramp up function 1550 will sometimes be referred to herein as gu, and ramp down function 1552 will sometimes be referred to herein as gd. The gu / gd ratio (also a function of current power allocation 1238a) is referred to as a demand function. It can be shown that, subject to the data and the power availability of the access terminal, the RLMac algorithm converges on the current power allocation 1238a for each flow 1516, such that all values ​​of the flow demand function are equal when taken in mapping your flow. Using this fact, through careful design of flow demand functions it is possible to achieve the same general correlation between schema and flow requirements and resource allocation as achievable by a centralized programmer. But the demand function procedure achieves this general scheduling feature with minimal control signaling and in a purely decentralized manner.

Figure 16 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary functional components in an AT 1606 that can be used to determine the QRAB 1646 and FRAB 1648. As shown, the AT 1606 may include a 1654 RAB demodulation component, a 1656 correlator , 1658 unipolar IIR filters, 1660 first and second, and a 1662 limiter device.

RAB 1644 is transmitted from AN 1604 to AT 1606 on a communication channel 1664. The RAB demodulation component 1654 demodulates the received signal using standard techniques that are known to those of skill in the art. The demodulation component 1654 of the RAB produces a log probability ratio 1666 (LLR). The correlator 1656 takes the LLR 1666 as input and maps the LLR 1666 to a value between the possible values ​​of the RAB 1644 (eg, +1 and -1), which is an estimate of the transmitted RAB for that slot.

The output of the correlator 1656 is provided to the first unipolar IIR filter 1658. The first IIR filter 1658 has a time constant Ts. The output of the first IIR filter 1658 is provided to a limiting device 1662. The limiting device 1662 converts the output of the first IIR filter 1658 to one of two possible values, corresponding to the two possible values ​​of rAb 1644. For example, if the RAB 1644 was a -1 or a +1, then the limiter device 1662 converts the output of the first IIR filter 1658 to either a -1 or a +1. The output of the limiting device 1662 is the QRAB 1646. The time constant Ts is chosen so that the QRAB 1646 represents an estimate of what is the current value of the RAB 1644 transmitted since the aN 1604. An exemplary value for the time constant Ts it is four time slots.

The output of correlator 1656 is also provided to a second unipolar IIR filter 1660 having a time constant T1. The output of the second IIR filter 1660 is the FRAB 1648. The time constant T1 is much greater than the time constant Ts. An exemplary value for the time constant T1 is 384 time slots.

The output of the second IIR filter 1660 is not provided to a limiting device. Consequently, as described above, FRAB 1648 is a real number that falls somewhere between a first value of RAB 1644 that indicates that sector 1432 is busy and a second value of RAB 1644 that indicates that sector 1432 is down.

Figure 17 illustrates an exemplary procedure 1700 for determining the current power allocation 1238a for a stream 1216 in the AT 1206. Step 1702 of procedure 1700 involves determining the value of the QRAB 1546 that is associated with the stream 1216. In step 1704 , it is determined whether the QRAB 1546 equals a busy value (ie, a value indicating that the sector 1432 is currently busy). If the QRAB 1546 equals a busy value, then in step 1706 the current power allocation 1238a is decreased, that is, the current power allocation 1238a for stream 1216 at time n is less than the current power allocation 1238a. current power for flow 1216 at time n - 1. The magnitude of the decrease can be calculated using the down ramp function 1552 that is defined for flow 1216.

If the QRAB 1546 equals a value of idle, then in step 1708 the current power allocation 1238a is incremented, that is, the current power allocation 1238a for stream 1216 during the current time interval is greater than the allocation 1238a current power for stream 1216 during the most recent time interval. The magnitude of the increase can be calculated using the ramp up function 1550 that is defined for flow 1216.

ES 2 398 754 T3

Ramp up function 1550 and ramp down function 1552 are functions of current power allocation 1238a, and are potentially different for each stream 1516 (downloadable by AN 1404). This achieves QoS differentiation per flow with autonomous assignment. In addition, the value of the ramp function can vary with the FRAB 1548, which means that the ramp dynamics can vary with load, allowing faster convergence to the set point under lower load conditions.

When the current power allocation 1238a increases, the magnitude of the increase can be expressed as:

ΔΤ 2 PInflow_in = +1 x T2PUp (10 x log (T2PInflow_{in λ}') + PilolSlrenglh (PilolSlrenglh _s'), FRAB_n)

When the current power allocation 1238a decreases, the magnitude of the decrease can be expressed as:

ΔΤ 2 PInflow_in =

-1x T2PDn (10 x log_|( (T2PInflow_in J + PilolSlrenglh (PilolSlrenglh, FRAB_n)

T2PUpi is the 1550 up ramp function for flow i. T2PDn is the 1552 ramp down function for flow i. PilotStrengthn, s is a measure of the pilot power of the server sector relative to the pilot power of the other sectors. In some embodiments, it is the ratio between the FL pilot power of the server sector and the pilot power of the other sectors. PilotStrengthi is a function that correlates the pilot intensity with an offset in the T2P argument of the ramp function, and is downloadable from the AN. Thus, the priority of flows in an AT can be adjusted based on the location of the AT in the network, as measured by the PilotStrengthn variable,_s·

The 1238a current power allocation can be expressed as:

T2PInflow = | 1 - | ------¹------ || xT2PInflow, + | ------¹------) xTIP ^^ fflow. , + ΔT2PInflow (8)ⁱ· ((T 2 FFilierTC)) ⁱ’^-1 (T 2 ^ 0 ^^) ⁱ’^{-1 i}’ ¹

As can be seen from the preceding equations, when the saturation level 1135 is reached and the ramp is set to zero, the current power allocation 1238a decays exponentially. This allows persistence at the value of the current power allocation 1238a for bursty traffic sources, for which the persistence time should be longer than the typical interval between packet arrivals.

In some embodiments, a 1546 value of the QRAB is estimated for each sector in the active set of the AT 1206. If the QRAB is busy for any of the sectors in the active set of the AT, the current power allocation 1238a decreases. If the QRAB is inactive for all sectors in the active set of the AT, the current power allocation 1238a is incremented. In alternative embodiments another parameter, QRABps, may be defined. For QRABps the measured pilot intensity is taken into consideration. (The pilot intensity is a measure of the pilot power of the server sector relative to the pilot power of the other sectors. In some embodiments, it is the ratio between the pilot power of the FL of the server sector and the pilot power of the other sectors) . QRABps is set to a busy value if the QRAB is busy for a sector s that satisfies one or more of the following conditions: (1) sector s is the direct link serving sector for the access terminal; (2) the DRCLock bit of sector s is out of sync and PilotStrengthn, s of sector s is greater than a threshold value; (3) the DRCLock bit of sector s is locked and PilotStrengthn,_s of sector s is greater than a threshold value. If not, QRABps is set to a value of inactive. In embodiments where QRABps is determined, the current power allocation 1238a may be increased when QRABps is idle, and may be decreased when QRABps is busy.

Figure 18 illustrates AT 1806 sending a request message 1866 to scheduler 1840 over AN 1804. Figure 18 also illustrates scheduler 1840 sending a grant message 1842 to AT 1806. In some embodiments, scheduler 1840 may send 1842 messages of concession to AT 1806 on its own initiative. Alternatively, the programmer 1840 may send grant messages 1842 to the AT 1806 in response to a request message 1866 that is sent by the AT 1806. A request message 1866 contains AT power safety margin information as well as queue length information for each flow.

Figure 19 illustrates information that can be maintained in the AT 1906 for the AT 1906 to determine when to send an 1866 request message to the AN 1804. As shown, the AT 1906 may be associated with a 1968 ratio of requests. The request ratio 1968 indicates the ratio between the 1866 size of the request message sent on the reverse traffic channel 208 and the data sent on the reverse traffic channel 208. In some embodiments, when the 1968 request ratio falls below a certain threshold value, the AT 1906 sends a request message 1866 to the scheduler 1840.

ES 2 398 754 T3

The AT 1906 may also be associated with a 1970 request interval. The request interval 1970 indicates the period of time since the last request message 1866 was sent to the scheduler 1840. In some embodiments, when the request interval 1970 increases above a certain threshold value, the AT 1906 sends a message 1866 of request to programmer 1840. Both request message 1866 triggering procedures can also be used together (ie, a request message 1866 can be sent when either procedure triggers it).

Figure 20 illustrates an exemplary interaction between a 2040 scheduler running on AN 2004 and 2006 ATs within sector 2032. As shown in Figure 20, the 2040 scheduler can determine current power allocation grants 1374 for a subset 2,072 of the 2006 TAs within the 2032 sector. A separate grant 1374 of current power allocation can be determined for each 2006 TAs. When the 2006 ATs in subset 2072 include more than one stream 1216, the scheduler 2040 may determine separate current power allocation grants 1374 for some or all of the streams 1216 in each AT 2006. The scheduler 2040 periodically sends grant messages 2042 to the 2006 ATs of the 2072 subset. The 2040 scheduler does not determine 1374 current power allocation grants for the 2006 ATs within the 2032 sector that are not part of the 2072 subset. Instead, the remaining 2006 TAs in sector 2032 autonomously determine their own 1038th current power allocations. Grant messages 2042 may include a retention period for some or all of the current power allocation grants 1374. The retention period for a current power allocation grant 1374 indicates how long the AT 2006 maintains the current power allocation 1238a for the corresponding stream 1216 at the level specified by the current power allocation grant 1374.

Using the approach illustrated in Figure 20, the 2040 controller is not designed to fill the full capacity of the 2032 sector. Instead, the 2040 controller determines the current power allocations 1038a for the 2006 ATs within the 2072 subset, and then the remaining capacity of the 2032 sector is used efficiently by the remaining 2006 TAs without the intervention of the 2040 scheduler. The subset 2072 can change over time, and can even change with each grant message 2042. Furthermore, the decision to send a grant message 2042 to some subset 2072 of AT 2006 can be triggered by any number of external events, including the detection that some flows do not satisfy certain QoS requirements.

Figure 21 illustrates another exemplary interaction between a 2140 scheduler running on the AN 2104 and an AT 2106. In some embodiments, if the AT 2106 is allowed to determine the current power assignments 2138a for streams 2116 on the AT 2106, each of the current power assignments 2138a will, over time, converge to a steady state value. For example, if an AT 2106 enters an unloaded sector 1232 with a stream 2116 that has data to transmit, the current power allocation 2138a for that stream 2116 will increase until that stream 2116 monopolizes the performance of the entire sector 2132. However , for this to happen it may take some time.

An alternative approach is for scheduler 2140 to determine estimates of the steady state values ​​that flows will eventually reach at each AT 2106. Scheduler 2140 can then send a grant message 2142 to all AT 2106. In grant message 2142, the current power allocation grant 2174 for a stream 2116 is set equal to the estimate of the steady state value for that stream 2116, as determined by the scheduler 2140. Upon receipt of the grant message 2142, the AT 2106 makes the current power assignments 2138a for the flows 2116 in the AT 2106 equal to the steady state estimates 2174 in the grant messages 2142. Once this is done, the AT 2106 can then be allowed to track any changes in system conditions and autonomously determine the current power allocations 2138a for flows 2116, without further intervention from the programmer 2140.

Figure 22 illustrates another embodiment of a grant message 2242 that is transmitted from the scheduler 2240 over the AN 2204 to the AT 2206. As before, the grant message 2242 includes a current power allocation grant 2274 for one or more of the flows 2216 in the AT 2206. In addition, the grant message includes a hold period 2276 for some or all of the current power allocation grants 2274.

The grant message 2242 also includes an accumulated power allocation grant 2278 for some or all of the streams 2216 in the AT 2206. Upon receipt of the grant message 2242, the AT 2206 makes the accumulated power allocations 2238b for the flows 2216 in the AT 2206 equal to the accumulated power allocation grants 2278 for the corresponding flows 2216 in the grant message 2242.

Figure 23 illustrates a power profile 2380 that can be stored in the AT 2306, in some embodiments. The power profile 2332 can be used to determine the payload size 420 and power level 422 of a packet that the AT 2306 transmits to the AN 204.

Power profile 2380 includes a plurality of payload sizes 2320. The 2320 payload sizes included in the 2380 power profile are the 2320 possible payload sizes for the 524 packets transmitted by the AT 2306.

ES 2 398 754 T3

Each payload size 2320 of the power profile 2380 is associated with a power level 2322 for each possible transmission mode. In the illustrated embodiment, each payload size 2320 is associated with a high capacity power level 2322a and a low latency power level 2322b. The high capacity power level 2322a is the power level for a high capacity package 524a with the corresponding payload size 2320. The low latency power level 2322b is the power level for a low latency packet 524b with the corresponding payload size 2320.

Figure 24 illustrates a plurality of transmission conditions 2482 that can be stored in the AT 2406. In some embodiments, transmission conditions 2482 influence the selection of payload size 420 and power level 422 for a packet 524 .

Transmission conditions 2482 include a condition 2484 of the assigned power. Condition 2484 of the assigned power is generally related to ensuring that the AT 2406 does not use more power than it has been assigned. More specifically, the condition 2484 of the assigned power is that the power level 422 of the package 524 does not exceed the total power available 1034 for the AT 2406. A number of exemplary procedures for determining the total power available 1034 for the AT 2406 were discussed above.

Transmission conditions 2482 also include a maximum power condition 2486. The maximum power condition 2486 is that the power level 422 of the packet 524 does not exceed a maximum power level that has been specified for the AT 2406.

Transmission conditions 2482 also include a data condition 2488. The data condition 2488 is generally related to ensuring that the payload size 420 of the packet 524 is not too large in view of the total available power 1034 of the AT 2406, as well as the amount of data that the AT 2406 has currently available for streaming. More specifically, the data condition 2488 is that there is no payload size 2320 in the power profile 2380 that corresponds to a lower power level 2322 for the transmission mode of the packet 524 and is capable of carrying the smallest of (1) the amount of data that is currently available for transmission, and (2) the amount of data that corresponds to the total available power 1034 for the AT 2406.

The following provides a mathematical description of transmission conditions 2482. Condition 2484 of the assigned power can be expressed as:

TxTll'N'omiiiaT ^ &lt;Σ, (PotentialT2POutflow_iTM) (9)

TxT2PNominalps, TM is the 2322 power level for PS payload size and TM transmission mode. F is the set 418 of flows.

The 2486 maximum power condition can be expressed as:

max [TxT2PPreTransition_psTM, TxT2PPostTransition_{ps TM} ) &lt;TxT2max (10)

In some embodiments, the power level 422 of a packet 524 is allowed to go from a first value to a second value at some point during the transmission of packet 524. In such embodiments, the power level 2322 that is specified in the profile 2380 power includes a pre-transition value and a post-transition value. TxT2PPreTransitionps, TM is the pre-transition value for PS payload size and TM transmission mode. TxT2PPostTransitionPs, TM is the post-transition value for PS payload size and TM transmission mode. TxT2Pmax is the maximum power level that is defined for the AT 206, and can be a function of the PilotStrength measured by the AT 206. PilotStrength is a measure of the pilot power of the server sector in relation to the pilot power of the other sectors . In some embodiments, it is the ratio between the FL pilot power of the server sector and the pilot power of the other sectors. It can also be used to control the degree of increase and decrease of the ramp function that the AT 206 performs autonomously. It can also be used to control TxT2Pmax, so that At 206s with poor geometries (eg at the edge of sectors) can restrict their maximum transmit power to avoid creating unwanted interference in other sectors.

In some embodiments, the data condition 2488 is that there is no payload size 2320 in the power profile 2380 that corresponds to a lower power level 2322 for the transmission mode of the packet 524 and is capable of carrying a payload of a size given by:

min (d _n, T2PConversionFactor_TM xPotentialT2POutflow_iTM) (11)

In Equation 11, di, n is the amount of data from stream i that is included in the sub-packet that is transmitted during sub-frame n. The T2PConversionFactorTM expression^x PotentalT2POutfloWijM is the transmittable data for the stream

ES 2 398 754 T3 i, that is, the amount of data that corresponds to the total available power 1034 for the AT 2406. T2PConversionFactorTM is a conversion factor to convert the total available power 1238 for stream i into a data level .

Figure 25 illustrates an exemplary procedure 2500 that the AT 206 can perform to determine payload size 420 and power level 422 for a packet 524. Step 2502 involves selecting a payload size 2320 from profile 2380 power. Step 2504 involves identifying the power level 2322 associated with the selected payload size 2320 for the transmission mode of packet 524. For example, if packet 524 is to be transmitted in high capacity mode, then step 2504 involves identifying the high capacity power level 2322a associated with the selected payload size 2320. Conversely, if the packet is to be transmitted in low latency mode, then step 2504 involves identifying the low latency power level 2322b associated with the selected payload size 2320.

Step 2506 involves determining whether the transmission conditions 2482 are satisfied if the packet 524 is transmitted with the selected payload size 2320 and the corresponding power level 2322. If it is determined in step 2506 that transmission conditions 2482 are satisfied, then in step 2508 the selected payload size 2320 and the corresponding power level 2322 are communicated to the physical layer 312.

If at step 2506 it is determined that transmission conditions 2482 are not satisfied, then at step 2510 a different payload size 2320 is selected from the power profile 2380. Procedure 2500 then returns to step 2504 and continues as described above.

The design philosophy underlying multiple stream allocation is that the total available power equals the sum of the available power for each stream at the access terminal. This procedure works well up to the point where the access terminal itself runs out of transmit power, either due to limits on the hardware or to TxT2Pmax limits. When the transmit power is limited, additional arbitration of the stream power allocation is required at the access terminal. As discussed above, in the absence of power limits the demand function gu / gd determines the current power allocation of each flow by means of the normal function of the RAB and the flow ramp. However, when the HV power is limited, one procedure to establish the flux allocation is to consider the HV power limit strictly analogous to the sector power limit. In general, the sector has a maximum reception power criterion that is used to set the RAB, which then leads to the power allocation of each stream. The idea is that, when the AT is power limited, each AT flow is configured with the power allocation it would receive if the AT power limit were actually the corresponding limit of received power from the sector. This flow power allocation can be determined directly from the demand gu / gd functions, either by running a virtual RAB within the AT or by other equivalent algorithms. Thus, the priority of the flows within the AT is maintained and is consistent with the priority of the flows between the ATs. Also, no information is required beyond the existing gu and gd functions.

A summary of various features of some or all of the embodiments described herein will now be provided. The system allows a decoupling of the allocation of media resources (T2PInflow) and the way in which this resource is used for the allocation of packets (including the control of the rate of spikes and the duration of bursts with spikes).

The allocation of packages can remain autonomous in all cases. For the allocation of media resources, either scheduled or autonomous allocation is possible. This allows for a seamless integration of standalone and scheduled allocation as the package allocation procedure behaves the same in both cases and the media resource can be frequently updated or not updated as desired.

Control of the hold time in the grant message allows precise control of resource allocation timing with minimal signaling overhead.

The BucketLevel control in the grant message allows a quick injection of a resource into a stream without affecting its media allocation over time. This is a type of “one time use” resource injection.

The programmer can estimate the “set point” or the proper resource allocation for each flow, and then download these values ​​to each flow. This reduces the time for the network to get close to its proper allocation (a “rough” allocation), and then autonomous mode quickly achieves the final allocation (the “fine” allocation).

The scheduler can issue grants to a subset of the flows, and allow the others to perform an autonomous assignment. Thus, resource guarantees can be made to certain key flows, and then the remaining flows autonomously “fill-in” the remaining capacity as appropriate.

The scheduler can implement a "grazing" function in which the transmission of a grant message only occurs when a flow does not satisfy the QoS requirements. If not, the flow is allowed to autonomously establish its own power allocation. Thus, QoS guarantees can be given are a signaling and a

ES 2 398 754 T3 minimum overload. Note that to achieve a QoS goal for a stream, the grazing scheduler may grant a different power allocation than the fixed point solution of autonomous allocations.

The AN may specify a flow-by-flow design of the up and down ramp functions. By appropriate choice of these ramp functions, any allocation of media resources can be precisely specified flow-by-flow with purely autonomous operation only, using only 1 bit of control information in each sector.

The very fast timing involved in the design of the QRAB (updated in each slot and filtered with a short time constant in each AT) allows very tight control of the power allocation of each stream and maximizes the total capacity of the sectors while maintaining stability and coverage.

Flow-by-flow control of peak power is allowed as a function of average power allocation and sector load (FRAB). This enables a trade-off between the relevance of bursty traffic and the effect on overall industry stability and load.

Flow-by-flow control of maximum transmission duration at peak power rate is allowed by using BurstDurationFactor. In conjunction with peak rate control, this allows stability and peak load control of sectors without central coordination of autonomous stream allocation, and enables tuning requirements with specific types of sources.

The allocation to bursty sources is elegantly managed by the cube mechanism and persistence of T2PInflow, allowing the correlation of the average power allocation to bursty source arrivals while maintaining control of the average power. The filter time constant T2PInflow controls the persistence time in which sporadic packet arrivals are allowed and beyond which T2PInflow decays to a minimum allocation.

The ramp dependence of T2PInflow on the FRAB allows for greater ramp dynamics in less loaded sectors without affecting the final mean power allocation. Thus aggressive ramp dynamics can be implemented when a sector is less loaded while maintaining good stability at high load levels by reducing the aggressiveness of the ramp dynamics.

T2PInflow automatically tunes itself to the proper allocation for a given flow through autonomous operation based on flow priority, data requirements, and available power. When a flow is over-allocated, BucketLevel reaches the BucketLevelSat value, the up ramp stops, and the T2PInflow value will decay to the level where BucketLevel is less than BucketLevelSat. This, then, is the appropriate mapping for T2PInflow.

In addition to the QoS differentiation per flow available in autonomous allocation based on the design of the up / down ramp function, it is also possible to control the flow power allocation based on channel conditions, via the QRAB or of the QRABps and the dependency of the ramp dynamics of PilotStrength. Thus, flows under poor channel conditions can obtain a lower allocation, reducing interference and improving the total system capacity, or it can obtain a total allocation independent of the channel condition, which maintains a uniform behavior at the expense of capacity. of the system. This allows for control of the overall equity / wellness tradeoff.

As far as possible, the power allocation both between AT and within the AT for each flow is as location independent as possible. This means that regardless of which other flows are in the same AT or in other ATs, the allocation of a flow only depends on the total load of the sector. Some physical facts limit how well this goal can be achieved, particularly the maximum transmit power of the AT, and issues regarding the merging of HiCap and LoLat streams.

Consistent with this approach, the total power available for an AT packet allocation is the sum of the power available to each flow in the AT, subject to the AT transmit power limitation.

Regardless of which rule is used to determine the allocation of data from each flow included in a packet allocation, an accurate accounting of the flow's resource usage is maintained in terms of extraction from the cube. This ensures fairness between flows for any data allocation rule.

When the AT is power limited and cannot accommodate the joint power available to all of its streams, the power from each stream is appropriately used up to the normal power available within the AT. That is, the flows within the AT maintain due mutual priority, as if they shared a sector with only those ATs and that maximum power level (the AT power limit is analogous to the power limit of the sector as a whole). The remaining power in the sector not consumed by the limited power AT is then available to the other flows in the sector as usual.

High capacity streams can merge into low latency streams when the sum of the potential high capacity data usage on an AT is high enough that the lack of merge leads to a large 16

ES 2 398 754 T3 power differential between packages. This maintains uniformity in transmitted power appropriate to a system with internal interference. High-capacity streams can fade into low-latency transmissions when a specific high-capacity stream has such delay requirements that it cannot wait for all low-latency streams to transmit on the same AT; then, after reaching a potential data usage threshold, the stream can merge its data into low latency streams. Thus, the delay requirements for high capacity flows can be satisfied when sharing an AT with persistent low latency flows. High capacity streams can be merged into low latency streams when a sector is lightly loaded; the loss of efficiency in sending high capacity streams such as low latency is not important and therefore merging can always be allowed.

A set of high capacity streams can be transmitted in low latency mode even though there is no low latency stream when the packet size for high capacity mode is at least PayloadThresh in size. This allows high capacity mode streams to achieve the highest throughput when their power allocation is high enough, as the highest throughput for an AT occurs in the maximum packet size and low latency transmission mode. In other words, the peak rate for high-capacity transmission is much lower than that for low-latency transmission, thus allowing a high-capacity mode stream to use a low-latency transmission when appropriate for that. achieve the highest performance.

Each stream has a T2Pmax parameter that restricts its maximum power allocation. It may also be desirable to restrict the joint transmit power of an AT, perhaps depending on its location in the network (for example, when, at the boundary of two sectors, an AT creates added interference and affects stability). The TxT2Pmax parameter can be designed to be a function of PilotStrength, and limits the maximum transmit power of the AT.

Figure 26 is a functional block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an AT 2606. The AT 2606 includes a processor 2602 that controls the operation of the AT 2606. The processor 2602 may also be referred to as a CPU. Memory 2604, which may include both read-only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM), provides instructions and data to processor 2602. A portion of memory 2604 may also include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM). .

The AT 2606, which can be implemented in a wireless communications device such as a cell phone, can also include a housing 2607 that contains a transmitter 2608 and a receiver 2610 to allow transmission and reception of data, such as audio communications, between AT 2606 and a remote location, such as An 204. Transmitter 2608 and receiver 2610 can be combined into one 2612 transceiver. An antenna 2614 is attached to housing 2607 and is electrically attached to transceiver 2612. Additional antennas (not shown) can also be used. The operation of transmitter 2608, receiver 2610, and antenna 2614 is well known in the art and need not be described herein.

The AT 2606 also includes a signal detector 2616 used to detect and quantify the level of signals received by the transceiver 2612. The signal detector 2616 detects signals such as total energy, pseudo-noise (PN) pilot energy segments, power spectral density and other signals, as is known in the art.

A state changer 2626 of the AT 2606 controls the state of the wireless communications device based on a current state and additional signals received by transceiver 2612 and detected by signal detector 2616. The wireless communications device is capable of operating in any one of several states.

The AT 2606 also includes a system determiner 2628 to control the wireless communications device and determine to which service provider system the wireless communications device should be transferred when it determines that the current service provider system is inadequate.

The various components of the AT 2606 are coupled together by a bus system 2630, which may include a power bus, a control signal bus, and a status signal bus, in addition to a data bus. however, for the sake of clarity, the various buses are illustrated in Figure 26 as the 2630 bus system. The AT 2606 may also include a digital signal processor 2609 (DSP) for use in signal processing. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the AT 2606 illustrated in FIG. 26 is a functional block diagram rather than an enumeration of specific components.

Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a number of different technologies and techniques. For example, throughout the above description reference can be made to data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols and segments that can be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles or any combination thereof.

Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. For

In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design limitations imposed on the system as a whole. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as deviating from the scope of the present invention.

The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or realized with a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC ), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate, or transistor logic, discrete hardware components or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of a procedure or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented directly on hardware, on a processor-run software module, or in a combination of the two. A software module can reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled with the processor such that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to it. Alternatively, the storage medium can be integral to the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. The ASIC can reside in a user terminal. Alternatively, the processor and storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.