CN101305558B - Scheduling data spanning shared communication link in honeycomb communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

providing a way to dispatch data from a network element (101), such as an RNC (101) of a cellular communication system, to at least one base station (103) across a common communication link shared among a plurality of cell sectors (107-111) system. The apparatus includes resource allocators (113, 115, 117), each resource allocator scheduling data for a single cell sector (107-111). A resource determination processor (119) dynamically determines resource requirement parameters for at least one of the cell sectors (107-111). The resource determination processor (119) is coupled to the resource allocation processor (121), and the resource allocation processor (121) dynamically allocates a shared communication link to each resource allocator (113, 115, 117) in response to resource requirement parameters resource availability. A resource allocator (113, 115, 117) then schedules data for transmission over the shared communication link in response to resource availability. The present invention improves the use of shared communication links while allowing independent scheduling of resource allocators associated with a single cell.

Description

Scheduling data across a shared communication link in a cellular communication system

technical field

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for scheduling data from a network element of a cellular communication system to at least one base station across a common communication link between a plurality of cell sectors.

Background technique

In a cellular communication system, a geographic area is divided into cells, each cell being served by a base station. The base stations are interconnected by a fixed network capable of transferring data between the base stations. A mobile station is served via a radio communication link from a base station of the cell in which the mobile station is located.

A typical cellular communication system extends coverage over an entire country, including hundreds or even thousands of cells supporting thousands or even millions of mobile stations. Communication from a mobile station to a base station is called uplink, and communication from a base station to a mobile station is called downlink.

A fixed network interconnecting base stations is capable of sending data between any two base stations, enabling a mobile station in one cell to communicate with a mobile station in any other cell. In addition, fixed networks include gateway functions interconnecting external networks such as the Internet or the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), allowing mobile stations to communicate with landline telephones and other communication terminals connected through landlines. In addition, fixed networks include many functions required to manage conventional cellular communication networks, including routing data, admission control, resource allocation, subscriber billing, mobile station authentication, and other functions.

Currently, the most prevalent cellular communication system is the second generation communication system known as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). GSM uses a technique called Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), in which user separation is achieved by dividing the carrier frequency into 8 discrete time slots, each of which can be assigned to a user individually. A base station may be assigned one carrier or multiple carriers. A further description of the GSM TDMA communication system is available in "The GSM System for Mobile Communications" by Michel Mouly and Marie Bernadette Pautet (Bay Foreign Language Books, 1992, ISBN 2950719007).

Currently, third generation systems are being continuously advanced to further enhance the communication services provided to mobile users. The most widely adopted third generation communication systems are based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) or Time Division Duplex (TDD). In a CDMA system, user separation is achieved by assigning different spreading codes and scrambling codes to different users on the same carrier frequency and in the same time interval. An example of a communication system using this principle is the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). A more description of the CDMA mode of UMTS, in particular the Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) mode, is available in "WCDMA for UMTS" (Harri Holma (editor), Antti Toskala (editor), Wiley & Sons, 2001, ISBN 0471486876).

In the third generation cellular communication system, the communication network includes a core network and a radio access network (RAN). The core network is capable of sending data from one part of the RAN to another, as well as interfacing with other communication systems. In addition, it implements many operational and management functions of the cellular communication system, such as billing functions. The RAN supports user equipment over radio links over the air interface. The RAN includes base stations, called Node Bs in UMTS, and Radio Network Controllers (RNCs), which control the Node Bs and communications over the air interface.

The RNC implements many control functions related to the air interface, including radio resource management and routing of data to and from the appropriate Node Bs. It also provides the interface between the RAN and the core network. The RNC and associated Node Bs are called the Radio Network Subsystem (RNS).

The interface between RNC and Node B is called Iub interface. Since many functions related to communication over the air interface are implemented in the RNC, and since air interface traffic data is sent to the RNC, a large amount of data is transferred across the Iub interface. Thus, a high capacity communication link between RNC and Node B is required.

In particular, for 3GPP UTRAN (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network), packet data for downlink transmission is buffered at RNC, and transmission is also scheduled at RNC. The scheduler is part of the RRC (RRC - Radio Resource Control) protocol. In general, the scheduling with respect to each cell is performed autonomously, and there is no direct communication between different schedulers. The scheduled data is transmitted from RNC to Node B through the Iub interface. Uplink packet data is also scheduled by the RNC and traverses the Iub in the opposite direction.

In most cellular communication systems, the cost of the communication link between the RNC and the Node B is one of the most important operating and propulsion costs related to the cellular communication system. Thus, it is ideal to use any communication capacity of the Iub communication link as efficiently as possible to reduce idle transmission costs. One way to reduce the cost of no-load transmission is to share the Iub communication link between different cells, cell sectors or base stations. For example, two or more cells can share a single E1 leased line that provides 2Mb/s in each direction.

In some deployments with shared Iub communication links, these shared Iub communication links may be dimensioned to support an aggregate air interface capacity that is less than a subtended cell. For example, three cells may share a single El leased line providing 2Mb/s in each direction (a typical 3GPP cell has a capacity of about 1Mb/s in each direction). In this case, each cell is allocated 1/3 of the capacity of the E1 link in terms of simple equalization of Iub, resulting in each cell having a capacity of 2/3Mb/s in each direction.

Although such an approach saves costs, it also results in a reduction in the performance of the cellular communication system. For example, a heavily loaded cell may require 1Mb/s in each direction to support the current traffic load. This is not possible due to the limitation of sharing the Iub connection, so the effective capacity of the cell is reduced, resulting in a reduction of the capacity of the entire cellular communication system.

As another example, the sharing of communication links is very inflexible, possibly resulting in the loading of one cell being limited by the allocated capacity of the shared link, while another cell underutilizes its available capacity. Thus, a situation arises where the loading of cells is limited by the Iub communication link with free capacity.

An improved system for scheduling data from a network element, such as an RNC, to a base station serving multiple cell sectors would be advantageous, in particular to facilitate increased flexibility, improved performance, reduced complexity and/or Scheduling methods that increase utilization would be advantageous.

Contents of the invention

Accordingly, the Invention seeks to preferably mitigate, alleviate or eliminate one or more of the above mentioned disadvantages singly or in any combination.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for scheduling data from network elements of a cellular communication system to at least one base station across a common communication link shared between a plurality of cell sectors; said apparatus comprising: a plurality of resources An allocator, each resource allocator scheduling data for a single cell sector in a plurality of cell sectors; a resource determination processor, configured to dynamically determine resource requirement parameters of at least one cell sector in the plurality of cell sectors and an allocation processor, configured to dynamically allocate resource availability of the shared communication link to each of the plurality of resource allocators in response to a resource requirement parameter; wherein the resource allocator responds to the resource availability, and schedules the resource availability to be used by Data transmitted over a shared communication link.

The present invention facilitates more efficient use of shared communication links. The cost of forming a communication link between a network element and at least one base station may be reduced since less average bandwidth is required. The enhanced capacity of each cell sector can be increased. Communication resources for a common communication channel can be allocated more efficiently to individual cell sectors that need it. The amount of unused capacity of the shared communication channel can be reduced. Specifically, in some embodiments, the invention facilitates identifying resources that are not used by one cell sector and efficiently assigning them to another cell sector. The invention allows flexible allocation and sharing of resources among different cell sectors. In addition, the invention facilitates low complexity and/or easy implementation of resource scheduling for a shared communication link of at least one base station. In particular, the invention thus allows the resource allocator to schedule data for transmission over the air interface, while still being mindful of efficiently utilizing the bandwidth limitations of the shared communication link.

Among other things, the invention provides flexible sharing of resources of a common communication link, while allowing resource allocators to schedule data independently of other resource allocators. Specifically, resource availability (resource availability) may represent the maximum resource that each resource allocator can use. Resource availability may generally be different for at least some resource allocators.

The term cell sector may include a cell. For example, multiple cell sectors may correspond to different cell sectors of the same sectorized cell, where each cell sector has an associated resource allocator. Alternatively or additionally, a cell sector may comprise multiple (sub)cell sectors to which a single combined resource allocation is made by one resource allocator. For example, in one embodiment, data for each cell may be scheduled independently from other cells, but by a resource allocator that performs combined scheduling for all cell sectors of the cell. Thus, the term cell sector may include a group of cell sectors. The network element may be a radio network controller. Resource requirement parameters may relate to past, present or future resource requirements of the resource allocator. For example, the resource requirement parameter may be a measure of the amount of data to be scheduled by the resource allocator, or may be a measure of the amount of resources that the resource allocator has used.

The device may be a Radio Network Controller (RNC) of a cellular communication system.

In accordance with an optional feature of the invention, the allocation processor sequentially allocates resource availability to the resource allocators responsive to resource usage by at least one prior resource allocator.

A preceding resource allocator is a resource allocator in sequence that precedes the resource allocator for which resource availability is allocated. The allocation processor may determine at least one sequence of all or some of the resource allocators and assign resource availability to each resource allocator in the order of the sequence. After the resource availability is allocated to the first resource allocator, and before the resource availability is allocated to the next resource allocator, the first resource allocator may schedule the data.

This feature facilitates very efficient sharing of common communication links, and/or easy, low-complexity allocation of common communication resources, and/or allows independent scheduling of resource allocators.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the resource availability is a remaining resource availability.

The remaining resource availability of the first resource allocator may be determined in response to the resource utilization of the resource allocators for the scheduled data, and/or in response to the combined resource utilization of the resource allocators for the scheduled data. This feature facilitates efficient sharing of common communication links, and/or easy, low-complexity allocation of common communication resources. In particular, it can simplify independent scheduling of resource allocators while efficiently and dynamically sharing a common communication link.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the allocation processor determines a first remaining resource availability of the first resource allocator; the first resource allocator being responsive to the first remaining resource availability scheduling data, and responsive to the resource utilization of the scheduled data, Resource requirement parameters are determined; the allocation processor responds to the first remaining resource availability and the resource requirement parameters, and determines a second remaining resource availability of the second resource allocator; the second resource allocator responds to the second remaining resource availability scheduling data.

This feature facilitates very efficient sharing of common communication links, and/or easy, low-complexity allocation of common communication resources. In particular, it simplifies independent scheduling of resource allocators while sharing a common communication link. In particular, the resource requirement parameter of a given resource allocator may be a measure of the resources of the common communication link that the given resource allocator has used.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the first resource allocator schedules all pending data associated with the first resource allocator. Pending data may be, for example, data held in a data buffer associated with the first resource allocator. This may simplify the scheduling of resource allocators, and/or provide efficient resource allocation.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the resource determination processor determines the second remaining resource availability as the first remaining resource availability minus the resource requirement parameter.

In particular, the resource requirement parameter may be a measure of the resources of the common communication link that the first resource allocator has used. This enables low-complexity scheduling while efficiently utilizing the shared communication link.

In accordance with an optional feature of the invention, the allocation processor selects a subset of the plurality of resource allocators for the resource allocation cycle responsive to the resource requirement parameter.

For example, the resource requirement parameter may include the resource requirement of each resource allocator, and may only include resource allocators whose resource requirements are higher than a certain threshold. Specifically, the threshold may be substantially a zero threshold, and the subset includes only resource allocators with data to be scheduled. This can further simplify data scheduling for shared communication links.

In accordance with an optional feature of the invention, the allocation processor cyclically changes the sequence of resource allocators for different resource allocations. Different sequences allow changing the order in which resource availability is allocated to different resource allocators. In some embodiments, in the first round of allocation, the availability of resources allocated to the first resource allocator may depend on the resource utilization of the second resource allocator, while in the next round of allocation, the availability of resources allocated to the second resource allocator The resource availability of may depend on the resource utilization of the first resource allocator. This facilitates efficient and low-complexity resource allocation, which in turn facilitates independent resource allocation.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the frequency of at least one resource allocator in the rounds of resource allocation is determined in response to a cell priority associated with the resource allocator. For example, a first resource allocator may be included in said rounds of resource allocation more times than a second resource allocator if it has a higher associated cell priority. This allows resource allocation to be prioritized over the second resource allocator, biasing resource allocation to the first resource allocator. This feature allows flexible and low complexity resource allocation where multiple cells can be prioritized.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the order of at least one resource allocator in at least one of the plurality of rounds of resource allocation is determined responsive to cell priorities associated with the resource allocators.

For example, a first resource allocator may be included before a second resource allocator if it has a higher associated cell priority. This allows resource allocation to be prioritized over the second resource allocator, biasing resource allocation to the first resource allocator. This feature allows flexible and low complexity resource allocation where multiple cells can be prioritized.

In some embodiments, the order and frequency are modified in response to cell priority. The cell priority for setting the order may be the same as or different from the cell priority for setting the frequency.

In accordance with an optional feature of the invention, the resource allocator's cell priority is determined in response to a distribution of service characteristics of the remote units of the cell associated with the resource allocator.

For example, a distribution of service characteristics may represent a distribution between remote units with a high level of service and remote units with a low level of service. Cell priority is higher for cells with a higher number of high ranking serving remote units. This can adapt the service characteristics to the current situation and allow the performance of high-level service remote units to be improved over low-level service remote units.

In accordance with an optional feature of the invention, the resource allocator's cell priority is determined in response to combined resource requirements associated with remote units of the cell associated with the resource allocator.

This can improve the scheduling of data over the shared communication link to suit the current situation and can improve the performance of the cellular communication system.

The combined resource requirement is the sum of the guaranteed resource allocations for the remote units of the cell associated with the resource allocator. This improves the scheduling of data over the shared communication link to suit the current situation and improves the performance of the cellular communication system.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the resource determination processor determines a resource requirement parameter for each resource allocator of the plurality of resource allocators, the resource requirement parameter being an indication of the amount of data to be scheduled by that resource allocator; the allocation processor Resource availability is allocated to the first resource allocator in response to the resource requirement parameter of the first resource allocator.

This can provide a low complexity and efficient resource scheduling that allows independent resource allocators to schedule data while providing dynamic, flexible resource allocation of shared communication links.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the allocation processor only allocates resource availability to resource allocators of the first group having a resource requirement parameter indicating that the resource allocators have an amount of data to be scheduled above a threshold.

This simplifies scheduling and improves resource allocation for shared communication links.

In accordance with an optional feature of the invention, the allocation processor distributes the total resource availability of the shared communication link substantially evenly among the first set of resource allocators. This provides a very simple, yet efficient scheduling of data transmitted over the common communication link.

In accordance with an optional feature of the invention, the allocation processor allocates increasing resource availability to the resource allocator taking into account an increasing amount of data to be scheduled by the resource allocator. This facilitates an improved allocation of resources for the shared communication link, especially for the allocation of resources to cells that most need to communicate over the shared communication link.

In accordance with an optional feature of the invention, the allocation processor allocates at least a minimum resource availability to each resource allocator having data to be scheduled. This may provide a flexible and/or low complexity scheduling, while ensuring that each cell can transmit at least a minimum amount of data over the common communication link.

The minimum resource availability may be the same for all resource allocators, or may be different for some or all resource allocators.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the allocation processor determines the resource availability of the resource allocator responsive to the minimum resource availability of at least one other resource allocator. This may provide a practical and low-complexity way of allocating resources to the resource allocator while guaranteeing that each cell is allocated a minimum of resources.

In accordance with an optional feature of the invention, the allocation processor determines the minimum resource availability of the resource allocator responsive to a cell priority of a cell associated with the resource allocator. For increasing cell priorities, an increased minimum resource availability may be determined, allowing an increased amount of resources to be guaranteed for higher priority cells. This facilitates a flexible and low-complexity resource allocation that allows variable worst-case resource allocation for individual cells.

In accordance with an optional feature of the invention, the allocation processor reduces the total resource availability of the shared communication link responsive to the minimum resource availability.

For example, in an embodiment using sequential scheduling based on resource availability determined in response to actual resource utilization by prior allocators, the resource availability assigned to the first resource allocator may correspond to the total resource availability versus other The difference between the sum of the resource allocator's minimum resource availability. This may provide a practical and low-complexity way of allocating resources to the resource allocator while guaranteeing that each cell is allocated a minimum of resources.

According to an optional feature of the invention, in some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a processor for determining unused residual resources associated with minimum resource availability; and a process for allocating unused residual resources to a resource allocator device. This can improve the utilization of available resources of the shared communication link.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the common communication link is an Iub interface connection. The shared communication link may be a shared communication link of the UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN).

According to an optional feature of the invention, the cellular communication system is a third generation cellular communication system. In particular, cellular communication systems may operate in accordance with technical specifications defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of scheduling data from a network element of a cellular communication system to at least one base station across a common communication link shared between a plurality of cells; said method comprising: a plurality of resources Each resource allocator in the allocators schedules data for a single cell in the plurality of cells; dynamically determines a resource requirement parameter for at least one cell in the plurality of cells; responds to the resource requirement parameter, and dynamically allocates data to the plurality of resources Each of the allocators allocates resource availability of the shared communication link; and the resource allocator schedules data for transmission over the shared communication link responsive to the resource availability.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the dynamic allocation includes sequentially allocating resource availability to the resource allocators in response to resource utilization by at least one prior resource allocator.

A preceding resource allocator is a resource allocator in sequence that precedes the resource allocator for which resource availability is allocated. Sequentially allocating resource availability may include determining at least one sequence of all or some of the resource allocators, and allocating resource availability to each resource allocator in order of the sequence. After the resource availability is allocated to the first resource allocator, and before the resource availability is allocated to the next resource allocator, the first resource allocator may schedule the data.

According to an optional feature of the present invention, the method includes: determining the first remaining resource availability of the first resource allocator; the first resource allocator responding to the first remaining resource availability scheduling data, and responding to the resources of the scheduled data Using, resource requirement parameters are determined; responsive to the first remaining resource availability and resource requirement parameters, determining a second remaining resource availability of the second resource allocator; and the second resource allocator responsive to the second remaining resource availability scheduling data.

This feature facilitates very efficient sharing of common communication links, and/or easy, low-complexity allocation of common communication resources. In particular, it simplifies independent scheduling of resource allocators while sharing a common communication link. In particular, the resource requirement parameter of a given resource allocator may be a measure of the resources of the common communication link that the given resource allocator has used.

According to an optional feature of the invention, the method includes selecting a subset of the plurality of resource allocators for the resource allocation cycle in response to a resource requirement parameter.

For example, the resource requirement parameter may include the resource requirement of each resource allocator, and may only include resource allocators whose resource requirements are higher than a certain threshold. Specifically, the threshold may be substantially a zero threshold, and the subset may specifically only include resource allocators with data to be scheduled. This can further simplify data scheduling for shared communication links.

According to an optional feature of the invention, dynamically determining includes determining a resource requirement parameter for each of the plurality of resource allocators, the resource requirement parameter being an indication of the amount of data to be scheduled by the resource allocator; A resource requirement parameter of a resource allocator, allocating resource availability to the first resource allocator.

This can provide a low complexity and efficient resource scheduling that allows independent resource allocators to schedule data while providing dynamic, flexible resource allocation of shared communication links.

These and other aspects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below.

Description of drawings

Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated below with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein

Figure 1 illustrates the components of a UMTS communication system comprising a device for scheduling data according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 illustrates a method of scheduling data according to an embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 3 illustrates a method of scheduling data according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The following description focuses on an embodiment of the invention applicable to a UMTS third generation cellular communication system, although the invention is not limited to this application but is instead applicable to many other communication systems.

Figure 1 illustrates the components of a UMTS communication system 100 including an arrangement for scheduling data according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The communication system 100 includes an RNC 101 connected to a base station (Node B) via a common communication link 105. The base station 103 supports three cells 107, 109, 111, which may be different cell sectors of a cell, or cells of different levels (such as macro cells and micro cells) or geographically displaced cells.

RNC 101 includes the functionality to schedule data for communication over the air interface. Specifically, RNC 101 includes a single resource allocator for each cell served by base station 103. Therefore, in the embodiment of FIG. 1 , the first resource allocator 113 schedules data for the first cell 107, the second resource allocator 115 schedules data for the second cell 109, and the third resource allocator 117 schedules data for the third cell 111. data. Each resource allocator schedules data independently of any scheduling by other resource allocators. Thus, the first resource allocator 113 schedules data for the first cell 107 regardless of the data scheduling of the second and third cells 109 , 111 . Independent scheduling reduces the complexity of scheduling operations.

A common communication link 105 transfers scheduling data for all cells 107, 109, 111 between the RNC 101 and the base station 103. Thus, the common communication link 105 is shared between the plurality of resource allocators 113,115,117 and the plurality of cells/cell sectors 107,109,111.

In different embodiments, resource allocators 113, 115, 117 may schedule data along the uplink and/or downlink. For the sake of brevity and clarity, the following description will mainly focus on the downlink transmission of data, although the invention is not limited to this example, but is instead applicable, for example, to uplink communications.

Although the above description includes only one base station supporting multiple cells or cell sectors, in other embodiments the RNC may include resource allocators and scheduling functions for other base stations and/or other cells or cell sectors, sharing Communication links may be shared by resource allocators associated with different base stations, cells and/or cell sectors.

The resource allocators 113, 115, 117 individually schedule data for transmission over the air interfaces of the respective cells 107, 109 and 111. However, data is communicated over the common communication link 105, so that the resources of the common communication link 105 used by one resource allocator affect the resources available to another resource allocator. A conventional solution to this problem is to statically allocate resources of the common communication link 105 to each resource allocator 113,115,117. If the statically allocated resources are greater than the peak requirements of each resource allocator 113, 115, 117, then the scheduling of each resource allocator 113, 115, 117 may proceed regardless of the constraints of the common communication link 105. However, this requires a high bandwidth of the shared communication link 105, resulting in high costs.

However, by reducing the statically allocated resources, the resource allocators 113, 115, 117 and thus the capacity of the cell will be limited by the shared communication link 105. Furthermore, when the resource allocators 113, 115, 117 make independent resource allocations, one resource allocator may be limited by the common communication link 105, although the other resource allocator is underutilizing the bandwidth reserved for it.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the RNC 101 determines the resource availability of each resource allocator 113, 115, 117. The resource allocators 113, 115, 117 then schedule data independently, up to the level of allocated resource availability. Resource availability is dynamically modified in response to a resource requirement parameter that is dynamically determined to provide a measure of the bandwidth of the common communication link 105 that each resource allocator uses or needs or requires. Thus, dynamic and flexible sharing of the bandwidth of the common communication link 105 is achieved while allowing each resource allocator to schedule data independently of the other resource allocators.

Specifically, the RNC 101 includes a resource determination processor 119, and the resource determination processor 119 dynamically determines a resource requirement parameter of at least one cell in a plurality of cells. In the example of FIG. 1 , the resource determination processor 119 is coupled to the three resource allocators 113, 115, 117, and determines the resources of each resource allocator 113, 115, 117 representing the required bandwidth of the shared communication link 105 demand parameters. For example, resource requirement parameters may include a measure of the amount of data to be scheduled by each of the three resource allocators 113, 115, 117, or may include A measure of the amount of data scheduled by a resource allocator.

The resource determination processor 119 is coupled to the resource allocation processor 121, and the resource allocation processor 121 responds to the resource requirement parameters received from the resource determination processor 119, and dynamically allocates the shared communication link to each of the plurality of resource allocators. resource availability. The resource availability of a given resource allocator provides an indication of the resources available to that resource allocator.

The resource allocation processor 121 is coupled to three resource allocators 113, 115, 117, each of which is supplied with resource availability. In response, the resource allocator schedules data for transmission over the common communication link, taking into account the allocated resource availability.

It will be appreciated that the determination of resource requirement parameters, the allocation of resource availability and the scheduling of data by the resource allocator may be at least partially parallel, or at least partially sequential, and any suitable order or order of operations may be used.

For example, resource requirement parameters may be determined for all resource allocators, and then passed to the resource allocation processor 121 . The resource allocation processor 121 then determines the resource availability of each resource allocator 113, 115, 117 and provides these resource availability to the resource allocator. The resource allocators 113, 115, 117 then take advantage of resource availability and proceed to schedule data independently of each other.

In other embodiments, a more orderly approach may be used, where the resource requirement parameters are determined in response to the scheduling that the resource allocator has made. Resource availability is determined for a specified resource allocator only after one or more other resource allocators have scheduled.

Resource availability may be expressed in any suitable form, for example as the number or amount of data packets that can be scheduled for transmission over the air interface, or as an indication of the proportion of the bandwidth of the shared communication link 105 that can be used by the resource allocator . Thus, the resource availability of a resource allocator may provide an upper bound on the resources that the resource allocator can use when scheduling data. Thus, resource availability can be used as a constraint on the scheduling by the resource allocator. However, a resource allocator can schedule data up to resource utilization corresponding to resource availability, independent of the operation of other resource allocators.

Thus, a very flexible approach can be achieved which allows a dynamic and flexible sharing of the available bandwidth of the shared communication link, while allowing each resource allocator to work independently of the other resource allocators.

Figure 2 illustrates a method of scheduling data according to some embodiments of the invention. In particular, the method may be performed by the RNC 101 of FIG. 1, and for the sake of clarity, the method will be described in this context.

In step 201 resource requirements are determined for all cells, ie for each of the three resource allocators 113,115,117. In the method of Fig. 2, in particular, the resource requirement parameter is an indication of the amount of data to be scheduled by the respective resource allocator 113, 115, 117.

In some embodiments, each of the three resource allocators 113, 115, 117 may provide the resource determination processor 119 with the current load of the transmission buffer of the resource allocator's cell (or in other words with respect to the uplink road scheduling, the load of the transmission buffers of the remote units of the cell). The buffer load represents the amount of data that the resource allocator attempts to schedule in the current scheduling cycle for transmission by the base station 103 in the cell. Accordingly, the resource determination processor 119 determines resource requirement parameters comprising a measure of the amount of pending data for each resource allocator.

Step 201 is followed by step 203 in which the resource allocation processor 121 determines the resource availability of each resource allocator in response to the resource requirement parameters received from the resource determination processor 119 .

In some embodiments, the resource allocation processor 121 may simply allocate the total resource availability among the resource allocators in response to the amount of pending data. For example, the resource availability of resource allocator N can be determined as

${\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; B</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; N</span>}}<span\; class="notranslate">\; =</span>{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; B</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; TOT</span>}}<span\; class="notranslate">\; \&CenterDot;</span>\frac{{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; V</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; N</span>}}}{\underset{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; i</span>}}{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; \&Sigma;</span>}}{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; V</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; i</span>}}}$

Where B _TOT is the total resource availability, V _i is the amount of data to be scheduled by resource allocator i.

For example, if the first resource allocator 113 has twice as much data to transmit as each of the second and third resource allocators 115, 117, then the resource availability of the first resource allocator is the total bandwidth of the shared communication link 105 The resource availability of the second and third resource allocators 115 , 117 is 25% of the total bandwidth of the shared communication link 105 .

Thus, in this example, the resource allocation processor 121 allocates increasing resource availability to the resource allocator in view of the increasing amount of data to be scheduled by the resource allocator.

The resource availability of each resource allocator 113 , 115 , 117 is provided to each resource allocator 113 , 115 , 117 .

In some embodiments, resource allocation processor 121 may determine resource availability in response to whether resource allocator 113, 115, 117 has any pending data. Specifically, the resource allocation processor 121 may determine for each resource allocator 113, 115, 117 whether the resource requirement parameter indicates that the resource allocator 113, 115, 117 has an amount of data to be scheduled above a specified threshold. In this example, resource allocation processor 121 may only include resource allocators whose thresholds are exceeded. For example, for a threshold of 0, the resource allocation processor 121 may allocate resource availability to all resource allocators 113, 115, 117 that have any pending data, but not to resource allocators 113, 115 that have no pending data. , 117 allocate resource availability.

In some embodiments, the resource allocation processor 121 may simply allocate the total resource availability of the shared communication link substantially evenly among the resource allocators 113, 115, 117 with pending data. Thus, in the specific example of Figure 2, the resource allocation processor 121 obtains an indication of whether there is queued data in each cell 107,109,111. If all three cells 107, 109, 111 have queued data, the resource allocation processor 121 sends to each resource allocator 113, 115, 117 a resource availability indicating an available bandwidth of B _TOT /3. However, if only two cells have queued data, the resource allocation processor 121 sends resource availability indicating that the available bandwidth is B _TOT /2 to the two relevant resource allocators, and sends an indication to the other resource allocator that there is no available bandwidth news. If only one cell has queued data, the relevant resource allocator is allocated bandwidth B _TOT , and the other resource allocators are allocated zero bandwidth.

Step 203 is followed by step 205 in which the first resource allocator 113 schedules pending data in response to the resource availability allocated to the first resource allocator 113 . Thus, the first resource allocator 113 can proceed to schedule the data using an appropriate scheduling algorithm. However, this scheduling is done within the constraints of not exceeding resource availability. Thus, if the transmit buffer of the first resource allocator 113 contains more pending data than the allocated resource availability can contain, some data cannot be scheduled and remains in the transmit buffer, waiting for the next One round of scheduling.

For the second resource allocator 115 , step 207 corresponds to step 205 . Thus, the second resource allocator 115 schedules any pending data within the constraint of not exceeding the resource availability allocated to the second resource allocator 115 .

For the third resource allocator 117 , step 209 corresponds to steps 205 and 207 . Accordingly, the third resource allocator 117 schedules any pending data within the constraint of not exceeding the resource availability allocated to the third resource allocator 117 .

It will be appreciated that in some embodiments steps 205, 207 and 209 are performed in parallel, while in other embodiments steps 205, 207 and 209 are performed sequentially.

Thus, the method of FIG. 2 provides a simple, complex method of dynamically and flexibly sharing the bandwidth of the common communication link 105 while allowing each resource allocator 113, 115, 117 to work independently of the other resource allocators 113, 115, 117. low-grade way. This approach can more efficiently utilize the communication capacity of the shared communication link 105, thereby reducing propulsion and/or operating costs. The capacity of the cell can be increased, thereby increasing the capacity of the entire communication system.

Figure 3 illustrates a method of scheduling data according to some embodiments of the invention. In particular, the method may be performed by the RNC 101 of FIG. 1, and for the sake of clarity, the method will be described in this context.

In the method of FIG. 3 , the resource allocation processor 121 allocates resource availability to the resource allocators 113 , 115 , 117 sequentially. Availability of resources allocated to a resource allocator is determined in response to resource utilization of at least one prior resource allocator that has performed data scheduling.

In step 301, the remaining availability of the resource allocators 113, 115, 117 is set to correspond to the maximum bandwidth of the shared communication link 105 that can be used by a single resource allocator. In some embodiments, a single resource allocator may use the entire available bandwidth, and in some such embodiments, the remaining resource availability may be set to a value corresponding to the total capacity of the shared communication link 105 .

Step 301 is followed by step 303 in which the sequence of resource allocators 113, 115 and 117 is determined. For example, an initial sequence of the first resource allocator 113 followed by the second resource allocator 115 followed by the third resource allocator 117 may be determined.

Step 303 is followed by step 305 in which an initial resource allocator in the sequence is selected. In this particular example, the first resource allocator 113 is thus selected.

Step 305 is followed by step 307 in which the remaining resource availability is provided to the selected resource allocator. The selected resource allocator then proceeds to schedule data for transmission over the common communication link 105 and for transmission by the base station 103 . For the initial resource allocator of the sequence, the remaining resource availability may be the resource availability corresponding to the full bandwidth of the shared communication link 105 .

The selected resource allocator proceeds to schedule pending data according to any suitable scheduling criterion or algorithm while ensuring that the remaining resource availability is not exceeded. In this particular example, if the selected resource allocator has more pending data than can be accommodated within the remaining resource availability, then the maximum amount of data is scheduled, the remaining data is held in a buffer, Wait for the subsequent dispatch loop. Otherwise, the selected resource allocator proceeds to schedule all pending data and flushes the transmit buffer.

Step 307 is followed by step 309 in which the amount of resources used by the selected resource allocator is determined. Specifically, the selected resource allocator may set a resource requirement parameter to indicate resource availability that has been used to debug pending data.

Step 309 is followed by step 311 in which remaining resource availability after scheduling by the selected resource allocator is determined. Specifically, the previously determined remaining resource availability is subtracted by the amount used by the selected resource allocator. The updated remaining resource availability thus provides an indication of how many resources are available to subsequent resource allocators in the sequence.

Step 311 is followed by step 313 in which the next resource allocator in the sequence is selected. In this specific example, the second resource allocator 115 is thus selected after the first resource allocator 113 performs the scheduling.

Step 313 is followed by step 315 where it is determined whether the end of the sequence has been reached. If not, then the method returns to step 307, and the scheduling of the next resource allocator in the sequence is continued, that is, the scheduling of the second resource allocator 115 in this specific example is continued. If the end of the sequence has been reached, the method returns to step 301 to begin a new scheduling loop.

Thus, in the sequential operation of FIG. 3, each resource allocator 113, 115, 17 is sequentially allocated the remaining resource availability and independently schedules in response to said remaining resource availability. As the resource is used by the resource allocator, the amount of resource available to the subsequent resource allocator is calculated based on the actual usage of the previous resource allocator. Thereby, a very flexible and efficient scheduling system can be realized.

In some embodiments, not all resource allocators 113, 115, 117 may be included in a scheduling loop. For example, resource allocation processor 121 may select a subset of resource allocators 113, 115, 117 for a resource allocation cycle in response to resource requirements of resource allocators 113, 115, 117. In particular, the resource allocation processor 121 may only include resource allocators 113, 115, 117 whose amount of pending data is above a specified threshold.

In some embodiments, the sequence of resource allocators 113, 115, 117 is changed between different allocation rounds. For example, each time step 303 is performed, a new sequence may be determined according to any suitable standard or algorithm. For example, the sequence may be changed between scheduling rounds to form a round-robin chain of resource allocators. Thus, the sequence can be changed such that for many cycles, every resource allocator is at every position in the sequence. In some embodiments, the sequence may be changed such that all possible sequences containing a single entry for each resource allocator are selected in turn.

As a specific example of a system where each resource allocator is equally included in a different position of the sequence, the sequence may correspond to the following (RA-N denotes the Nth resource allocator):

Scheduling cycle 1 sequence is RA1-RA2-RA3

Scheduling cycle 2 sequence is RA2-RA3-RA1

Scheduling cycle 3 sequence is RA3-RA1-RA2

Scheduling cycle 4 sequence is RA1-RA2-RA3

etc.

In this example, for a bandwidth B of 2Mb/s of the shared communication link 105, the results of a specific exemplary scheduling operation are as follows:

dispatch loop 1

sequence position resource allocator Provided bandwidth/kb/s Bandwidth used/kb/s Total used bandwidth/kb/s 1 1 2000 1200 1200 2 2 800 500 1700 3 3 300 250 1950

dispatch loop 2

sequence position resource allocator Provided bandwidth/kb/s Bandwidth used/kb/s Total used bandwidth/kb/s 1 3 2000 1000 1000 2 1 1000 700 1700 3 2 300 300 2000

dispatch loop 3

sequence position resource allocator Provided bandwidth/kb/s Bandwidth used/kb/s Total used bandwidth/kb/s 1 2 2000 1900 1900 2 3 100 100 2000 3 1 - - -

In some embodiments, resource allocation to different cells or cell sectors may be prioritized over other cells or cell sectors, favoring certain cells or cell sectors. For example, each cell may be associated with a cell priority, and the resource of the shared communication link may be biased towards a cell with a higher priority.

For example, in the example of FIG. 2, the resource availability of different resource allocators can be modified according to the corresponding cell priority. For example, different weights may be applied to individual resource requirements according to cell priority.

In the example of Figure 3, the sequence of resource allocators 113, 115, 117 may be modified or selected in response to cell priority.

In some of these embodiments, the frequency of resource allocators in resource cycles may be determined in response to cell priority. For example, high priority cells may be included in every round of scheduling, while only every other round of scheduling includes low priority cells.

Additionally, the order of the resource allocators 113, 115, 117 may be determined in response to cell priorities associated with the resource allocators 113, 115, 117. For example, the higher the priority of a cell, the earlier the associated resource allocator is included in the sequence of resource allocators 113, 115, 117.

In some embodiments, the frequency and order of the resource allocators 113, 115, 117 may be determined in response to the relative cell priority.

As a specific example, the cyclic sequence can be adjusted so that the frequency at which the cell first obtains service is adjusted according to the cell priority. For example, if the first cell has a higher priority than the second and third cells, then in three of the seven rounds of scheduling, the first cell may be served first, while the second and third cells are in the seven rounds of scheduling The first of the two rounds to get served.

Scheduling cycle 1 sequence is RA1-RA2-RA3

Scheduling cycle 2 sequence is RA2-RA3-RA1

Scheduling cycle 3 sequence is RA3-RA1-RA2

Scheduling cycle 4 sequence is RA1-RA2-RA3

Scheduling cycle 5 sequence is RA1-RA3-RA2

Scheduling cycle 6 sequence is RA2-RA3-RA1

Scheduling cycle 7 sequence is RA3-RA1-RA2

Cell priority may be determined according to any suitable criteria or algorithm.

In some embodiments, the cell priority for a cell and associated resource allocator may be determined in response to a distribution of service characteristics of the remote units of the cell associated with the resource allocator.

For example, a communication system may allow three quality levels of service to be provided. For example, gold users get high-cost premium services, silver users get medium-cost mid-tier services, and bronze users get low-cost low-tier services. In this case, a possible cell priority metric can be determined as m1*sum of the number of allowed bronze users+m2*sum of the number of allowed silver users+m3*sum of the number of allowed gold users, where m1 -m3 is an appropriate weight, and m1<m2<m3. In this case, a cell with a higher number of golden users gets an increasing cell priority at the expense of other cells. Thus, the limited resources of shared communication links are flexibly biased towards advanced users.

In some embodiments, the cell priority may be determined in response to combined resource requirements associated with remote units of a single cell associated with the resource allocator. For example, each user may be assigned a certain minimum data rate associated with a gold user, a silver user and a bronze user, respectively. For each cell, the guaranteed resource allocations of the remote units currently associated with the cell may be summed to arrive at the cell priority.

In some embodiments, each resource allocator 113 , 115 , 117 meeting specified criteria may be guaranteed to share a minimum bandwidth of the communication link 105 . In some such embodiments, such a criterion may simply be that a resource allocator is available, such that all resource allocators are allocated the bandwidth of the common communication link 105, regardless of whether they have data to schedule.

In other such embodiments, the criterion may be that the resource allocator 113, 115, 117 has data pending to be scheduled. Specifically, the resource allocation processor 121 may be configured to at least allocate the minimum resource availability to each resource allocator 113, 115, 117 having data to be scheduled.

In these embodiments, the resource allocation processor 121 may be configured to determine resource availability for a given resource allocator by taking into account resources that must be reserved for other resource allocators. Thus, the resource availability of one resource allocator may be reduced by subtracting the minimum resource availability associated with other resource allocators. For example, step 301 of the method in FIG. 3 may include determining the initial remaining resource availability as the value obtained by subtracting the sum of the minimum resource availability of the resource allocator from the total resource availability of the shared communication link; or the method in FIG. 3 Step 311 may include subtracting the remaining resource availability from the sum of the minimum resource availability of the remaining resource allocators.

More specifically, the resource availability B _A of resource allocator n can be determined by the following formula:

${\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; B</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; A</span>}<span\; class="notranslate">\; ,</span>\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; no</span>}}<span\; class="notranslate">\; =</span>{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; B</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; TOT</span>}}<span\; class="notranslate">\; -</span>{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; B</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; guaranteed</span>}}<span\; class="notranslate">\; (</span>{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; N</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; a</span>}}<span\; class="notranslate">\; -</span>\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; no</span>}<span\; class="notranslate">\; )</span><span\; class="notranslate">\; -</span>\underset{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; i</span>}<span\; class="notranslate">\; =</span>\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; 1</span>}}{\overset{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; no</span>}<span\; class="notranslate">\; -</span>\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; 1</span>}}{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; \&Sigma;</span>}}}{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; B</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; used</span>}<span\; class="notranslate">\; ,</span>\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; i</span>}}$

where B _TOT is the total resource availability of the shared communication link, B _Guaranteed is the minimum resource availability of each cell, N _a is the number of resource allocators sharing the shared communication link in the current round of scheduling, Bus _{used , i} is the resource already used by resource allocator i.

In some embodiments, the minimum resource availability may be static and equal for all resource allocators. However, in other embodiments, the minimum resource availability may be dynamically changed in response to appropriate criteria or algorithms. For example, the resource allocator's minimum resource availability may be changed in response to an associated cell priority, such as by multiplying a specified minimum resource availability reference value by a current cell priority metric.

At the end of a scheduling cycle, some resources reserved for the resource allocator's minimum resource availability are generally unused. Thus, residual resources that have not been used can be determined. The residual resources may then be allocated to other resource allocators according to any suitable algorithm or criteria. For example, the remaining resource availability can be set as residual resources, the first resource allocator in sequence can be selected, and steps 307-315 can be repeated until the remaining resources have been fully used, or all data has been allocated by all resource allocators until scheduled.

As a specific example, the guaranteed bandwidth of each active cell is set to be greater than zero at 500kb/s, and the capacity of the shared communication link is again set to 2Mb/s. In this example, any (guaranteed) bandwidth not used by one cell is made available to the remaining cells. This results in small variations in the bandwidth offered to a given cell from one round of scheduling to another.

dispatch loop 1

sequence position resource allocator Provided bandwidth/kb/s Bandwidth used/kb/s Total used bandwidth/kb/s 1 1 1000 1000 1000 2 2 500 500 1500 3 3 500 250 1750

dispatch loop 2

sequence position resource allocator Provided bandwidth/kb/s Bandwidth used/kb/s Total used bandwidth/kb/s 1 3 1000 1000 1000 2 1 500 500 1500 3 2 500 300 1800

dispatch loop 3

sequence position resource allocator Provided bandwidth/kb/s Bandwidth used/kb/s Total used bandwidth/kb/s 1 2 1000 1000 1000 2 3 500 200 1200 3 1 800 600 1800

It will be appreciated that the above description for clarity purposes has described embodiments of the invention in relation to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of the functionality between different functional units or processors may be used without detracting from the invention. Hence, references to specific functional units are only to be seen as references to suitable means for providing the described functionality rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.

The invention can be implemented in any suitable form including hardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. The invention can optionally be implemented at least in part as computer software running on one or more data processors and/or digital signal processors. The elements and components of an embodiment of the invention may be physically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way. Indeed the functionality may be implemented in a single unit, in a plurality of units or as part of other functional units. As such, the invention may be implemented in a single unit, or be physically and functionally distributed between different units and processors.

While this invention has been described in terms of some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific forms set forth herein. Rather, the scope of the present invention is limited only by the appended claims. Additionally, although a feature has been described in relation to particular embodiments, one skilled in the art would recognize that various features of the described embodiments may be combined in accordance with the invention. In the claims, the term comprising does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps.

Furthermore, although individually listed, a plurality of means, components or method steps may be carried out by a single unit or processor; furthermore, although individual features may be included in different claims, these may be advantageously The mere fact that a combination, including the inclusion in different claims, does not imply that a combination of features is not feasible and/or advantageous. Furthermore, the inclusion of a certain feature in one category of claims does not imply a limitation to this claim category, but rather means that the feature is equally applicable to other claim categories as appropriate. Furthermore, the order of features in the claims do not imply any specific order in which the individual features must be worked and in particular the order of individual steps in a method claim do not imply that the individual steps must be performed in this order. Rather, various steps may be performed in any suitable order. Also, references in the singular do not exclude the plural. Thus references to "a", "first", "second" etc do not preclude a plurality.

Claims (28)

1. An apparatus for scheduling data from a network element of a cellular communication system to at least one base station across a common communication link shared among a plurality of cell sectors, said apparatus comprising: a plurality of resource allocators, each resource allocator scheduling data for a single cell sector among the plurality of cell sectors; a resource determination processor configured to dynamically determine resource requirement parameters for at least one cell sector of the plurality of cell sectors; and an allocation processor for dynamically allocating resource availability of the shared communication link to each of said plurality of resource allocators in response to a resource requirement parameter, Wherein the resource allocator schedules data for transmission over the common communication link in response to its allocated resource availability. 2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the allocation processor sequentially allocates resource availability to resource allocators to which resource availability has not been allocated in response to resource utilization by at least one resource allocator to which resource availability has previously been allocated. Spend. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the resource availability is a remaining resource availability. 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein: The allocation processor further determines a first remaining resource availability of the first resource allocator; The first resource allocator responds to the first remaining resource availability scheduling data, and responds to the resource utilization of the scheduled data to determine resource demand parameters; the allocation processor is further responsive to the determined first remaining resource availability and the resource requirement parameter, determining a second remaining resource availability for the second resource allocator; and The second resource allocator schedules data in response to the determined second remaining resource availability. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first resource allocator schedules all pending data associated with the first resource allocator. 6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the allocation processor determines the second remaining resource availability as the first remaining resource availability minus the resource requirement parameter. 7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the allocation processor selects a subset of the plurality of resource allocators for resource allocation cycles in response to a resource requirement parameter. 8. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the allocation processor cyclically changes the sequence of resource allocators for different resource allocations. 9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the allocation processor determines the frequency of at least one resource allocator in the plurality of resource cycles responsive to cell sector priorities associated with the resource allocators. 10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the allocation processor determines an order of the at least one resource allocator in at least one of the plurality of resource cycles responsive to cell sector priorities associated with the resource allocators. 11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the allocation processor determines the cell sector priority of the resource allocator in response to a distribution of service characteristics of the remote units of the cell sector associated with the resource allocator. 12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the allocation processor determines the cell sector priority of the resource allocator in response to combined resource requirements associated with remote units of the cell sector associated with the resource allocator. 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the combined resource requirement is the sum of guaranteed resource allocations for the remote units of the cell sectors associated with the resource allocator. 14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the resource determination processor determines a resource requirement parameter for each of the plurality of resource allocators, the resource requirement parameter being an indication of the amount of data to be scheduled by the corresponding resource allocator ; wherein the allocation processor allocates resource availability to the first resource allocator in response to the resource demand parameter of the first resource allocator. 15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the allocation processor only allocates resource availability to a first set of resource allocators, each of said first set of resource allocators having a value indicating that the resource allocator has a number above a threshold The resource requirement parameters of the data to be scheduled. 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the allocation processor distributes the total resource availability of the shared communication link substantially evenly among the resource allocators within the first set of resource allocators. 17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the allocation processor allocates increased resource availability to the resource allocator taking into account the increased amount of data to be scheduled by the resource allocator. 18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the allocation processor allocates at least a minimum resource availability to each resource allocator having data to be scheduled. 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the allocation processor determines the resource availability of resource allocators to which no resource availability is allocated responsive to the scheduled minimum resource availability of at least one resource allocator. 20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the allocation processor determines the minimum resource availability of the resource allocator responsive to a cell sector priority of a cell sector associated with the resource allocator. 21. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising a processor for determining an unused residual resource associated with the minimum resource availability; and a processor for assigning the unused residual resource to the resource allocator. 22. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the common communication link is an Iub interface connection. 23. The device of claim 1, wherein the cellular communication system is a third generation cellular communication system. 24. A method of scheduling data from a network element of a cellular communication system to at least one base station across a common communication link shared among a plurality of cell sectors, said method comprising the steps of: Each resource allocator of the plurality of resource allocators schedules data for a single cell sector of the plurality of cell sectors; a resource determination processor dynamically determines resource requirement parameters for at least one cell sector of the plurality of cell sectors; and an allocation processor, responsive to a resource requirement parameter, dynamically allocates resource availability of the shared communication link to each of said plurality of resource allocators; and the resource allocator, responsive to its allocated resource availability, schedules Data transmitted by the communication link. 25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the step of dynamically allocating comprises: the allocating processor responding to resource utilization by at least one resource allocator to which resource availability has been previously allocated, sequentially assigning resources to which resource availability has not been allocated The allocator allocates resource availability. 26. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of: the allocation processor determines a first remaining resource availability of the first resource allocator; The first resource allocator responds to the first remaining resource availability scheduling data, and responds to the resource utilization of the scheduled data to determine resource demand parameters; the allocation processor determines a second remaining resource availability for the second resource allocator in response to the first remaining resource availability and the resource requirement parameter; and The second resource allocator is responsive to the second remaining resource availability scheduling data. 27. The method of claim 25, further comprising the step of selecting, by the allocation processor, a subset of the plurality of resource allocators for the resource allocation cycle in response to the resource requirement parameter. 28. The method of claim 24, wherein: The dynamically determining step includes: a resource determining processor determining a resource requirement parameter for each of the plurality of resource allocators, the resource requirement parameter being an indication of an amount of data to be scheduled by the corresponding resource allocator; and The dynamic allocation step includes: the allocation processor allocates resource availability to the first resource allocator in response to the resource demand parameter of the first resource allocator.

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