DE112012002211T5 - Resource allocation control - Google Patents

Abstract

Measures for resource allocation control are provided, for example with allocation of resources based on resource allocation allocation, which allocates at least one allocation of a resource allocation set of allocated resources for transmission to logical channels for which data is available for transmission, according to a priority and a priority Bit rate of each logical channel, and computing a metric indicative of a result of resource allocation regarding at least one of requests of the prioritized bit rates of the logical channels and the available data of the logical channels.

Description

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a resource allocation control. More particularly, the present invention relates to measures (including methods, devices, and computer program products) for resource allocation control.

Background of the invention

In the field of wireless communication systems, resource allocation and resource sharing are important issues. This is particularly due to the fact that a band (ie a frequency spectrum) on which resources are available for a particular communication or system is and thus the resources are limited. Therefore, available resources are to be shared by a variety of communication devices. Such sharing of resources may be manifested in the sharing of logical channels or radio bearers between communication devices.

As a first aspect in this regard, an amount of resources may be allocated or scheduled for a number of communication devices for their shared use. In a cellular communications environment, this may typically be done by an access node or base station for terminals (or a group of terminals) and other communication devices in its coverage area.

As a second aspect in this regard, a sharing balance of resources may be allocated or scheduled for communication devices to define their corresponding relationship of the shared resources for their individual use. In a cellular communications environment, this may be done by an access node or base station for terminals (or a group of terminals) and other communication facilities in their coverage area. Otherwise, this may be in a network controlled device-to-device (D2D) communication in which devices such as user equipment (UE) or terminals communicate directly with one another without the involvement of a network entity such as an access node or base station or cellular communication network to be performed in a coordinated manner between the communication devices participating in the D2D communication.

However, in the field of wireless communication systems, it is a problem to provide appropriate and fair resource allocation control (e.g., for shared logical channels), particularly with respect to individual quality of service (QoS) configurations. Namely, it is problematic to secure resource allocation to communication devices having at least a resource allocation amount and resource sharing weight to comply with QoS settings and / or requests from all logical channels involved in a particular communication.

Such a problem is particularly relevant when the resource allocation amount is controlled by the network while the resource sharing weight is controlled by the communication devices themselves.

In such a case, it is difficult to prevent a communication device from acting in a selfish manner as compared with other communication devices with which resources are shared. In other words, it might be problematic if the network configures QoS settings for logical channels to be shared by communication devices (for example, in a D2D or an uplink communication) that the available and actually achieved bit rates of the logical channels can not be appropriately controlled according to the configured QoS settings.

Furthermore, in such a case, it may be difficult to achieve appropriate coordination of resource allocation and sharing. In other words, it might be problematic to exchange reliable parameters that are appropriate for adequate and fair resource allocation and sharing between communication devices. For example, if a buffer status is used as a parameter for weighting resource allocation between communication devices, as conventionally suggested, this parameter could not indicate how a resource weighting of allocated radio resources would be configured for QoS settings for devices common D2D or uplink communication.

In view of the above, there exists a problem such as specific characteristics relevant to resource allocation control (such as QoS settings of shared logical channels) in a resource allocation control (for example, for common used logical channels) are to be considered appropriately.

Thus, there is a need to further improve resource allocation control.

Summary of the invention

Various embodiments of the present invention are intended to address at least some of the above-mentioned issues and / or problems and disadvantages.

Various embodiments of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims.

According to first embodiments, there is a method of controlling a resource allocation with obtaining a resource allocation allocation comprising at least one allocation of a resource allocation amount of granted resources for transmission, allocating resources from the granted resources to logical channels for which data for Transmission are available, according to a priority and a prioritized bit rate of each logical channel, and calculating a metric indicative of a result of the resource allocation with respect to at least one of requests of the prioritized bit rates of the logical channels and the available data of the logical channels.

For example, in accordance with further developments or modifications thereof, the resource allocation may include a first round of allocating resources to the logical channels in a decreasing order of priority from each logical channel to a prioritized bit rate of each logical channel, and the method may further include Determining comprises, as a result of the first round of resource allocation, whether the granted resources are sufficient to satisfy the requests of the prioritized bit rates or the available data of the logical channels. In this case, the metric calculation may comprise a summation of a logical channel dataset that is not allocated by the first round of resource allocation, and which must be allocated to satisfy the requests of the prioritized bit rates or the available logical channel data, if determined is that the resources given are insufficient.

For example, according to further developments or modifications of these, when it is determined as a result of the first round of resource allocation that the granted resources are sufficient, the resource allocation may further allocate a second round of allocating resources not allocated by the first round of the resource allocation are to the logical channels in a decreasing order of priority from each logical channel. In this case, the metric calculation may include summing an amount of data of the logical channels allocated by the second round of resource allocation.

According to second embodiments, there is a method of controlling a resource allocation with providing, to at least one entity involved in a transmission, a resource allocation arbitration comprising at least one allocation of a resource allocation amount of granted resources for the transmission, at least one of means, a metric indicative of a result of the resource allocation at the at least one device regarding at least one of prioritized bit rate and available logical channel transmission data, evaluating the received at least one metric with respect to the resource allocation allocation, and modifying the resource allocation allocation based on a result of the evaluation, and providing, to the at least one device, the modified resource allocation allotment.

According to third embodiments, an apparatus is provided for use in controlling a resource allocation, having an interface configured to communicate with at least one other device, and a processing system configured to provide, via the interface, a resource allocation allocation including at least one of a resource allocation Allocating a resource allocation amount of issued resources for a transmission, obtaining, allocating resources from the granted resources to logical channels for which data is available for transmission according to a priority and a prioritized bit rate of each logical channel, and a metric that includes Result of the resource allocation with respect to at least one of requests of the prioritized bit rates of the logical channels and the available data of the logical channels indicates to calculate.

For example, according to further developments or modifications thereof, the processing system may be configured to perform a first round of allocating resources to the logical channels in a descending order of priority from each logical channel to a prioritized bit rate of each logical channel As a result of the first round of resource allocation, determine whether the resources allocated to fulfill the Requirements of the prioritized bit rates or the available data of the logical channels are sufficient. In this case, the processing system may further be configured to sum for the metric calculation an amount of data of the logical channels not allocated by the first round of resource allocation and to be assigned to the requests of the prioritized bit rates or data available logical channels when it is determined that the resources granted are insufficient.

According to further developments or modification of these, if it is determined as a result of the first round of resource allocation that the granted resources are sufficient, the processing system may be configured, for example, to perform a second round of allocation of resources not by the first one Are assigned to a resource allocation, to the logical channels in descending order of priority of each logical channel. In this case, the processing system may be further configured to sum, for a metric calculation, an amount of data of the logical channels allocated by the second round of resource allocation.

According to fourth embodiments, there is provided an apparatus for use in controlling a resource allocation, having an interface configured to communicate with at least one other device, and a processing system configured to at least one device involved in a transmission to provide, via the interface, a resource allocation allocation comprising at least one allocation of a resource allocation amount of allocated resources for the transmission, to receive from the at least one device via the interface a metric indicative of a result of the resource allocation to the at least one device with respect to at least one of requests of the prioritized bit rates and available transmission data of the logical channels indicates to evaluate the received at least one metric with respect to the resource allocation allocation, and the resource allocation and to provide the at least one device with the modified resource allocation allocation via the interface.

According to fifth embodiments, there is provided computer software adapted to perform the method of the first or second embodiments.

According to sixth embodiments, there is provided a computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon, the computer readable instructions being executable by a computerized device to cause the computerized device to provide a method of control a resource allocation according to the method of the first or second embodiments.

Based on embodiments of the present invention, a resource allocation controller is provided. More specifically, measures and mechanisms for resource allocation control (which may be applicable to, for example, shared logical channels) are provided by way of embodiments of the present invention.

According to seventh embodiments, an apparatus is provided which is substantially as described with reference to the attached drawings.

Thus, an improvement is achieved by methods, devices, and computer program products that enable resource allocation control.

Brief description of the drawings

For a more complete understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, reference is now made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

1 a schematic diagram of an application scenario, are applicable to the embodiments of the present invention;

2 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure executable on or by a terminal according to embodiments of the present invention;

3 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a metric calculation procedure executable on or by a terminal according to embodiments of the present invention;

4 12 is a schematic diagram for explaining a relationship between data volumes of transmission data and data quantities according to prioritized bit rates and allocated bit rates in the case of enough resources available for resource allocation control according to embodiments of the present invention;

5 12 is a schematic diagram for explaining a relationship between data amounts of transmission data and data amounts according to prioritized bit rates and allocated bit rates in the case of a shortage of available resources for a resource allocation control according to embodiments of the present invention;

6 FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating further examples of a procedure executable on or through a network entity according to embodiments of the present invention; FIG.

7 a signaling diagram of a procedure according to embodiments of the present invention; and

8th a block diagram illustrating devices according to embodiments of the present invention.

Detailed description of the invention

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to specific, non-limiting examples. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention is not limited to these examples and can be broadly applied.

It should be noted that the following description refers mainly to specifications used as non-limiting examples of particular network configurations and network developments. In particular, for the applicability of the described embodiments, cellular communication networks in conjunction with LTE (including LTE Advanced) are used as non-limiting examples. As such, the following description of embodiments pertains specifically to terminology that is directly related thereto. Such terminology will now be used in the context of the presented, non-limiting examples, and of course does not limit the invention in any way. Rather, any other communication systems, tapes, network configurations, or system deployments may be used as long as they conform to the features described herein.

Hereinafter, various embodiments and implementations of the present invention and embodiments will be described using several alternatives. It should be noted in general that, according to certain requirements and constraints, all of these various alternatives may be provided alone or in any conceivable combination (including combinations of individual features of these various alternatives).

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, mechanisms, measures, and facilities for resource allocation control (which are applicable, for example, to shared logical channels) are generally provided.

1 Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario to which embodiments of the present invention are applicable.

As in 1 4, it can be assumed that four terminals UE1, UE2, UE3 and UE4 are in a cell (shown by a dashed line) of a cellular communication network, such as an LTE network, for example. An eNB represents an access node or base station of the communication network that controls the served terminals in its coverage area. The terminals UE1 to UE4 are capable of communicating over the cellular communication network, that is via the eNB, and the terminal UE3 is also capable of over a local area network, such as WLAN, whose access point is designated by AP , to communicate.

According to the non-limiting scenario of 1 For example, the terminals UE1 and UE2 can establish a (network / eNB-controlled) D2D communication with each other, the terminal can communicate (network / eNB controlled) uplink with a WLAN access point (which, for example, for the purpose of outsourcing a can serve cellular traffic), and the UE4 can establish (network / eNB controlled) uplink communication with the cellular communication network, such as LTE. The D2D communication can be made on a licensed band / spectrum (of the cellular communication network, such as LTE) or unlicensed band / spectrum, the uplink WLAN communication can be made on an unlicensed band / spectrum (of the WLAN), and the cellular uplink communication can be established on a licensed band / spectrum (the cellular communication network, such as LTE). To establish and operate such communications, signaling procedures could be performed over the signaling links shown.

An unlicensed band may be at one or more of the 2.4 GHz range, the 6 GHz range, and any sub-gigahertz ISM range, and the local area network may based on any IEEE 802.11 specification (including, for example, 802.11ah, 802.11a, 802.11ac, and the like).

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to methods, procedures, and functions as well as structural arrangements and configurations.

To facilitate a better understanding of the present teachings, the following considerations are made in terms of QoS settings and prioritization of logical channels on which the present invention and its embodiments are based.

In current 3GPP specifications, such as for LTE, a QoS parameter called Prioritized Bit Rate (PBR) is specified for uplink communication per radio bearer. The PBR is the data rate provided to a logical channel before any transmission resource is assigned to a lower priority logical channel. The PBR is introduced to avoid a so-called "uplink scheduling starvation" problem that can occur for a terminal with multiple configured radio bearers. The PBR is not necessarily related to a guaranteed bit rate (GBR) parameter that is signaled to the eNB via the S1 interface, that is, a PBR may also be defined for non-GBR radio bearers.

Accordingly, a rate control functionality is introduced per carrier for sharing uplink resources between radio bearers. The uplink rate control function may, for example, be controlled by the RRC by assigning each carrier a priority and a PBR. The uplink rate control function ensures that each terminal handles its radio bearer (s) so that all radio bearers are serviced first in descending order of priority up to their corresponding PBR and all radio bearers are subsequently serviced in descending order of priority for the remaining resources.

2 FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure executable on or by a terminal according to embodiments of the present invention. FIG.

As in 2 a procedure according to the embodiments of the present invention, an operation ( 210 ) of obtaining a resource allocation allocation comprising at least an allocation of a resource allocation amount of granted resources for transmission, an operation ( 220 ) allocating resources from the granted resources to logical channels for which data is available for transmission according to a priority and a prioritized bit rate of each logical channel, and an operation ( 230 ) of calculating a metric indicative of a result of the resource allocation with respect to at least one of requests of the prioritized bit rates of the logical channels and the available data of the logical channels.

According to embodiments of the present invention, in addition to or instead of allocating resource allocation amount of granted resources for transmission (regarding a possible first stage resource allocation), the resource allocation arbitration may allocate resource sharing balancing of granted resources between entities involved in the transmission (relating to a possible second stage of a resource allocation).

According to embodiments of the present invention, the resource allocation operation may include a first round of allocating resources to the logical channels in a decreasing order of priority from each logical channel to a prioritized bit rate of each logical channel or the first round of allocating resources together with a second one Round of assigning resources that are not assigned by the first round of resource allocation, to the logical channels in a decreasing order of priorities of each logical channel.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the computed (terminal-side) metric may be provided between a terminal / device and a network entity, such as an access node or base station, to allow the access node or base station to take possible corrective actions regarding a first stage of resource allocation and / or to enable resource sharing of a second level among the devices, and / or between two terminals / devices to allow them to perform a pair reassignment in the second level resource sharing.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the computed (terminal side) metric may be sent specifically to an access node or a base station of the serving cell of the cellular communication network (from which the resource allocation arbitration could be received in advance) (either proactively, proper-periodically, or on request or request). Then a modified one could A resource allocation allocation comprising at least one of allocating a resource allocation amount of granted resources for transmission and allocating a resource sharing balance of granted resources between devices involved in the transmission from the access node or the base station of the serving cell and the subsequent resource allocation (for D2D or UL communications) could be performed based on the modified resource allocation allocation.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the calculated (terminal-side) metric could be sent specifically to a device, that is, another device involved in a D2D communication to which the transmission relates. Then, a modified resource allocation allocation comprising an allocation of resource sharing weighting of granted resources with the device could be obtained from the device, that is, the terminal. Subsequent resource allocation (for D2D communications) could then be performed based on the modified resource allocation allocation. Additionally or alternatively, a corresponding (terminal-side) metric of the device could be received from the device, a modified resource allocation allocation comprising an allocation of resource resource weighting of granted resources with the device based on the calculated metric and the received metric, created locally, and at the facility will be provided. Subsequent resource allocation (for D2D communications) could then be performed based on the modified resource allocation allocation for both the affected terminal and the other terminal in the communication.

3 FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a metric calculation procedure executable on or by a terminal according to embodiments of the present invention. FIG.

The procedure according to 3 is based on a MAC PDU Assembly and Multiplexing ("MAC PDU") operation that performs a logical channel prioritization functionality.

Such prioritization of a logical channel in MAC PDU assembly and multiplexing, on which embodiments of the present invention are based, is applicable when a new transmission is performed or is to be performed.

Specifically, scheduling of data (such as D2D and / or uplink transmission data) may be controlled based on at least one priority and a prioritized bit rate (eg, by an RRC), the parameters for each logical channel on which data to be transmitted, signaled and assigned.

Each terminal (UE) should maintain a variable Bj for each logical channel j. The variable Bj should be initialized to zero when the associated logical channel is created and should be incremented by the product PBR × TTI duration for each TTI, where PBR is the prioritized bit rate of logical channel j. The value of Bj can be negative, but should never exceed a bucket size, and if the value of Bj is greater than the bucket size of logical channel j, it should be set to the bucket size. The bucket size of a logical channel is equal to the product PBR × BSD, where BSD is the bucket size duration of the logical channel j, and PBR and BSD are configurable by higher levels.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the terminal may perform a logical channel prioritization procedure in MAC PDU assembly and multiplexing when a new transmission is performed or is to be performed.

In a first round of resource allocation, as in 3 designated by step 1, resources are assigned to logical channels for which data is available for transmission, in a decreasing order of priority from each logical channel to the prioritized bit rate of each logical channel. That is, all logical channels with Bj> 0 are allocated resources in decreasing order of priority. When the PBR of a logical channel (or radio bearer) is set to "infinite", the terminal should allocate resources for all data available on that radio bearer for transmission before fulfilling the PBR of the lower priority radio bearer. After that, as in 3 is represented by step 2, the terminal shall decrease the value of Bj by the total size of MAC SDUs (i.e., the allocatable size or payload of the MAC PDU) presented to the logical channel j in step 1.

After the first round of resource allocation, as a result of the first round of resource allocation, it is determined (whether) the granted resources to meet the requirements of the prioritized bit rates or available data of the logical channels are sufficient. That is, it can be determined (or discriminated) whether the MAC PDU is populated with data before servicing either a minimum of a PBR amount of data or available data per each logical channel.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, the requests of the prioritized bit rates or the available data of the logical channels may be satisfied if the prioritized bit rate is provided for each logical channel where the data available for transmission match or equal a data amount according to the prioritized bit rate and all available data is allocated for each logical channel in which an amount of data according to the prioritized bit rate exceeds the data available for transmission.

If the determination (distinction) is positive, that is, the resources granted are insufficient to satisfy the requests of the prioritized bit rates or the available data of the logical channels, then a metric (referred to as TX_Metric) is calculated which is a result of the resource allocation for at least indicates one of requests of the prioritized bit rates of the logical channels and the available data of the logical channels. According to embodiments of the present invention, the metric in this case may be assigned by summing an amount of data of the logical channels not allocated by the first round of resource allocation and to satisfy the requests of the prioritized bit rates or the available data of the logical channels, be calculated.

If the determination (discrimination) is negative, that is, the granted resources are sufficient to satisfy the requests of the prioritized bit rates or the available data of the logical channels, the procedure continues as follows.

In a second round of resource allocation, the in 3 designated by step 3, resources not allocated by the first round of resource allocation are assigned to logical channels for which data for transmission is still available, in a decreasing order of priority of each logical channel. That is, if any resource remains, all logical channels are serviced in a strict decreasing order of priority (regardless of the value of Bj) until either the logical channel or resource allocation data (that is, the MAC PDU allocable size or payload) whatever is exhausted, whatever comes first. Logical channels configured with the same priority should be served the same way this turn.

After the second round of resource allocation, a metric (referred to as TX_Metric) is calculated that indicates a result of the resource allocation in terms of at least one of requests of the prioritized bit rates of the logical channels and the available data of the logical channels. According to embodiments of the present invention, the metric in this case may be calculated by summing a data amount of the logical channels allocated by the second round of resource allocation, that is, a collected data amount of step 3.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the aforementioned metric (TX_Metric) may refer to any of D2D communication between terminals, thus representing a D2D_Metric, and uplink communication between a terminal and a network entity, such as an access node or a base station of a cellular communication network (for example, eNB of LTE) or an access point of a local area network (for example, AP of WLAN), thus representing a UL_Metric.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the metric calculation may be based on the amount of data thus calculated, and may additionally include, for example, averaging the summed data set of the logical channels and / or forming a ratio of the (averaged) summed data set to a set of the granted resources.

According to embodiments of the present invention, during each (D2D or UL) transmission (or preparation thereof) and the corresponding MAC PDU assembly and multiplexing, the terminal may calculate the sum of amounts of data as described above while the terminal in parallel averages them update summed values over a number of previous (D2D or UL) transfers. For example, such means may be determined over a certain period of time or using a moving averaging filter, where new_mean = (1-alfa) × instantaneous_transmission + alfa × old_means. The length of the averaging may be controlled (optimized) by the network to adequately balance the accuracy of the control and the required signaling between the communication devices (including, for example, UEs and eNB / AP).

For explaining details of the metric calculation according to embodiments of the present invention is disclosed 4 and 5 Referenced.

In 4 and 5 For each of a number of four logical channels (j = 1 ... 4) each having a predetermined priority, a PBR request is represented by a box having a thick black line, and becomes an amount of data or bitrate represented by a gray rectangle for transmission.

4 FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram for explaining a relationship between data amounts of transmission data and data amounts according to prioritized bit rates and allocated bit rates in case of enough resources available for resource allocation control according to embodiments of the present invention. FIG. This means, 4 represents a configuration according to a negative determination (discrimination) in the procedure of FIG 3 represents.

The white block arrows indicate resources used in the first round of a resource allocation (i.e., in step 1 of FIG 3 ) and the black block arrows indicate resources used in the second round of resource allocation (that is, in step 3 of FIG 3 ) are assigned. How out 4 As can be seen, there are no requests for prioritized bit rates or available transmission data after the two rounds of resource allocation. The metric according to the embodiments of the present invention will be positive and the (absolute) value of this will be in relation to the (sum of) the length of the black block arrows. As indicated above, such a length-related sum may also be averaged and / or used to form a ratio to an amount of issued resources, for example the (sum of) lengths of the black and white block arrows.

5 FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram for explaining a relationship between data volumes of transmission data and data amounts according to prioritized bit rates and allocated bit rates in the case of a shortage of available resources for resource allocation control according to embodiments of the present invention. FIG. This means, 5 represents a configuration according to a positive determination (distinction) in the procedure of 3 represents.

The white block arrows indicate resources used in the first round of resource allocation (that is, in step 1 of FIG 3 ) and the gray strikethrough block arrows indicate resources that are not allocated in the first round of resource allocation, that is, the resources that still need to be allocated to meet the PBR requirements of the logical channels. How out 5 The metrics according to the embodiments of the present invention will be negative, and the (absolute) value thereof will be related to the (sum of) lengths of the gray strikethrough block arrows be. As indicated above, such length-related sums may be averaged and / or used to form a ratio to an amount of the issued resources, for example the (sum of) lengths of the white block arrows.

6 FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a procedure executable on or by a network entity, for example an eNB, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. FIG.

As in 6 1, a procedure according to embodiments of the present invention may include an operation ( 610 ) of providing, to at least one device involved in a transmission, that is a terminal, a resource allocation allocation comprising at least an allocation of a resource allocation amount of granted resources for the transmission, an operation ( 620 ) of receiving, from the at least one device, a metric indicative of a result of the resource allocation at the at least one device, regarding at least one of requests of prioritized bit rates and available transmission data of logical channels, an operation ( 630 ) of evaluating the received at least one metric with respect to the resource allocation allocation, and an operation ( 640 ) of modifying the resource allocation allocation based on a result of the evaluation and provisioning to which at least one device, the modified resource allocation allocation, comprises.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the metric evaluation and the corresponding resource allocation allocation modification may be at a first level of resource allocation, that is, allocating a resource amount to one or more terminals (for D2D or UL communications) and / or a second level resource allocation, that is, to allocate a resource sharing weight between at least two terminals (for D2D or UL communications).

That is, after receiving the metrics from multiple (especially two) devices, the eNB may determine the match of one Evaluate currently available resource allocation with the QoS settings of the involved logical channel or channels. Namely, the eNB is able to detect a possible imbalance in the achieved QoS of the configured logical channels (or radio bearers) by individual devices, for example in D2D communication and / or an excess amount of resources or an insufficient amount Recognizing resources assigned to the multiple (especially two) devices as a whole. The eNB may then respond either by reassigning more or less radio resources to the devices as a whole or by sending a relative resource sharing message to direct a change in the current resource sharing conditions between the devices according to given relative amounts.

Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention provide a mechanism for the serving or active network entity to control how well a QoS is provisioned (QoS settings are met), in a total resource allocation (a first level), and in a shared resource allocation Resource (a second stage), in which the network entity may or may not be directly involved.

According to embodiments of the present invention regarding a first stage of resource allocation, the metric evaluation may include adding all received metrics and basing the modification on the resulting sum of the metrics. If the sum is negative, indicating that insufficient resources are available for the one or more terminals, the resource allocation amount of the allocated resources for transmission may be increased. On the other hand, if the sum is positive and greater than a predetermined threshold, indicating that (more than) enough resources are available for the one or more terminals, the resource allocation amount of the allocated resources for transmission may be reduced.

According to embodiments of the present invention regarding a second stage of resource allocation, the metric evaluation may include forming an absolute value of a difference between received metrics of a pair of terminals involved in a (D2D) transmission. If the absolute value is greater than a predetermined threshold, an allocation of resource sharing weight of granted resources to the lower metric device may be increased, while allocating the shared resource weighting of granted resources to the higher metric device may be reduced. Thereby, the resource sharing relation between the devices can be balanced. If the absolute value is less than a predetermined threshold, no action is required because it is assumed that the resource sharing relation between the devices is properly balanced.

7 shows a signaling diagram of a procedure according to embodiments of the present invention.

In 7 Assuming a scenario in which two devices represent a D2D pair, that is, the relevant transmission for which to allocate resources, relates to a D2D connection between device # 1 and device # 2. It should be noted, however, that another scenario is equally conceivable and applicable. For example, the two devices may be two terminals that attempt to transmit UL data on corresponding UL transmissions to the eNB using a co-allocated resource pool.

As in 7 1, the eNB may configure corresponding (D2D) bearers (or logical channels) to the two devices involved in the corresponding transmission. Such a configuration may include a corresponding resource allocation allocation and setting of data of the corresponding logical channel or channels. Following a request from the eNB, the two institutions may report their respective metrics (referred to herein as D2D_Metrics) to the eNB. Depending on the result of an evaluation of the two received metrics, the eNB may be provided with correspondingly modified resource allocation assignments. Such a modified resource allocation allocation may relate to the resource amount for both devices to be signaled to both devices and / or the resource sharing weight between the two devices to be signaled to at least one of the two devices.

As described above, according to embodiments of the present invention, the metrics of the individual devices may also be exchanged between the devices as such without participation of the eNB or the like.

While according to 7 Although it is shown that the signaling is based on the RRC layer, the present invention and its embodiments are not limited thereto, but any other conceivable way of signaling is equally applicable. Likewise, the use of the PDCCH and the use of RNTI to provide a (modified) resource allocation allocation should be construed as a non-limiting example of the invention.

The above-described procedures and functions may be implemented by corresponding functional elements, processors, a processing system, and the like as described below. The processing system may be in the form of a processing circuit having one or more processors, embodied, for example, as a chip or a chipset, and may include one or more memories and one or more interfaces.

While in the foregoing embodiments of the present invention have been described primarily with reference to methods, procedures, and functions, corresponding embodiments of the present invention cover equally devices, network nodes, and systems that include both software and / or hardware.

Corresponding embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG 8th For brevity, reference is made to the detailed description of the corresponding methods and operations in accordance with FIG 2 . 3 . 6 and 7 as well as the underlying arrangement pursuant to 1 Reference is made.

In 8th , which illustrates a simplified block diagram, the solid line blocks are basically configured to perform the respective operations as described above. The entirety of the solid line blocks is basically configured to perform the methods and operations described above. Regarding 8th It should be noted that the individual blocks represent corresponding functional blocks that implement a corresponding function, process or procedure. Such functional blocks are implementation independent, that is, can be implemented by any type of software or hardware. The arrows and lines interconnecting individual blocks represent an operational link between them, which may be a physical and / or logical coupling, which is implementation independent (e.g., wired or wireless), and any number of those not shown Intermediate functional units may have. The direction of an arrow represents the direction in which certain operations are performed and / or the direction in which particular data is transmitted.

Furthermore, in 8th only the functional blocks related to any of the methods, procedures and functions described above are illustrated. Those skilled in the art will recognize the presence of any other conventional functional blocks necessary for operation of the corresponding structural assemblies, such as a power supply, a central processing unit, corresponding memory, and the like. Among other things, memories for storing programs or program instructions for controlling the individual functional units are provided to operate as described above.

8th FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating devices in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. FIG.

In view of the above, the devices thus described are 10 and 20 (and 30 ) suitable for use in practicing the embodiments of the present invention as described herein. The device described 10 (or 30 ) may represent (or part of) a device, a terminal or user equipment UE as described above, and may be configured to perform a procedure and / or perform functionality as described above in connection with any of 2 . 3 and 7 is described. The device described 20 may represent (or part of) a network entity, that is, a base station or access node or controller, such as, for example, a NodeB, an eNB, an RNC, or the like as described above, and may be configured to perform a procedure and or to exercise any of the functionality described above in connection with any of the 6 and 7 is described.

As in 8th 1, according to the embodiments of the present invention comprises a device, a terminal or a user device 10 (or 30 ) a processor 11 , a store 12 and an interface 13 that over a bus 15 or the like, and includes a network entity 20 a processor 21 , a store 22 and an interface 23 by a bus 25 or the like are connected. The device, the terminal or user device 10 can with the network entity 20 over a line or connection 40 be connected, the device, the terminal or user device 10 can with the device, the terminal or the user device 30 over a line or connection 50 be connected, and the device, the terminal or user device 30 can be optional with the network entity 20 over a line or connection 60 be connected.

The stores 12 and 22 may store appropriate programs that are believed to comprise program instructions that, when executed by associated processors 11 and 21 allow the corresponding electronic device or device to operate in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention. The processors 11 and 21 and / or the interfaces 13 and 23 may also include a modem or the like to communicate over the (wired or wireless) connection 40 to facilitate. The interfaces 13 and 23 may comprise a suitable transceiver coupled to one or more antennas or communication devices for (wired or wireless) communication with the associated or connected devices. The interfaces 13 and 23 are generally configured to communicate with another device, that is, the interface of it.

In general, the corresponding devices / devices (and / or parts of them) may represent means for performing respective operations and / or exercising corresponding functionalities and / or the corresponding devices (and / or parts thereof) may have functions for performing corresponding operation and / or or to exercise appropriate functionalities.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the interface is 13 configured for communication with at least one other device. The processor 11 is configured to over the interface 13 obtain a resource allocation allocation comprising at least one allocation of a resource allocation amount of granted resources for transmission to allocate resources from the granted resources to logical channels for which data is available for transmission according to a priority and a prioritized bit rate of each logical channel; and to calculate a metric indicative of a result of the resource allocation with respect to at least one of requests of the prioritized bit rates of the logical channels and the available data of the logical channels.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the processor 11 be configured to perform a first round of allocating resources to the logical channels in a decreasing order of priority from each logical channel to a prioritized bit rate of each logical channel to determine, as a result of the first round of resource allocation, whether the granted resources are sufficient to satisfy the requests of the prioritized bit rates or the available data of the logical channels, and to sum, for a metric calculation, a data set of the logical channels that is not allocated by the first round of the resource allocation, and which must be assigned to satisfy the requests of the prioritized bit rates or the available data of the logical channels, if it is determined that the granted resources are insufficient.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the processor 11 be configured to perform a second round of allocating resources not allocated by the first round of resource allocation, to the logical channels in decreasing order of priority of each logical channel, and an amount of data of the logical channels designated by the second round of resource allocation is allocated to sum for a metric calculation.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the processor 11 be configured to, for a metric calculation, at least to average the accumulated data volume of the logical channels or to form a relationship with an amount of the granted resources.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the processor 11 be configured to over the interface 13 the calculated metric to an access node 20 and from the access node 20 over the interface 13 obtain a modified resource allocation allocation comprising at least one of allocating a resource allocation amount of granted resources for transmission and allocating a resource sharing weight of granted resources between devices involved in the transmission.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the processor 11 be configured to over the interface 13 the calculated metric to a facility 30 which is involved in the transmission, and of the device 30 over the interface 13 obtain a modified resource allocation allocation that includes allocating resource resource allocation of granted resources to the device.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the processor 11 be configured to by a facility 30 that is involved in the transmission over the interface 13 to receive the metric of the device to a create a modified resource allocation allocation that includes allocating resource resource allocation of granted resources to the device based on the calculated metric and the received metric, and over the interface 13 the modified resource allocation allocation to the device 30 provide.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the processor 11 , the memory 12 and the interface 13 may be implemented as individual modules, chipsets, or the like, or one or more of them may be implemented as a common module, chipset, or the like.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the interface is 23 configured for communication with at least one other device. The processor 21 is configured to be at least one device 10 that is involved in a transmission over the interface 23 provide a resource allocation allocation comprising at least one allocation of a resource allocation amount of granted resources for transmission to from the at least one device 10 over the interface 23 receive a metric indicative of a result of the resource allocation at the at least one device in terms of at least one of prioritized bit rate requests and available logical channel transmit data to evaluate the received at least one metric with respect to the resource allocation arbitration, and the resource allocation arbitration based on a result of the evaluation, and the at least one device 10 over the interface 23 provide the modified resource allocation allocation.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the processor 21 be configured to add all received metrics for the metric evaluation, and for the resource allocation allocation modification, increase the resource allocation amount of granted resources for transmission according to the addition result when the addition result is negative and the resource allocation amount of granted resources for the transmission according to the addition result when the addition result is positive and greater than a predetermined threshold.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the processor 21 be configured to form, for the metric evaluation, an absolute value of a difference between two received metrics of a pair of devices involved in the transmission, and to allocate resource allocation weighting of granted resources to the lower metric device for the resource allocation allocation modification and to reduce resource allocation weight allocation of allocated resources for the higher metric device if the absolute value is greater than a predetermined threshold.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the processor 21 , the memory 22 and the interface 23 may be implemented as individual modules, chipsets, or the like, or one or more of them may be implemented as a common module, chipset, or the like.

According to embodiments of the present invention, a system may include any conceivable combination of the devices / devices thus illustrated and other network elements configured to cooperate as described above.

Generally, it should be noted that corresponding functional blocks or elements may be implemented by any known means, either in hardware and / or software, as described above, as long as it is only capable of performing the described functions of the corresponding parts. The mentioned method steps may be implemented in individual functional blocks or by individual devices, or one or more of the method steps may be implemented in a single functional block or by a single device.

In general, any method step may be implemented as software or hardware without changing the idea of the present invention. Such software may be software code independent, and may be specified using any known or future developed programming language, such as, for example, Java, C ++, C, and assembler as long as the functionality defined by the method steps is preserved. Such hardware may be independent of the type of hardware, and may be implemented using any known or future developed hardware technology or hybrids thereof, such as MOS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor), CMOS (Complementary MOS), BiMOS (Bipolar -MOS), BiCMOS (Bipolar CMOS), ECL (Emitter Coupled Logic), TTL (Transistor Transistor Logic), etc., using, for example, ASIC (Application Specific IC (Integrated Circuit)) components, FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) components, CPLD (complex programmable logic device) components or DSP (Digital Signal Processor) components. A device may be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset or a (hardware) module comprising such a chip or chipset; however, this does not preclude the possibility that functionality of a device / module or module, rather than implementation by hardware, will be implemented as software in a (software) module, such as a computer program or computer program product, executing executable software code portions on one or more processors or a processing system. A device may be considered as a device or as a compilation of more than one device / device, whether they functionally cooperate with each other or are functionally independent of one another, but are provided in the same housing.

Devices and devices may be implemented as individual devices, but this does not exclude that they are implemented in a distributed manner in the system as long as the functionality of the device is preserved. Such and similar principles are considered to be known to those skilled in the art.

Software in the sense of the present description comprises software codes comprising a code device or sections or a computer program or a computer program product for performing the corresponding functions, as well as software (or a computer program or a computer program product) stored on a tangible medium, such as a computer is embodied on the corresponding data structure or code devices / sections, or is embodied in a signal or a chip, potentially during processing thereof.

The present invention also covers any conceivable combination of method steps and operations described above, and any conceivable combination of nodes, devices, modules, or elements described above, as long as the methodology and structural arrangement concepts described above are applicable ,

In view of the foregoing, the present invention and / or embodiments thereof provide resource allocation control measures. Such measures may include allocating resources based on a resource allocation allocation comprising at least one allocation of a resource allocation amount of granted resources for transmission to logical channels for which data is available for transmission according to a priority and a prioritized bit rate of each logical channel; and calculating a metric indicative of a result of the resource allocation with respect to at least requests of the prioritized bit rates of the logical channels and the available data of the logical channels. Such measures may also include receiving, from at least one device, a metric indicative of a result of the resource allocation at the at least one device regarding at least one of prioritized bit rate requests and available logical channel transmit data, evaluating the received at least one metric Referring to a resource allocation allocation, and modifying the resource allocation allocation based on a result of the evaluation.

Although the present invention and / or embodiments are described with reference to the examples of the attached drawings, it is to be understood that they are not limited thereto. It will be more apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be modified in many ways without departing from the scope of the inventive idea disclosed herein.

List of acronyms and abbreviations:

• 3GPP

  3rd Generation Partnership Project

  BSD

  bucket size duration, bucket size duration

  BSR

  bucket status report, bucket status report

  D2D

  device-to-device, device-to-device

  eNB

  evolved NodeB

  EPC

  evolved packet core

  GBR

  guaranteed bit rate, guaranteed bitrate

  IEEE

  Institute of electrical and electronic engineers

  ISM

  industrial scientific medical; industrial, scientific, medical

  LTE

  long term evolution

  MAC

  medium access control, media access control

  PBR

  prioritized bit rate, prioritized bit rate

  PDCCH

  packet data control channel, packet data control channel

  PDU

  packet data unit, packet data unit

  QoS

  quality of service, quality of service

  RNC

  radio network controller, radio network controller

  RNTI

  radio network temporary identifier, temporary network identification

  RRC

  radio resource control, radio resource control

  S1

  Interface to connect eNB with EPC

  SDU

  service data unit, service data unit

  TTI

  transmission timing interval, transmission time interval

  UE

  user equipment, user device

  UL

  uplink

  WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS

  wireless local area network, wireless local area network

Claims (23)

A method of controlling a resource allocation, the method comprising: Obtaining a resource allocation allocation comprising at least one allocation of a resource allocation amount of granted resources for a transmission; Allocating resources from the granted resources to logical channels for which data is available for transmission according to a priority and a prioritized bit rate of each logical channel; and Calculating a metric indicative of a result of the resource allocation with respect to at least one of requests of the prioritized bit rates of the logical channels and the available data of the logical channels. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource allocation comprises a first round of allocating resources to the logical channels in a decreasing order of priority from each logical channel to a prioritized bit rate of each logical channel, the method further comprising: Determining, as a result of the first round of resource allocation, whether the granted resources are sufficient to satisfy the requests of the prioritized bit rates or the available data of the logical channels; and the metric calculation comprises a summation of a data set of the logical channels that is not allocated by the first round of the resource allocation, and which must be assigned to satisfy the requests of the prioritized bit rates or the available data of the logical channels, if it is determined that the resources are insufficient. The method of claim 2, wherein when it is determined that the resources granted are sufficient, the resource allocation comprises a second round of allocating resources not allocated by the first round of the resource allocation to the logical channels in a decreasing order of priority of each logical channel, and the metric calculation comprises summing an amount of data of the logical channels allocated by the second round of resource allocation. A method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein at least one of the following is applicable: the metric calculation further comprises at least averaging the summed data set of the logical channels or forming a ratio to a set of the granted resources; the granted resources are represented by a media access control protocol data unit, and a set of the granted resources is represented by an assignable size of the media access control protocol data unit; and the requests of the prioritized bit rates or the available data of the logical channels are met if the prioritized bit rate is provided for each logical channel where the available data for transmission equals or exceeds an amount of data according to the prioritized bit rate and all available data for each logical channel in which an amount of data according to the prioritized bit rate exceeds the available data for transmission. Method according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the method further comprises at least one of: Transmitting the calculated metric to an access node and obtaining, from the access node, a modified resource allocation allocation comprising at least one of allocating a resource allocation amount of granted resources for transmission and allocating a resource sharing weight of granted resources between devices involved in the transmission ; and Sending the calculated metric to a device involved in the transmission and receiving, from the device, a modified resource allocation allocation comprising an allocation of resource sharing weighting of granted resources with the device, and / or receiving, from a device included in the transmission is involved, the metric of the device, creating a modified resource allocation allocation comprising allocating a resource sharing weight of granted resources to the device based on the calculated metric and the received metric, and providing the modified resource allocation allocation to the device. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the method is on or through a Terminal is executable, and at least one of the following is applicable: the transmission shall be part of a device-to-device communication between terminals or an uplink communication between a terminal and an access node; and the terminal is configured for operation according to Long Term Evolution specifications. A method of controlling a resource allocation, the method comprising: Providing, to at least one device involved in a transmission, a resource allocation allocation comprising at least one allocation of a resource allocation amount of granted resources for transmission; Receiving, from the at least one device, a metric indicative of a result of a resource allocation at the at least one device regarding at least one of prioritized bit rate requests and available logical channel transmit data; Evaluating the received at least one metric with respect to the resource allocation allocation; and Modifying the resource allocation allocation based on a result of the evaluation, and providing, to the at least one device, the modified resource allocation allocation. The method of claim 7, wherein the metric evaluation comprises adding all the received metrics, and the resource allocation allocation modification increasing the resource allocation amount of granted resources for transmission according to the addition result when the addition result is negative and decreasing the resource allocation amount of granted resources for the transmission according to the addition result when the addition result is positive and greater than a predetermined threshold. The method of claim 7 or 8, wherein the metric evaluation comprises forming an absolute value of a difference between two received metrics of a pair of devices involved in the transmission, and the resource allocation allocation modification comprises increasing an allocation of resource shared resource allocation resources for the device for the higher metric device, if the absolute value is greater than a predetermined threshold, the lower metric and decreasing allocation of resource sharing weighting of granted resources for the higher metric device comprises. Method according to one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the method is executable on or by an access node, and at least one of the following is applicable: the transmission shall be part of a device-to-device communication between terminals or an uplink communication between a terminal and an access node; and the access node is configured for an operation according to Long Term Evolution specifications. Apparatus for use in controlling a resource allocation, the apparatus comprising: an interface configured to communicate with at least one other device; and a processing system configured to: receive, via the interface, a resource allocation grant comprising at least an allocation of a resource allocation amount of granted resources for a transmission; Assign resources from the granted resources to logical channels for which data is available for transmission according to a priority and a prioritized bit rate for each logical channel; and calculate a metric indicating a result of the resource allocation with respect to at least one of requests of the prioritized bit rates of the logical channels and the available data of the logical channels. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processing system is configured to: perform a first round of allocating resources to the logical channels in a descending order of priority from each logical channel to a prioritized bit rate of each logical channel; determine, as a result of the first round of resource allocation, whether the granted resources are sufficient to satisfy the requests of the prioritized bit rates or the available data of the logical channels; and for a metric calculation, summing an amount of data of the logical channels that are not allocated by the first round of resource allocation and that must be assigned to satisfy the requests of the prioritized bit rates or the available data of the logical channels, if it is determined that the granted resources are not sufficient. The method of claim 12, wherein when it is determined that the granted resources are sufficient, the processing system is configured to: perform a second round of allocating resources not allocated by the first round of resource allocation to the logical channels in a decreasing order of priority of each logical channel; and for a metric calculation, summing an amount of data of the logical channels assigned by the second round of resource allocation. Apparatus according to claim 12 or 13, wherein at least one of the following is applicable: the processing system is configured to perform, for a metric calculation, at least averaging the summed data amount of the logical channels or shaping a ratio to an amount of the granted resources; the granted resources are represented by a media access control protocol data unit and a set of the granted resources is represented by the assignable size of the media access control protocol data unit; and the requests of the prioritized bit rates or the available data of the logical channels are met if the prioritized bit rate is provided for each logical channel where the available data for transmission equals or exceeds an amount of data according to the prioritized bit rate and all available data for each logical channel in which an amount of data according to the prioritized bit rate exceeds the available data for transmission. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processing system is further configured to perform at least one of the following: Transmitting, via the interface, the calculated metric to an access node, and receiving, from the access node via the interface, a modified resource allocation allocation including at least one of allocating a resource allocation amount of granted resources for transmission and allocating a resource sharing weight of granted resources between devices involved in the transfer includes; and Sending, via the interface, the calculated metric to a device involved in the transmission, and receiving, from the device via the interface, a modified resource allocation allocation comprising an allocation of resource sharing weight of granted resources with the device, and / or Receiving, from a device involved in the transmission, via the interface, the metrics of the device, creating a modified resource allocation allocation that includes allocating resource resource allocation of granted resources to the device based on the calculated metric and the received metric, and provide, via the interface, the modified resource allocation allocation to the device. Device according to one of claims 11 to 15, wherein the device is operable as or on a terminal and at least one of the following is applicable: the transmission shall be part of a device-to-device communication between terminals or an uplink communication between a terminal and an access node; and the device is configured for operation according to long term evolution specifications. Apparatus for use in controlling a resource allocation, the apparatus comprising: an interface configured to communicate with at least one other device; and a processing system configured to: at least one device involved in a transmission to provide, via the interface, a resource allocation allocation comprising at least an allocation of a resource allocation amount of granted resources for transmission; receiving from the at least one device via the interface a metric indicative of a result of the resource allocation at the at least one device with respect to at least one of requests for prioritized bit rates and available transmission data of logical channels; evaluate the received at least one metric with respect to the resource allocation allocation; and modify the resource allocation allocation based on a result of the evaluation and provide the modified resource allocation allocation to the at least one device via the interface. Apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the metrics evaluation processing system is configured to add all received metrics; and the resource allocation allocation modification processing system is configured to increase the resource allocation amount of allocated resources for transmission in accordance with the addition result when the addition result is negative, and reduce the resource allocation amount of allocated resources for transmission according to the addition result when the addition result is positive and larger is a predetermined threshold. The apparatus of claim 17 or 18, wherein the metrics evaluation processing system is configured to obtain an absolute value of a difference between two received metrics of a To form pairs of entities involved in the transfer; and the resource allocation allocation modification processing system is configured to increase resource allocation weight allocation of resources allocated to the lower metric device and to reduce resource allocation weight allocation of allocated resources for the higher metric device when the absolute value is greater than one is predetermined threshold. Apparatus according to any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein the apparatus is operable as on or at an access node, and at least one of the following is applicable: the transmission shall be part of a device-to-device communication between terminals or an uplink communication between a terminal and an access node; and the device is configured for operation according to long term evolution specifications. Computer software adapted to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 10. A computer program product having a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer readable instructions, the computer readable instructions being executable by a computerized device to cause the computerized device to perform a resource allocation control method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 perform. Apparatus as substantially described herein with reference to the appended drawings.

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