JP2003508992A - Method and system for frequency spectrum resource allocation - Google Patents

Abstract

SUMMARY A system and method are provided for distributing one or more portions of a frequency spectrum among a plurality of radio frequency (RF) transmitters and / or receivers. The system includes a hub station that dynamically distributes the frequency spectrum as required by multiple RF transmitters and / or receivers. Based on the request, the hub station analyzes the performance status of one or more groups of RF transmitters and / or receivers and optimizes the use of the allocated frequency spectrum.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to wireless communication systems. In particular, the invention relates to optimizing the distribution of the frequency spectrum among several stations of a wireless communication system.

[0002]

[Description of related technology]

Wireless communication systems provide for transmitting and receiving voice, data and video information between multiple stations (eg, remote units) via radio frequency (RF) channels. The RF spectrum is very limited by its properties, so that only a small part of the spectrum can be assigned to a particular industry. Therefore,
In industries such as the satellite communications or mobile phone industries, designers efficiently distribute a limited spectrum to as many remote units as possible so that the distribution remote units have access to the frequency spectrum to which they are assigned. Things are constantly being demanded.

One method of meeting the needs of this task involves implementing one or more modulation techniques. Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDM)
A), and several modulation techniques, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), have demonstrated efficient spectrum utilization. Each of these access techniques is well known in the art and will not be described herein. Generally, each of these techniques provides a way for a number of competing remote units (eg, users) to access a particular segment of the spectrum. However, these techniques do not account for or adapt to changes in propagation conditions when distributing a particular segment of the spectrum to multiple users. For example, in satellite systems using TDMA technology, users are typically allocated a particular periodic (on a given frequency) time slot during which they can communicate with a hub station. To allow multiple users to communicate with the hub station, multiple non-overlapping time slots are distributed to multiple users, respectively. However, in almost any wireless system, signal propagation can experience unpredictable degradation over one or more time intervals. In general, there are some physical phenomena that introduce degradation in wireless media. For example, in satellite communication systems, signal degradation can be caused by weather conditions (
For example, storms) or environmental interference. In terrestrial-based communication systems, signal degradation can be caused by physical phenomena such as multipath propagation and varying distances between transmitters and receivers. Such signal degradation adversely affects the performance of the channel for some users, but not necessarily for others.

Moreover, these sophisticated access technologies do not respond or respond to changes in utilization of allocated spectrum among various users. For example, during a particular time interval, a user may need to send an amount of information that may take an excessively long time if sent with the current bandwidth. During the same time interval, another user may not have such a need and may be idle. This situation is especially prevalent in data communication networks, such as the Internet, in which data is transmitted in bursts or packets (ie, chunks of bits) between stations. The burst characteristics of such networks indicate that conventional frequency spectrum utilization is inefficient.

Therefore, there is a need in the industry for frequency spectrum utilization to be dynamically distributed in user demand and performance to ensure that all users have proper access to their allocated spectrum.

[0006]

[Outline of the Invention]

To overcome the above limitations, the present invention provides methods and systems for optimizing frequency spectrum utilization. The present invention provides a method of distributing at least a portion of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum among multiple RF transmitters. The method includes monitoring the aggregate demand of a group of transmitters in a plurality of RF transmitters.
The group includes at least one RF transmitter. The method further includes determining the relative data congestion of the group of transmitters in response to the monitored request. The method further includes distributing at least a portion of the RF spectrum from the group having the least amount of congestion to at least one of the other RF transmitters.

The invention further provides that at least a portion of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum is in a plurality of RF.
A system for distribution between transmitters is provided. The system includes a plurality of RF transmitters, each configured to transmit data on each RF channel. The system further includes a hub transceiver in communication with the plurality of RF transmitters. The hub transceiver is configured to monitor the aggregate demand of the group of RF transmitters. The group includes at least one RF transmitter. The hub transceiver is further configured to redistribute a portion of the RF spectrum from the group of RF transmitters having the minimum total requirements to at least one of the plurality of other RF transmitters.

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The following description should not be taken in a limiting sense, and has been prepared only to describe the general principles of the invention. Similar components are identified by similar component numbers throughout the description below. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system 150 in which the present invention may be implemented. System 150 provides fast and reliable internet communication services via satellite links.

In particular, system 150 includes one or more content servers 100,
The content server 100 is connected to the Internet 102, and the Internet 1
02 is connected to the hub station 104. Hub station 104 is configured to request and receive digital data from content server 100. Hub station 104 also communicates with a plurality of remote units 108A-108N via satellite 106. For example, hub station 104 may transmit the signal to satellite 10 via forward uplink 110.
Send to 6. Satellite 106 receives signals from forward uplink 110 and retransmits them on forward downlink 112. Both forward uplink 110 and forward downlink 112 are referred to as the forward link. Remote unit 1
08A-108N monitor one or more channels including the forward link to receive remote unit specifications and broadcast messages from hub station 104.

In a similar fashion, remote units 108A-108N transmit signals to satellite 106 via reverse uplink 114. The satellite 106 receives signals from the reverse uplink 114 and retransmits them on the reverse downlink 116. Both reverse uplink 114 and reverse downlink 116 are referred to as reverse links. Hub station 104 monitors one or more channels including the reverse link for messages from remote units 108A-108N.

In the system 150 which is one embodiment, each remote unit 108 A-
108N is connected to multiple system users. For example, in FIG. 1, remote unit 108A is shown connected to a local area network 109, which is connected to a group of user terminals 118A-118N. User terminals 118A-118N can be one of many types of local area nodes such as personal or network computers, printers, digital meter readers, and the like. User terminals 118A-1
When a message destined for one of the 18Ns is received via the forward link, the remote unit 108A forwards it to the appropriate user terminal 118 via the local area network 109. Similarly, the user terminals 118A-11
The 8N can send the message to the remote unit 108A via the local area network 109.

In the system 150, which is one embodiment, the remote units 108 A-1
08N provides Internet services to multiple users. For example, user terminal 118A can be a personal computer, which runs browser software to access the World Wide Web. When the browser receives a request from the user for a web page or embedded object, the user terminal 118A creates a request message according to known techniques. User terminal 118A also uses known techniques to
This request message is transferred to the remote unit 108A via the local area network 109. Based on the request message, the remote unit 108
A creates a radio link request and sends it over the reverse uplink 114 and reverse downlink 116 channels. Hub station 104 receives the wireless link request over the reverse link. Based on the wireless link request, the hub station 104 passes the request message over the Internet 102 to the appropriate content server 100.

In response to the request message, the content server 100 sends the Internet 102
Transfer the requested page or object to the hub station 104 via. Hub station 104 receives the requested page or object and creates a wireless link response. The hub station sends the radio link response over the forward uplink 110 and forward downlink 112 channels.

The remote unit 108A receives the wireless link response and forwards the corresponding response message to the user terminal 118A via the local area network 109. In this way, a bidirectional link between the user terminal 118A and the content server 100 is established.

As noted above, the present invention provides a method and system for optimizing frequency spectrum utilization in response to changes in remote unit demand. There are several ways to evaluate the channel status of a particular remote unit in a wireless system. One common method involves estimating the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the signal received from the remote unit. SNR is the ratio of the energy of a signal (usually expressed in decibels or dB) to the energy of noise added to the signal over a given bandwidth and / or time interval. Generally, "noise" refers to the difference between the signal transmitted by one of the remote units and the signal received by hub station 104. The higher the SNR of a channel, the better the performance of the channel.

Another common method of characterizing the performance of a channel involves estimating the bit error rate (BER) of the channel. Simply put, BER
Is expressed as the ratio of the number of incorrectly received bits to the total number of bits transmitted. BER is expressed as a percentage, or more commonly as a ratio. actually,
BER is a measure of the bit error probability in a channel. The lower the BER,
Channel performance is good.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the wireless communication system 200 according to the present invention.
10 and representative remote units 212, 214, 216, 232, 234,
252 and 254 are provided. System 200 can be equipped with a satellite-based radio system (shown in FIG. 1) or any other radio system with multiple remote units (eg, a cell phone). The system 200 is
It is implemented by applying DMA, FDMA, any other access technology or combination of access technologies. The number of stations in system 200 is exemplary only, and thus system 200 can be equipped with any desired number of hubs and remote stations.

A remote unit is based on a data transfer rate assigned to each remote unit in a working group of two or more remote units (sometimes referred to as the remote unit's “camp”). Be categorized. In one embodiment, the system 200 comprises groups of three remote units: group 32, group 64 and group 128. Group 32 includes one or more remote units operating at a data transfer rate of 32 kbps. Group 64 includes one or more remote units operating at a data transfer rate of 64 kbps. Group 128 has a data transfer rate of 128 kbp
s containing one or more remote units. Usually the hub station 21
0 determines the assigned data rate and communicates to each remote unit. For example, hub station 210 may assign a data rate of 32 kbps to remote units 212, 214 and 216, thereby placing those remote units in group 32. In a similar manner, hub station 210
A data rate of kbps can be assigned to the remote units 232 and 234, which places them in group 64. Finally, the hub station can assign a data rate of 128 kbps to the remote units 252 and 254, which places them in group 128.

The hub station 210 determines a data transfer rate based on each channel state,
Assign to each remote unit. Channel conditions indicate the ability of a channel to support an assigned data rate while maintaining acceptable signal performance (eg, SNR). In one embodiment, hub station 210 is configured to monitor channel performance continuously or at predetermined time intervals based on signals received from each remote unit. More specifically,
The hub station 210 can measure the SNR over a predetermined time interval to evaluate the channel performance of each remote unit. Hub station 210 compares the measured SNR to a predetermined SNR threshold. The SNR threshold is a low threshold (eg,
8 dB) and a high threshold (eg, 11 dB) can be included. Based on this comparison, hub station 210 determines whether to change the currently assigned data rate for each remote unit and, as a result, reclassify the remote unit from one group to another. decide.

For example, if the measured SNR of the signal received from remote unit 232 is between the low and high thresholds, hub station 210 indicates that remote unit 232 is operating at the optimal data rate, and It is determined that no change in the assigned data rate is necessary. If the measured SNR is above the high threshold, the hub station 21
0 determines that the channel of the remote unit 232 can support higher data rates. Therefore, the hub station 210 can instruct the remote unit 232 to increase its data rate from 64 kbps to a higher data rate, such as 128 kbps. On the other hand, if the measured SNR falls below the low threshold, the hub station 210 determines that the channel usage of the remote unit 232 is unacceptable and the data rate currently assigned to it should be reduced. To do. Therefore, the hub station 210 is
Can be instructed to reduce the data transfer rate from 64 kbps to a lower data transfer rate, such as 32 kbps. Hub station 210 can repeat this process to optimize channel usage for all remote units. In one embodiment, the average transfer capacity of each remote unit is unaffected throughout this process and remains substantially fixed.

In addition, the hub station 210 is configured to dynamically distribute a portion of the allocated frequency spectrum to the remote units in response to changes in the demands of each remote unit. As used herein, the term "request" refers to the amount of information that a remote unit desires to exchange or send at a particular moment (eg,
Data expressed in bits). Typically, system 200 uses a channel, such as a reserved channel, on which each remote unit reports or sends its current request to hub station 210 when it is periodic or requested. In one embodiment, hub station 210 is configured to determine a collective request (hereinafter “total request”) of remote units on a group basis. As will be discussed in more detail below, based at least in part on the total requirements of each group 32, 64, and 128, hub station 210 may include a portion of the frequency spectrum to be distributed to each group 32, 64, and 128. To decide. By so acting, hub station 210 continuously reduces congestion and transmission delays between groups of remote units and optimizes frequency utilization.

In one embodiment, the quality of service (Qo
It is advisable to check S) before determining the total requirements of each group 32, 64 and 128. In general, QoS can specify a nominal guaranteed throughput level (eg, amount of data in bits) for each remote unit.
QoS is typically assigned to each remote unit according to a subscription agreement between the remote unit and a service provider, eg, the owner of hub station 210. As used herein, the term “QoS” refers to one or more criteria that the hub station 210 can use to classify the quality of performance promised or provided to the remote unit. .

In general, the hub station 210 can also use any communication parameters to distribute one or more portions of the frequency spectrum among remote units.
Communication parameters may include total requirements of a group of remote units, individual requirements of a single remote unit, quality of service, channel performance (eg SN
R or BER measurement), the number of remote units in the group, the propagation path (eg, distance, region, etc.), any other parameter affecting the performance of the wireless communication system 200, or any combination of these parameters. be able to. Based on the communication parameters, as discussed further below,
Hub station 210 determines the current or expected state of performance of a group of remote units (or a single remote unit) to distribute one or more portions of the frequency spectrum.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart describing a process for deciding whether to redistribute frequency spectrum between two or more groups of remote units of the system of FIG. As noted above, in one embodiment, remote units are categorized or distributed among groups 32, 64 and 128. The process begins at block 300 where the system 200 begins an algorithm to check the performance of the channel for each remote unit. For example, the algorithms may be implemented using any microprocessor-based instructions programmed in or on a device within the fast access of hub station 210, such as conventional firmware. At block 310, system 210 monitors the channel by listening to a signal received from a first remote unit (eg, remote unit 232). In one embodiment, each remote unit may send a signal to hub station 210 via a predetermined or other available channel during a periodic time interval. Hub station 210 measures the energy of the signal and the noise component of the signal arriving from remote unit 232. As mentioned above, the hub station calculates the SNR for the remote unit 232 over a predetermined time interval (eg, 100 milliseconds).

At decision block 320, the hub station 210 determines whether to change the data rate currently assigned to the remote unit 232 by measuring the measured SNR.
Based on. As mentioned above, hub station 210 is programmed with low (eg, 8 dB) and high (eg, 11 dB) thresholds for comparing measured SNRs. The range between the low and high thresholds represents sufficient channel performance for the currently assigned data rates. Therefore, the measured SN
If R is within the low and high thresholds, the process proceeds to block 330 and the hub station 210 maintains the data rate currently assigned to the remote unit 232. In this case, the process proceeds to block 370 and the hub station 210
Determine if all remote units in the group are checked, as described below.

The range of SNR below the low threshold represents undesired channel performance, with noise levels relatively high for the currently assigned data rates. Thus, if the measured SNR falls below the low threshold, the process proceeds to block 340 and the hub station 210 tells the remote unit 232 the data rate currently assigned to it from 64 kbps to a lower data rate, For example, a command is issued to reduce the speed to 32 kbps. Therefore, in such a case, hub station 210 reclassifies remote units 232 from group 64 to group 32. On the one hand, the range of SNRs above the high threshold represents inefficient use of the channel, with noise levels relatively low for the currently assigned data rates. Thus, if the measured SNR is above the high threshold, the process proceeds to block 350 where the hub station 210 informs the remote unit 232 of the data rate currently assigned to it from 64 kbps to a higher data rate, eg, Command to raise to 128 kbps. Accordingly, in such a case, hub station 210 reclassifies remote units 232 from group 64 to group 128.

At block 360, the hub station 210 collects one or more signals representative of the request of the remote unit 232 via the reserved channel. Hub station 210 stores the request in accessible memory (not shown) for later retrieval. The timing of the acquisition of the request signal can be non-essential to the invention and can therefore be performed before, during or after the SNR measurement of each remote unit. For example, hub station 210 may collect and store the requests of all remote units before initiating the process of FIG. At block 370,
Hub station 210 determines whether the requests from all remote units have been obtained. If more remote unit requests are still needed, the process may return to block 310 to measure the SNR of the remaining remote units and repeat the process described above. Alternatively, the process returns to block 360 and
Requests from the remaining remote units can also be collected via a reserved channel. In one embodiment, one or more of these steps are performed in parallel.

On the other hand, if the requests of all remote units have been collected, then at block 380 the hub station 210 determines if one or more of the groups 32, 64 and 128 are relatively congested. . This process is described in more detail below with reference to FIG. If the hub station 210 determines that congestion is not detected, the process returns to block 310 and the entire process is run again. Optionally, the process can be terminated at this stage and restarted later. On the other hand, if the hub station 210 determines that one or more of the groups 32, 64 and 128 are congested, then the process proceeds and the frequency spectrum is least congested (i.e., performance). Is best) redistribute from one group to another. Thus, at block 390, the hub station 210 reduces some of the frequency spectrum distributed to the least congested group and increases some of the frequency spectrum distributed to other groups. This process is described in more detail below with reference to FIG. The process ends at block 398.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart describing a process performed by block 380 of FIG. 3 to determine a total request for one or more groups. The process begins at block 400. As described above, the hub station 210 is connected to each group 32, 64.
And 128 relative congestion can be determined. Block 41
At 0, the hub station 210 monitors the remote unit's request via the reserved channel. As mentioned above, the request represents the amount of data (expressed in bits) that the remote unit wishes to exchange or send at a given moment. At block 420, the hub station 210 limits the received request by checking the QoS assigned to the remote unit. Hub station 210 typically stores the QoS of each remote unit operating within the area it covers,
Or at least have access to it. By limiting the request,
Hub station 210 checks the QoS of the remote unit to determine if the QoS allows the distribution of resources to meet the overall request. Decision block 4
If, according to 30, the QoS allows the remote unit to meet the entire requested request, then at block 440 the hub station 210 causes the hub station 210 to
Consider all requirements when evaluating the total requirement of one of 4 and 128. On the other hand, if the QoS did not grant the requested request, then at block 450 the hub station 210 determines a reduced request for the remote unit (ie,
Downsize the requirements) and consider the reduced requirements when evaluating the group's total requirements.

For example, the remote unit 212 can be assigned a QoS criterion that allows up to 32 kilobits of data to be exchanged per second, which results in an average data rate of 1.92 (ie, about 2) megabits per minute. Amount can be produced. 12
If the remote unit 212 transmits 1 megabit at: 00: 00, the hub station 210 checks the QoS of the remote unit 212 and determines that a maximum of approximately 2 megabits is possible. Thus, at 12:00, hub station 210 considers the entire 1 megabit for the evaluation of total congestion for group 32. But 12
If the remote unit 212 requests a request to transmit 2 megabits at 0:00:30 (i.e., 30 seconds later), the hub station 210 requests the Q of the remote unit 212.
Based on the oS, it is determined that only requests of about 1 megabit will be granted due to the balance of 1 minute intervals, i.e. 12:00 to 12:00:01. Therefore,
To evaluate the total congestion at 12:00:30 for group 32, hub station 210 downsizes the request from 2 megabits to approximately 1 megabit.

For each group, the hub station 210 calculates the total demand of the group based on the collective demand of all remote units in the group. Thus, at decision block 460, the hub station 210 checks to see if the request has been polled from all remote units in the group. If there are more remote unit requests to poll, the process continues at block 410.
Return to. On the other hand, if hub station 210 determines that the request has been polled from all remote units in the group, then the process proceeds to block 470. At block 470, the hub station 21 determines the total demand for a single group.
0 sums the demands and / or reduced demands of all remote units in the group. The total request represents an estimate of the (average) length of the queue of bits for the group. The hub station 210 can repeat this process for all of the groups 32, 64 and 128 and store the total requests of all groups in its memory to perform the congestion analysis. The process ends at block 480.

There are several ways to analyze congestion for each group of remote units. In one embodiment, hub station 210 determines congestion for each group with respect to the least congested group. FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a process of determining frequency spectrum congestion and redistribution between a group of two or more remote units. The process begins at block 500. At block 510, the hub station 210 identifies the least congested group,
This is usually the group with the shortest queue length. After the least congested group is identified, at block 520, hub station 210 compares the queue lengths of the other groups with the queue lengths of the least congested group. This comparison allows the hub station to calculate the percentage of excess bits by dividing the queue length of the group by the queue length of the least congested group. The percentage of excess bits represents the degree of congestion in a group relative to the least congested group. For example, each group 32,
The average queue lengths of 64 and 128 can be 100, 300 and 250 megabits, respectively. In this example, the group 32 having a queue length of 100 megabits represents the least congested group. The percentage of excess bits for group 64 is 300% (or 300/100)
For 28, it is 250% (or 250/100). As shown by this example, the percentage of excess bits is a number that cannot be less than 100%, which means that the queue length of any group is always greater than the queue length of the least congested group. Is also long (or equal).

At block 530, the hub station 210 may need to redistribute some of the frequency spectrum from the least congested group to other groups based on the relative congestion of the groups. Decide In one embodiment, the hub station 2
10 makes its decision based on the percentage of excess bits. For example, the hub station 210
Can be configured to redistribute the frequency spectrum only for groups with a percentage of excess bits of 200% or more. Thus, based on the numerical example above, hub station 210 may remove a portion of the frequency spectrum from group 32 and assign it to groups 64 and 128.
Thus, if redistribution of the frequency spectrum is guaranteed to reduce congestion, the process proceeds to block 540. On the other hand, if redistribution of the frequency spectrum was not guaranteed, the process ends at block 560.

At block 540, the hub station 210 determines the amount of frequency spectrum (ie, bandwidth size) that should be distributed from the least congested group to other groups.
To decide. Bandwidth generally refers to the amount of data that can be transmitted over a transmission channel, such as a wireless transmitter, in a given time period. Bandwidth is typically expressed in units of cycles per second (Hertz or Hz) or bits per second (bps). It is desirable to minimize the amount of bandwidth that should be redistributed from the least congested group to other groups. By minimizing the amount of bandwidth redistributed, the probability of queuing oscillations and thus system instability is reduced. Cue oscillations generally refer to transferring congestion so that it travels back and forth between the least congested group and other groups, ie, it oscillates.

To minimize queue oscillations, it is desirable to redistribute bandwidth in stages from the least congested group to other groups. In one embodiment, a graduated manner may be used to allow hub station 210 to redistribute bandwidth on a unit-by-unit basis to higher congestion groups. For example, using the numerical example above, hub station 210 may provide a bandwidth of 64 kbps from group 32 to group 64, 128 k
The bandwidth of bps can be redistributed from group 32 to group 128.
The purpose of redistributing bandwidth is to reduce congestion in groups with greater congestion. Accordingly, at block 550, the hub station 210 redistributes a portion of the frequency spectrum from the least congested group to other groups. The process of redistribution ends at block 560.

In one embodiment, hub station 210 repeats the process of FIG. 5 continuously or for a predetermined amount of time. Reducing congestion in other groups can increase the likelihood of congestion in the least congested group. However, the ability of hub station 210 to continually monitor group congestion and distribute the allocated frequency spectrum among groups of remote units reduces the likelihood of congestion in one group. Further, continuous monitoring and redistribution of the frequency spectrum optimizes frequency utilization among remote units.

FIG. 6 is a table showing an exemplary group of remote units of FIG. As described above, the hub station 210 assigns each remote unit to a camp or group based on the data rate assigned to each remote unit. In table 600, hub station 210 has assigned a data rate of 32 kbps to remote units 212-224 and 244-246, and therefore these remote units belong to group 32. Similarly, hub station 210
A data rate of kbps has been assigned to the remote units 232-242, so these remote units belong to the group 64. And hub station 2
10 has assigned a data rate of 128 kbps to the remote units 252-270, so these remote units belong to the group 128.
As mentioned above, data rates are generally assigned to each remote unit based on its channel performance, such as the measured SNR of the signal transmitted from each remote unit and received at hub station 210. As explained above, if the SNR is within the optimum range, the data rate currently assigned to the remote unit is maintained. If the SNR is below the low threshold or above the high threshold, reduce the data rate of the remote unit accordingly, or
Or raise. Hub station 210 may be located in memory or in a location easily accessible.
Hold 0 to keep track of and update each group of remote units.

FIG. 7 is a table showing exemplary changes in groups 32, 64, and 128. In this embodiment, table 700 shows remote units 244 and 246.
, Are no longer in the group 32 and are now in the group 64. Typically, changing the grouping of remote units 244 and 246 indicates that the measured SNR of the channels of each remote unit 244 and 246 is above the high threshold. In this case, the hub station 210 instructs the remote units 244 and 246 to increase their respective data transfer rates from 32 kbps to 64 kbps. Accordingly, hub station 210 may
0 was updated to table 700, which indicates that remote units 244 and 246 belong to group 64.

FIG. 8 is a graphical representation of the process of redistributing a frequency spectrum among remote units as a function of frequency and time. The graph 800 includes a vertical axis representing the allocation of frequency spectrum (eg, bandwidth) allocated to each group. More specifically, the graph 800 shows that bandwidth 832 is assigned to group 32, bandwidth 864 is assigned to group 64, and bandwidth 828 is assigned to group 128. Graph 800 also includes a horizontal axis representing time domain T. Graph 800 shows that starting at T = 0, the time intervals over which each remote unit can communicate are represented by a frame (ie, time slot) numbered by the remote unit.

For example, graph 800 shows that during time interval 0 to t ₃ , time slot 212 and carrier frequency F ₈ are distributed to remote unit 212 and are operating within group 32 at a data rate of 32 kbps. ing. Same time interval 0
During the ~t _3, time slot 214 and the carrier frequency F ₇ is distributed to the remote unit 214, the graph 800 that it is operating in a group 32 at a data transfer rate of 32kbps shows. The graph 800 shows that during the time interval 0 to t ₂ , the time slot 232 and the carrier frequency F ₉ are distributed to the unit 232 and 64 kb
It shows that the group 64 is operating at the data transfer rate of ps. The graph 800 shows that the time slot 252 and the carrier frequency F ₁₀ are distributed to the remote unit 252 during the time interval 0 to t ₁ and are operating within the group 128 at a data rate of 128 kbps.

In the present embodiment, the time slot length of the remote unit of group 32 is twice as long as the time slot of the remote unit of group 64, and 4 times the time slot of the remote unit of group 128. It turns out that it is twice as long. Usually, the relationship between the lengths of the various groups of time slots is a function of the assigned data rate. For example, since the data transfer rate of 64 kbps is twice the data transfer rate of 32 kbps, the length of the time slot of the group 64 is expected to be half the length of the time slot of the group 32. This time slot / frequency structure simplifies the implementation of TDMA and FDMA systems with varying operating data rates. Finally, it can also be seen that in all groups, each remote unit does not occupy more than one time slot at the same time. Occupying only one time slot simplifies the operation of a single channel transceiver system. Having determined the allocation of the frequency spectrum to each group, the hub station 210 uses one or more timeslots / frequencies (within a group) to identify a particular remote unit (within a group) using any standard implemented in the hub station 210. Can be assigned to. The present invention is not limited to such a system and can be implemented using any time slot / frequency structure that is compatible with the characteristics of the present invention.

The graph 800 represents an example of individual bandwidth changes between groups due to the hub station deciding to redistribute the allocated frequency spectrum. As shown in FIG. 8, at time T = t ₄ , hub station 210 is changing the distribution of the frequency spectrum among the groups of remote units. More specifically, graph 800
Doubles the bandwidths 828 and 864, respectively, and
Indicates that is reduced. Therefore, before T = t ₄ , only one time slot is valid for the group 128, while after T = t ₄ , the group 12 is available.
Two simultaneous time slots are valid for eight remote units. For example, at T = t ₄ , it can be seen that remote units 270 and 268 are simultaneously communicating at an assigned data rate of 128 kbps (bandwidth 828). Similarly, before T = t ₄ , only one time slot was valid for group 64, whereas after T = t ₄ , two simultaneous time slots were valid for remote units in group 64. Becomes For example, at T = t ₄ , the remote unit 24
0 and 242 are assigned data rates of 64 kbps (bandwidth 864
) Shows that they are communicating at the same time. On the other hand, before T = t ₄ , eight simultaneous time slots are effective for the group 32, whereas after T = t ₄ , only two simultaneous time slots are effective for the remote unit of the group 32. There is. In this example, as explained in detail above, for the relative congestion of each of the groups 64 and 128, such congestion causes the least congested group 3
Hub station 210 when it becomes a reason to redistribute frequencies from 2 to groups 64 and 128.
Indicates that the judgment is made.

In addition, the graph 800 also represents an exemplary change in the data rate of one or more remote units. As shown in FIG. 8, before T = t ₅ , the group 3
The remote units 244 and 246 have a data rate of 32 kbps, respectively, as shown by two timeslots 244 and 246, and group 3
It can be seen that it was operating within 2 (bandwidth 832). However, after time T = t ₅ , remote units 244 and 246 are operating within group 64 (bandwidth 864) at a data rate of 64 kbps, as indicated by time slots 244 and 246 of group 64. Therefore, the graph 800 shows that the hub station 21
0 indicates that it has decided to change the data rate assigned to the remote units 244 and 246 from 32 kbps to 64 kbps somewhere in the time interval t _{4 to} t ₅ . As described in detail above, the hub station 210 makes decisions based on the measured SNR of the channels of each of the remote units 244 and 246. In this example, the SNR exceeds the high threshold (for example, 11 dB), which is the reason for increasing the data transfer rate. Therefore, the hub station 210 instructs the remote units 244 and 246 to increase their respective data rates.

In another embodiment of the invention, the remote unit's particular camp is not pre-allocated with reverse link resources. FIG. 9 is a graph showing an example of three operating areas of the service quality of a specific remote unit such as the remote unit 212 (see FIG. 2) operating in such an environment. As mentioned above, Qo
S is usually distributed to each remote unit according to a subscription contract between the remote unit and the service provider. QoS specifies the average data rate to be distributed, regardless of the assigned data rate. The allocated data rate specifies the rate at which the remote unit can transmit information over the channel when resources are distributed to the remote unit, whereas the average data rate distributed is the remote unit. Reflects, for example, the average data transfer rates purchased over a long period of time from a service provider. For example, a remote unit may have an assigned data rate of 256 kbps and 3
With a distributed average data rate of 2 kbps, this remote unit
Although burst transmission is performed at a rate of 256 kbps, the burst is eventually dispersed by the idle period, which reduces the average data transfer rate of the remote unit to about 32 kbps. In other words, the average duty cycle of this remote unit transmission is at most about 1/8.

FIG. 9 shows a vertical axis 402 representing the range of the current average data transfer rate of the remote unit 212. The remote unit 212 subscribes to the distributed average data rate 404 (eg, 32 kbps) according to its contract. The average data transfer rate lower than this value is represented by the IN area 406. In one embodiment, it may be desirable to allow remote unit 212 to exceed its distributed average data rate 404 and allow operation in out area 414. The out area 414 is
The remote unit 212 represents the range of average data rates that can operate above the average data rate 404 distributed to it. Therefore, the out area 414 is
The average data transfer rate from the distributed average data transfer rate 404 to the maximum average data transfer rate 408 (for example, 48 kbps) is shown. As further shown in FIG. 9, hard drop region 412 represents an average data transfer rate that exceeds maximum average data transfer rate 408.

In one embodiment, the distributed average data rate 404 is associated with a particular remote unit according to a subscription agreement between the remote unit operator and the hub station owner or operator. For example, a service provider may want to reduce the operating costs associated with providing Internet services by purchasing a relatively low distributed average data rate 404. As the number of subscribers and system requirements increase, service providers may purchase the higher distributed average data rate 404, perhaps at a significant cost.

The quality of service level (Distributed Average Data Rate) 404 associated with the remote unit is stored by the hub station. In one embodiment, the hub station is
Remote unit identifier and associated distributed average data rate 40
4 and 4 are stored in the table. In one embodiment, the hub station operator updates this table as subscription information is added or modified.

Each hub station stores a range parameter so that a transmission from a remote unit
It is used in defining a data rate that may exceed the distributed average data rate 404 by that amount. Range parameter is maximum average data transfer rate 4
The size of the out area 414 is defined by providing a value of 08. Range parameters can be selected based on typical system usage, hub station capabilities, and other factors. By using the maximum average data rate, the remote unit's average data rate is intentionally limited, even when system resources are available, thus encouraging the purchase of a higher distributed average data rate. In other embodiments, this same mechanism can be used to limit the maximum average data rate according to other factors.

In the present embodiment, the present invention uses the system 2 within the range of available communication resources.
Method and system for scheduling 00 remote unit communications.
As mentioned above, the hub station 210 can continuously receive the requests of each remote unit via the reserved channel. In this embodiment, the hub station 21
0 queues each incoming request in a first-in first-out (FIFO) manner.

In one embodiment, the hub station 210 categorizes or classifies each request of the remote unit based at least in part on the current average data rate of the remote unit over a previous period of time. As pointed out above, the hub station 210 calculates the current average data rate based on a moving average over a predetermined time interval (eg, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 60 seconds, or any other desired period). can do. The moving average is obtained by dividing the amount of data transmitted during a predetermined time period in the past by a predetermined time interval.

For example, a remote unit has a distributed average data transfer rate of 48 kbps, 6
Assume that the hub station has a maximum average data rate of 0 kbps and that the hub station uses a predetermined time interval of 60 seconds to determine the average data rate of its remote units. Furthermore, after a long idle period, at 12:00:01, the remote unit 212
Will complete the transfer of 1 megabit of data. Then, 12:00:02
Up to now, the average current data rate of this remote unit is about 17 kbps (
That is, 1 megabit / 60 seconds), the remote unit 212 has an IN area 4
It will be located at 06. At 12:00:30, the remote unit 212
Complete the transfer of 2 megabit data. Taking into account the transfer of 1 megabit and 2 megabit, the current average data transfer rate of the remote unit 212 at time 12:00:31 becomes 50 kbps (3 megabit / 60 seconds), and the operating point of the remote unit 212 is out. It will be located in region 414. Finally, when the remote unit 212 completes the transfer of 3 megabit data at 12:00:45, the current average data transfer rate of the remote unit 212 at time 12:00:46 is about 100 kbps (ie 6 megabits / 60 seconds). ), The operating point of the remote unit is located in the hard drop area 412. If, over time, the remote unit 212 does not transfer any more data, the remote unit's current average data transfer rate will eventually be out of range 41.
After passing through No. 4, the inner area 406 is lowered.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating a second embodiment of a process for dynamically scheduling remote unit communications. The process begins at block 804. As mentioned above, in one embodiment, hub station 210 receives a request from each remote unit that wishes to communicate data through system 200 (see FIG. 2) and places a corresponding entry in the FIFO queue. Put in. Block 80
At 8, the hub station 210 determines the current average data rate of the first remote unit corresponding to the first entry in the FIFO queue, eg, as described above.

At block 812, the hub station 210 determines whether the device operates in the hard drop region 412 (see FIG. 9), classified by the current average data rate of the remote unit 212. Based on the amount of data transmitted by the remote unit during a predetermined period (for example, the past 60 seconds), the remote unit 2
If 12 is operating in the hard drop area 412, the process proceeds to block 81.
Proceeding to 6, hub station 210 places the current request entry at the end of the FIFO queue. The hub station 210 refuses to give bandwidth / timeslots to the remote unit 212 at this point by delaying the fulfillment of the request at a later time, which causes the current unit of that remote unit to move forward over time. Reduce the average data transfer rate of. In another embodiment, the request entry is removed from the queue and not relocated to the queue.

On the other hand, if the remote unit 212 is not operating in the hard drop area 412 during the predetermined time period, the process proceeds to block 820 and the hub station 210 determines whether the remote unit 212 is operating in the out area 414. Decide

Based on its current average data transfer rate during the predetermined period, the remote unit 21
2 is operating in the out region 414, the process continues at block 824.
The hub station 210 proceeds to the In / Out bit (RI
O)) with Random Early Dr
out version of a set of algorithms such as op (RED))
n) is executed. In one embodiment, the RED and RIO algorithms are executed by the gateway in the hub station. In general, the RED algorithm calculates the average queue length, and when the average queue length exceeds a certain drop threshold, the gateway will randomly drop requests with a certain probability. In this case, the exact probability is a function of queue length at the hub station.

Based on its current average data rate over a given period of time, if the remote unit 212 is operating in the in-region 406, the process continues at block 8.
Proceeding to 28, the second random early drop (RED) algorithm is executed. In general, the drop threshold reflects the queue length of IN packets that are longer than the OUT packets, and the probability of dropping out packets is less than the probability of dropping in packets over the entire queue length. Expensive or
Or equal to it. For RED and RIO algorithms and gateways,
For further details, see Clark, D .; And Fang, W .; By htt
p: // diffserv. lcs. mit. edu / Papers / exp-
alloc-ddc-wf. It can be obtained through pdf "Expli
cit Allocation of Best Effort Packet
See Delivery Service.

At block 824 or 828, if the request does not pass the RED algorithm (ie, is discarded), the process returns to block 816 and the hub station 210
Put the request entry at the end of the FIFO queue or drop the request from the FIFO queue. On the other hand, if at block 824 or 828 the remote unit 212 request passes the RED algorithm, the process continues to block 830.

At block 830, the hub station 210 schedules remote unit communications. More specifically, the hub station 210 determines the bandwidth commensurate with the data rate assigned to the remote unit 212 to schedule the remote unit's communications. The hub station 210 may then, based on the assigned data rate, transmit the bandwidth for the next time T (ie, already for another remote unit) over a period in which the remote unit 212 is allowed to exchange a desired amount of data. Unscheduled times for transmission). In the present embodiment, the assigned data rate is preferably either the highest rate or the rate group where the remote unit can properly transfer data.

At block 834, hub station 210 determines whether the next request entry is in the FIFO queue and waiting for a schedule. In one embodiment, the process of Figure 10 is continuously executed to service the queue of request entries. If there is another request entry in the FIFO queue, the process returns to block 808 and the hub station 210 processes the request entry as above. On the other hand, FIF
If there are no more request entries in the O queue, the process ends at block 840 or simply waits for the arrival of the next request entry.

FIG. 11 is a graphical representation of example results of the process of scheduling one or more remote units as a function of frequency and time. Graph 800
Similar to (FIG. 8), graph 850 includes a horizontal axis representing time and a vertical axis representing frequency spectrum. Bandwidth 842 represents the total bandwidth available for communication by system 200. The numbered blocks in graph 850 represent the bandwidth and timeslots for which their corresponding remote units are scheduled to communicate data. As an example, the remote unit 252 is scheduled to perform transmission at the center frequency F shown in the figure and the bandwidth around it between the times T9 and T10. For purposes of explanation, the bandwidth required by remote unit 212 is represented by bandwidth 844.

As mentioned above, the hub station 210 looks at the time available for its required bandwidth 844 to schedule the request of the remote unit 212. Time T
At 10, there may be unscheduled time slots 846 on each frequency and bandwidth. However, the timeslot 846 does not meet the bandwidth required by the remote unit 212. Due to insufficient bandwidth, hub station 210 does not schedule remote unit 212 in timeslot 846. Therefore, the hub station 210 examines the next available timeslot to determine if the bandwidth 844 required by the remote unit 212 is available. Hub station 210 finds at time T11 a timeslot 212 with sufficient bandwidth to match the data rate of remote unit 212. Therefore,
The hub station schedules the remote unit 212 at time T11 for one time slot, or perhaps multiple time slots if necessary. The hub station 210 will continue to schedule transmissions,
It is also possible to schedule the communication of another remote unit in the timeslot 846.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the present invention meets a long-standing need for methods and systems for optimizing frequency spectrum utilization among multiple communication stations. The system and method dynamically redistribute the allocated frequency spectrum in response to changing demands and frequency usage.

The scope of the invention includes various alternative embodiments. For example, in one embodiment, rather than quantizing the assigned data rate into a number of discrete data rates, each remote unit is completely independent of a particular data rate group, or It transmits at the maximum data rate possible by simply using groups with much smaller rate units. The present invention can be applied to various operating environments other than the operating environment such as the ground environment disclosed above with reference to FIG.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or basic characteristics. The embodiments described herein are merely illustrative in all respects and are not limiting. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary satellite communication system in which the present invention may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system including a base station and multiple remote units according to the present invention.

3 is a flow chart illustrating a process of determining whether to distribute a frequency spectrum between two or more groups of the wireless communication system of FIG.

4 is a flow chart illustrating a process of determining a total request for one or more groups of the wireless communication system of FIG.

5 is a flow chart illustrating a process for determining frequency spectrum congestion and redistribution between groups of two or more remote units of the wireless communication system of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a table showing groups of exemplary remote units of the wireless communication system of FIG.

7 is a table showing exemplary changes in groups of the wireless communication system of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a graphical representation as a function of frequency and time of one embodiment of a process for redistributing a frequency spectrum among remote units.

FIG. 9 is a graphical representation of three quality of service operating domains for remote units.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating a process for dynamically scheduling remote unit communication according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a graphical representation as a function of frequency and time of an exemplary outcome of the process of scheduling remote unit communication.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H04L 12/28 303 H04B 7/26 C (81) Designated country EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE), OA (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, KE, LS, MW, MZ, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, UG, ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ) , MD, RU, TJ, TM), AE, AG, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, BZ, CA, CH, CN, CR CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM, DZ, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KP, KR , KZ, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MZ, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, UZ, VN, YU, ZA, ZW (72) Inventor Bradshaw Stephen H. United States 92027 California Escondido Creo Coat 1161 (72) Inventor Carnell Bruce El. United States 92014 California Del Mar Caminito Point 13172 (72) Inventor Chumin United States 92121 California San Diego Water Ridge Circle 10278-239 F Term (Reference) 5K022 AA09 AA17 5K028 AA11 BB04 HH02 LL01 5K033 CA11 CA17 CB06 DA01 DA17 5K067 A10 EE06

Claims (68)

[Claims] 1. A method of allocating at least a portion of a radio frequency (RF) spectrum between at least one of a plurality of RF transmitters and a plurality of RF receivers, the plurality of RF transmitters. And at least one of the plurality of R
F. monitoring communication parameters related to the performance of the group within the transmitter and receiver, determining the performance status of the group according to the monitored communication parameters, and the plurality of RF transmitters. Distributing to at least one of the receivers at least a portion of the RF spectrum from the group having the highest performance. 2. At least one of the plurality of RF transmitters and receivers,
The method of claim 1, further comprising assigning a data rate. 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a size of the portion of the RF spectrum to be allocated separately from the group having the highest performance. 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the request of the group based at least in part on a request of at least one of the RF transmitters and receivers of the group. . 5. The step of determining the requirements of the group includes adjusting the requirements based at least in part on a quality of service of the RF transmitters and receivers of each of the groups. The method according to 4. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of monitoring the communication parameters includes the step of monitoring the aggregate request of the group. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring the communication parameters comprises monitoring the performance of at least one RF channel in the RF transmitter and receiver. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein monitoring the performance of the RF channel comprises measuring at least one of a signal to noise ratio (SNR) and a bit error rate (BER) of the channel. Method. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the performance status of the group comprises determining a length of a data queue for the group. 10. Distributing at least a portion of the RF spectrum from the group having the highest performance out of the RF spectrum from the group having the shortest length data queue. The method of claim 9 including the step of dispensing. 11. Distributing at least a portion of the RF spectrum from the group having the best performance, the portion of the RF spectrum from the group having the least congestion of data traffic. The method of claim 1, including the step of: 12. A method of distributing at least a portion of a radio frequency (RF) spectrum among a plurality of RF transmitters, the method comprising: at least one RF transmitter, the transmitter within the plurality of RF transmitters. Monitoring the demand of a group of said transmitters, determining the relative data congestion of said group of transmitters in response to said monitored demand, and having a minimum amount of congestion in at least one other RF transmitter. A method comprising distributing at least a portion of the RF spectrum from the group. 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising adjusting the demands of each of the transmitters of the group based at least in part on the quality of service of each of the transmitters of the group. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein coordinating the requirements of each of the transmitters of the group includes granting at least a portion of the requirements of each of the transmitters of the group. 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising determining a total demand for the group based at least in part on the adjusted demand of each transmitter of the group. 16. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of monitoring the request for the group of transmitters comprises receiving information representative of the amount of data each of the transmitters of the group requires to exchange. Method. 17. The method of claim 12, wherein determining the relative data congestion of the group of transmitters comprises identifying the group having the shortest length data queue. 18. Distributing at least a portion of the RF spectrum, transmitting a portion of the RF spectrum from the group of transmitters having the shortest length data queue to at least one other RF transmission. 18. The method of claim 17, including the step of assigning to a vessel. 19. The method of claim 12, further comprising comparing a data queue length of the group of transmitters with a data queue length of another group of transmitters. 20. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of monitoring the demand of at least one other group of transmitters in the plurality of RF transmitters, including at least one RF transmitter. 21. A communications receiver for receiving radio frequency (RF) signals from a plurality of RF transmitters, wherein the plurality of RF transmitters comprises, when executed, at least one RF transmitter. Monitoring the demand of a group of transmitters of said transmitter, determining relative data congestion of said group of transmitters in response to said monitored demand, and at least one other RF transmitter A receiver accessing a processor programmed with instructions to perform a method comprising distributing at least a portion of said RF spectrum from a group having congestion. 22. The method of claim 21, further comprising adjusting the requirements of the transmitters of each of the groups based at least in part on a quality of service of each transmitter of the group. Receiver. 23. The receiver of claim 22, wherein adjusting the request of the transmitter of each of the groups includes allowing at least a portion of the request of the transmitter of each of the groups. . 24. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of determining a total demand for the group based at least in part on the adjusted demand of the transmitters of each of the groups. Receiver. 25. The step of monitoring a request for a group of transmitters comprises receiving information representative of the amount of data each transmitter of each of the groups requests to exchange. Receiver. 26. The receiver of claim 21, wherein determining the relative data congestion of the group of transmitters comprises identifying the group having the shortest length data queue. 27. Distributing at least a portion of the RF spectrum includes transmitting to the at least one other RF transmitter a portion of the RF spectrum from the group of transmitters having the data queue of the shortest length. 27. A receiver as claimed in claim 26 including the step of assigning parts. 28. The receiver of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises comparing the length of the data queue of the group of transmitters with the length of the data queue of another group of transmitters. 29. The method of claim 21, further comprising monitoring the demand of at least one other group of transmitters in the plurality of RF transmitters including at least one RF transmitter. Receiver. 30. A system for distributing at least a portion of a radio frequency (RF) spectrum among a plurality of RF transmitters for transmitting data representing each request to communicate the data. A plurality of RF transmitters each configured, and a receiver in communication with the plurality of RF transmitters, the receivers configured to monitor the request of a group within the plurality of RF transmitters; The group includes at least one RF transmitter, and the receiver further redistributes a portion of the RF spectrum from the group of RF transmitters having a minimum requirement to at least one other RF transmitter. System that is configured as. 31. Each RF transmitter is configured to periodically transmit data representative of each request to the receiver via a dedicated RF channel.
0 system. 32. The system of claim 30, wherein the receiver is configured to obtain each request and determine a total request for the group. 33. The system of claim 30, wherein the receiver is configured to adjust each request based, at least in part, on a quality of service of at least one of the RF transmitters. . 34. The receiver is configured to determine a total demand for the group based at least in part on each of the adjusted demands.
The system according to 3. 35. The system of claim 30, wherein the receiver is configured to grant at least a portion of the request of each of the plurality of RF transmitters. 36. The receiver is configured to access a processor that redistributes the portion of the RF spectrum from the group of RF transmitters having a minimum requirement to at least one other RF transmitter. 31. The system of claim 30, which is: 37. The receiver is at least one of the plurality of RF transmitters.
4. The method of claim 3 configured to monitor the performance of one RF channel.
0 system. 38. The system of claim 37, wherein the receiver is configured to measure at least one of a signal to noise ratio and a bit error rate for the RF channel. 39. The receiver is configured to assign a data rate to at least one of the plurality of RF transmitters based at least in part on performance of the channel. 38. The system according to 38. 40. The receiver is adapted to assign an increased data rate to at least one of the plurality of RF transmitters if the measured signal to noise ratio exceeds a predetermined threshold. 39. The system of claim 38 configured. 41. The receiver is adapted to assign a reduced data rate to at least one of the plurality of RF transmitters if the measured signal to noise ratio is below a predetermined threshold. 39. The system of claim 38 configured. 42. The receiver maintains a data rate currently assigned to at least one of the plurality of RF transmitters if the measured signal to noise ratio is within a predetermined range. 39. The system of claim 38 configured to: 43. The receiver of claim 30, wherein the receiver is configured to redistribute the portion of the RF spectrum to at least one other group having a demand greater than the minimum demand. system. 44. The system of claim 43, wherein the receiver is configured to redistribute the portion of the RF spectrum by a predetermined amount of bandwidth in a stepwise manner. 45. Communication between a plurality of communication devices including at least one radio frequency (RF) transmitter and receiver and configured to communicate information representative of each request stored in a request queue. A method of allocating a portion of a radio frequency spectrum and a time slot for: calculating an average data transfer rate of one of the plurality of communication devices, at least in part the average data transfer Determining whether to fulfill the request of the one device based on the speed and the size of the request queue; and to the one device when it is determined to fulfill the request of the one device. , The portion of the frequency spectrum proportional to the data rate of the one device and the time A method comprising the step of assigning lots. 46. The method of claim 45, further comprising delaying the fulfillment of the request by the one device if the average data rate of the one device exceeds a predetermined threshold. 47. The method of claim 46, wherein delaying fulfillment of the request comprises scheduling the request at the end of the request queue. 48. The step of determining whether to fulfill the request of the one device determines whether the average data transfer rate is above a predetermined data transfer rate below the predetermined threshold. 47. The method of claim 46, including. 49. The method of claim 48, further comprising executing an out random early drop algorithm if the average data rate is between the predetermined data rate and a predetermined threshold. . 50. The method of claim 48, further comprising executing an in-random early drop algorithm if the average data rate is below the predetermined data rate. 51. The method of claim 45, wherein calculating the average data rate comprises determining the data rate for the one device over a predetermined elapsed time interval. 52. The step of assigning to the one device to communicate in a portion of the frequency spectrum and the next available time slot that is compatible with communication of the one device at the data rate, 46. The method of claim 45, including the step of scheduling the one device. 53. Radio frequency (RF) when executed by a processor
A communication system programmed with instructions for performing a method of allocating at least a portion of a spectrum between at least one of a plurality of RF transmitters and RF receivers, the method comprising: And monitoring at least one of the plurality of RF transmitters and receivers related to the performance parameters of the group within the receiver, the performance status of the group according to the monitored communication parameters. And a step of distributing at least a portion of the RF spectrum from the group having the highest performance to at least one of the plurality of RF transmitters and receivers. 54. The system of claim 53, further comprising determining a request for the group based at least in part on the request of the at least one RF transmitter and receiver of the group. 55. The step of determining the requirements of the group includes adjusting the requirements based, at least in part, on a quality of service of each of the RF transmitters and receivers of the group. The system described in. 56. The step of determining the performance state of the group includes the step of determining a length of a data queue for the group.
The system according to 3. 57. A processor, wherein each communication device is configured to communicate information representing each request stored in a request queue, each communication device including at least one radio frequency (RF) transmitter and receiver; A communication system programmed with instructions for performing a method of allocating a portion of a radio frequency spectrum and time slots for communication among a plurality of said communication devices when executed by said method, said method comprising: Calculating an average data transfer rate of one of a plurality of communication devices, at least in part, fulfilling the request of the one device based on the average data transfer rate and the size of the request queue And determining when to fulfill the requirements of the one device Even partially, the communication system including the commensurate with the data rate, the portion of the frequency spectrum and time slot is assigned to said one device step of the one device. 58. The system of claim 57, wherein the method further comprises delaying fulfillment of the request of the one device if the average data rate of the one device exceeds a predetermined threshold. . 59. The step of assigning to said one device to communicate in a portion of said frequency spectrum and next available time slot that is compatible with communication of said one device at said data rate, 58. The system of claim 57, including the step of scheduling the one device. 60. A system for allocating at least a portion of a radio frequency (RF) spectrum between at least one of a plurality of RF transmitters and RF receivers, the plurality of RF transmitters and receivers. A plurality of R, including at least one of
F means for monitoring communication parameters relating to the performance of the group in the transmitter and receiver, means for determining the performance status of the group according to the monitored communication parameters, and the plurality of RF transmitters, A system comprising means for distributing to at least one of the receivers at least a portion of the RF spectrum from the group having the highest performance. 61. The method of claim 60, further comprising means for determining a request for the group based at least in part on the request of at least one of the RF transmitters and receivers of the group. System. 62. The system of claim 61, further comprising means for adjusting the request based at least in part on the quality of service of each of the RF transmitters and receivers of the group. 63. A system for distributing at least a portion of a radio frequency (RF) spectrum among a plurality of RF transmitters, the system comprising: at least one RF transmitter within the plurality of RF transmitters. Means for monitoring the demand of the group of transmitters, means for determining relative data congestion of the group of transmitters in response to the monitored demand, and a minimum amount of at least one other RF transmitter. Means for distributing at least a portion of the RF spectrum from the group having congestion. 64. A system for distributing at least a portion of a radio frequency (RF) spectrum, comprising: a plurality of means for transmitting information representative of each request for communicating data; and at least one transmitting means. Means for monitoring the demand of a group within the plurality of transmitting means, and means for distributing to at least one other transmitting means a portion of the RF spectrum from the group of transmitting means having a minimum demand. Equipped system. 65. A method of allocating a portion of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum among a plurality of RF transmitters, the method operating at an average data rate that is different than the data rate of the second group of transmitters. Monitoring the demand of at least the first and second groups of transmitters, at least in part based on the quality of service corresponding to each transmitter of the first and second groups of transmitters, Coordinating the demands of the at least first and second groups of transmitters; determining, at least in part, the least congested group of transmitters based on the coordinated demands; Reducing the size of the RF bandwidth allocated to the least congested group of transmitters and the RF bands allocated to other groups of transmitters Comprising the step of increasing the size of the width. 66. The method of claim 65, wherein determining the least congested group of transmitters comprises identifying the group of transmitters having the least data queue. 67. A method of allocating a portion of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum and time slots among a plurality of transmitters whose requests are placed in a request queue, the method comprising communicating a predetermined amount of data to a receiver. Sending a request to perform, determining an average data rate of at least one transmitter of the plurality of transmitters, and determining the average data rate of the at least one transmitter to at least one predetermined value. Of the next available RF if the average data rate is below the predetermined threshold.
A method comprising assigning bandwidth and timeslots to the at least one transmitter. 68. If the average data transfer rate is above the predetermined threshold,
68. The method of claim 67, further comprising delaying the allocation of RF bandwidth and timeslots.