Method, apparatus, network device and computer medium for resource allocation

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to methods, apparatuses, network devices and computer media for resource allocation. The method includes: determining the current priority of each service flow carried in the network slice; for each service flow carried in the network slice, determining the next priority of the service flow according to the current priority of the service flow and the channel quality of the user related to the service flow; and allocating time-frequency resources to each service flow according to the next priority of each service flow carried in the network slice. According to the above technical solution, by simultaneously considering the service flow priority reflecting the needs of the service flow itself and the channel quality of the user related to the service flow, more reasonable resources can be allocated to the service flow, thereby achieving optimal utilization of resources and improving resource utilization efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communications, and more specifically, to a method, an apparatus, a network device, and a computer-readable storage medium for resource allocation in the field of wireless communications. Background Art

[0002] With the advent of the 5G era, network services will gradually diversify according to different vertical industry application scenarios. In order to meet the needs of different services for network resources, 5G network slicing came into being. Network slicing aims to share a set of 5G physical network infrastructure, which can provide multiple virtual end-to-end sub-networks at the same time, dynamically share various network entity resources, but can exist and be managed relatively independently and isolated from each other. These virtual sub-networks are called network slices.

[0003] Considering the balance between network efficiency and complexity, the slicing problem on the 5G access network side has not been well solved. The problem mainly lies in the dynamic management of slice resources. The dynamic management of slice resources requires that the resources consumed in the operation of each network slice should be as relevant as possible to the real-time business volume of the slice, and different slices should share resources as much as possible to improve resource utilization.

[0004] At present, resource allocation for network slices on the access network side is usually performed in sequence by the independent slice management layer and user scheduling layer. In the slice management layer, resources are allocated to the corresponding service flow according to the needs of the services carried by the slice, and in the user scheduling layer, related users are scheduled within the resources allocated to the service flow. The resource allocation of the slice management layer has nothing to do with the user scheduling of the user scheduling layer. Although allocating resources to slices and scheduling users as independent operations can reduce system complexity, such a hierarchical independent scheduling system cannot achieve optimal utilization of wireless resources.

[0005] For example, for slices carrying online gaming services, there are high requirements for latency and bandwidth, so the slice management layer will allocate more time-frequency resources to them to process their related service flows with a higher priority. However, if the channel quality of users related to the service flows of this service is not good, then even if more time-frequency resources are allocated to the related service flows, these users still cannot get good service. In this way, the resources allocated to these service flows are wasted, and the utilization efficiency is very low. On the contrary, for slices carrying non-real-time data download services, there are no special requirements for latency and bandwidth, so the slice manager will allocate fewer time-frequency resources to them to process their related service flows with a lower priority. However, if the channel quality of users related to the service flows of this service is good, then these users can be given priority when network resources are idle, so as to improve network efficiency and leave more available resources for future network utilization.

[0006] Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned inefficiency problem, it is hoped that a method can be provided to optimize resource allocation, thereby improving resource utilization efficiency. Summary of the invention

[0007] The present disclosure provides a method, apparatus, network device, and computer-readable storage medium for resource allocation, which can optimize resource allocation and avoid inefficiency in resource allocation.

[0008] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for resource allocation is provided, the method comprising: determining a current priority of each service flow carried in a network slice; for each service flow carried in the network slice, determining a next priority of the service flow based on the current priority of the service flow and a channel quality of a user associated with the service flow; and allocating time-frequency resources to each service flow based on the next priority of each service flow carried in the network slice.

[0009] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a device for resource allocation is provided, the device comprising components for executing the steps of the above method.

[0010] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a network device is provided, comprising: a memory storing computer executable instructions; and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to execute the above method.

[0011] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores computer-executable instructions. When the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor, the processor executes the above method.

[0012] According to the above technical scheme, by simultaneously considering the service flow priority reflecting the needs of the service flow itself and the channel quality of the users related to the service flow, more reasonable resources can be allocated to the service flow, avoiding allocating too many resources to service flows with higher priorities but poor user channel quality, and avoiding allocating too few resources to service flows with lower priorities but good user channel quality, thereby achieving optimal utilization of resources and improving resource utilization efficiency.

[0013] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The accompanying drawings, which constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 1It is a schematic diagram of the overall architecture of the system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 2 is a flowchart of a method for resource allocation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 3 It is a flowchart of a cross-layer scheduling method performed by a distributed processing unit DU according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 4 is an example of allocating resources according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 5 It is a structural block diagram of a device for resource allocation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 6 is another structural block diagram of an apparatus for resource allocation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 7 It is a structural block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the relative arrangement of components and steps, numerical expressions and numerical values ​​set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present disclosure unless otherwise specifically stated.

[0023] At the same time, it should be understood that, for ease of description, the sizes of the various parts shown in the accompanying drawings are not drawn according to the actual proportional relationship. The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is actually only illustrative and is by no means intended to limit the disclosure and its application or use. The techniques, methods and equipment known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail, but in appropriate cases, the techniques, methods and equipment should be considered as part of the specification. In all examples shown and discussed here, any specific value should be interpreted as being merely exemplary, rather than as a limitation. Therefore, other examples of the exemplary embodiments may have different values. It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters represent similar items in the following drawings, so once an item is defined in one drawing, it does not need to be further discussed in subsequent drawings.

[0024] First, refer to Figure 1 A schematic diagram depicting the overall architecture of a system 100 capable of implementing resource allocation.

[0025] The system 100 can implement resource allocation strategies for access network slices. The system 100 includes a core network and a 5G base station. The 5G base station can be divided into a centralized processing unit CU functional entity and a distributed processing unit DU functional entity. The operation of implementing the resource allocation strategy on the access network side is mainly performed by the DU.

[0026] Network slices are set in the core network. The core network can set network slices for services based on vertical applications and mark the network slices independently. Different services can be carried on different network slices according to their different needs. For example, services requiring low latency and high bandwidth (such as online network game service 1 and online high-definition video service 2) can be carried on network slice 1, and services requiring low latency and high reliability (such as real-time session service 3) can be carried on network slice 2. Network slice 1 and network slice 2 can be respectively assigned unique slice numbers represented by S-NSSAI, and the slice numbers can reflect the priority level of the slices. In the above example, the priority of the slice number of network slice 1 can be higher than the priority of the slice number of network slice 2, so that the network prioritizes to allocate sufficient resources to network slice 1. The carrying of services and the allocation of slice numbers can be performed by the core network according to existing technologies.

[0027] The services carried on the network slice exist in the form of service flows, which can also be called PDU (Protocol Data Unit) sessions. These service flows are associated with the network slice number that carries it and can be allocated to different DRBs (Data Resource Bearers). A service flow controller can be set in the CU, and the service flow controller can determine the priority order of the service flows according to the different requirements of the service flows, so as to facilitate the generation of different configurations for the service flows. According to the priority order, the CU adds different PDCP headers and RLC headers to the data packets in the service flow through the PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) protocol entity and the RLC (Radio Link Control) protocol entity, and then transmits the data packets with the added headers to the MAC protocol entity. For example, QoS service flows 1 to 4 corresponding to services 1 and 2 carried in slice 1 can be allocated to different DRBs. The CU can determine that service flows 1 and 2 have the highest requirements for delay and bandwidth, so it assigns the highest priority to them and transmits them to the DU through PDCP1 and RLC1. The CU can determine that service flow 3 has the second highest requirements for delay and bandwidth, so it assigns a medium priority to service flow 3 and transmits it to the DU through PDCP2 and RLC2. The CU may determine that service flow 4 has the lowest requirements for latency and bandwidth, and therefore assigns the lowest priority to service flow 4 and transmits it to the DU through PDCP3 and RLC3.

[0028] In DU, the prior art involves MAC1 and MAC2, which allocate resources to service flows in network slice 1 and network slice 2 respectively, and allocate sufficient resources as long as the service flow has a high priority. Then, the prior art schedules the relevant users through MAC within the resources allocated by MAC1 and MAC2 for the service flow. The prior art does not consider the channel quality of the user itself when allocating resources to the service flow. In contrast, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, MAC1, MAC2 and MAC are combined together to form a cross-layer scheduler as a whole, instead of being like Figure 1 As shown in the figure, the upper and lower layers are independent of each other, so as to optimize the allocation of resources by considering both the service flow demand and the relevant user channel quality. The cross-layer scheduling performed in the DU can allocate resources by considering both the service flow demand and the relevant user channel quality, and its operation will be described in detail below.

[0029] Different service flows processed by the cross-layer scheduler share the same PHY layer entity, thereby sharing wireless resources.

[0030] exist Figure 2 A flowchart of a method 200 for resource allocation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown in FIG.

[0031] In S210, the current priority of each service flow carried in the network slice is determined.

[0032] For example, when a service flow is not allocated wireless time-frequency resources for transmission, the initial priority of the service flow is set by the CU based on the different requirements of the service flow for at least one of latency, bandwidth and reliability, and the initial priority is the current priority of the service flow. When a service flow has been allocated wireless time-frequency resources for transmission, the priority of the service flow may change over time (for example, as the user moves, the quality of the user channel deteriorates, so that the resources allocated to the service flow cannot serve the user well and are wasted, which may affect the priority of the service flow). At this time, the priority of the service flow needs to be recalculated, and the existing priority of the service flow before the recalculation is the current priority of the service flow.

[0033] In S220, for each service flow carried in the network slice, the next priority of the service flow is determined based on the current priority of the service flow and the channel quality of the user related to the service flow.

[0034] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the channel quality of the user associated with the service flow can be characterized by the channel quality indication CQI of the user in the previous transmission time interval TTI. The priority of the service flow can be updated by considering both the state of the service flow itself and the channel status of the associated user. The calculation of the next priority of the service flow can be based on the following expression:

[0035]

[0036] Among them, F A is the next priority of service flow A, C A is the current priority of service flow A, K is the number of users associated with the service flow, n k is the bandwidth occupied by user k in service flow A, CQI k，A is the channel quality indicator of user k in service flow A in the previous transmission time interval, N A is the bandwidth occupied by service flow A, and α and β are numbers not less than 0 and not greater than 1.

[0037] The calculation of the above expression can be performed by DU. When DU first calculates F A When C A It is the initial priority of the service flow set by the CU. Then the DU calculates F A When C A is the F calculated by DU last time A .

[0038] The new priority calculated in this way not only takes into account the service flow's requirements for performance such as delay, bandwidth, and reliability, but also takes into account the channel quality of users related to the service flow, avoiding the waste of resources when the service flow demand is high but the user channel quality is poor, and the insufficient resource utilization when the service flow demand is low but the user channel quality is good. The recalculated priority can take into account both the service flow demand and the user channel quality, thereby allocating more reasonable time-frequency resources to the service flow and optimizing resource utilization.

[0039] In S230, time and frequency resources are allocated to each service flow according to the next priority of each service flow carried in the network slice.

[0040] For example, for the higher priority business flow calculated in S220, more time-frequency resources are allocated to it, and for the lower priority business flow calculated in S220, fewer time-frequency resources are allocated to it, so that the lower priority business flow can be properly served while the high priority business flow is more fully served.

[0041] According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, after allocating time-frequency resources to service flows, a proportional fairness algorithm can be used within the time-frequency resources allocated to each service flow to schedule users associated with the service flow. The proportional fairness algorithm is a well-known algorithm in the art and will not be described in detail here.

[0042] Compared with the current method of allocating resources to business flows without considering user channel conditions, the method of the embodiment of the present invention can allocate more reasonable resources to business flows by simultaneously considering business flow requirements and business flow-related user channel quality, thereby achieving optimal utilization of resources and improving resource utilization efficiency.

[0043] Figure 3 A flowchart of a cross-layer scheduling method 300 performed by a distributed processing unit DU according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Specifically, the method 300 can be performed by a cross-layer scheduler included in the DU.

[0044] In S310, the service flows carried in the network slice are divided into regions on the time-frequency resources, so that regional resources are pre-allocated to the service flows according to the service flow priorities set by the CU, so that they can correspond to the preset air interface resource regions.

[0045] In S320, the service flow scheduling cycle starts.

[0046] In S330, a new priority of the service flow is calculated according to the priority of the service flow in the previous cycle and the channel quality of the users related to the service flow. The calculation process is the same as the calculation process in S220 above.

[0047] In S340, it is determined whether the calculated new priority is consistent with the priority of the previous cycle. If the two are consistent, the process proceeds to S360, otherwise, the process proceeds to S350.

[0048] In S350, the service flow resources are scheduled according to the new priority of the service flow, for example, more time-frequency resources are allocated to the service flow with a higher priority, and / or the data of the service flow with a higher priority is sent preferentially in time.

[0049] In S360, users related to the service flow are scheduled within the resources of the service flow, for example, by using a proportional fairness algorithm.

[0050] In S370, the service flow scheduling cycle ends.

[0051] Before the end of the service flow scheduling cycle, S330 can be executed at scheduled intervals, or when trigger information is received. The trigger information may be that the CQI reported by multiple users related to the service flow is lower than a threshold, or that no feedback from multiple users is received within a scheduled time, or that error information is received from multiple users, and so on.

[0052] The method of the embodiment of the present disclosure can set the service flow priority for network slices of different vertical applications through the service flow controller in the CU and correspond to the preset air interface resource slice area, thereby optimizing the utilization of air interface resources. In addition, the DU performs dynamic cross-layer scheduling of the slice scheduling layer and the user scheduling layer according to the service flow priority and the channel quality information of the users belonging to the service flow. This takes into account the service flow priority and the channel quality of the users involved, optimizes the utilization efficiency of air interface resources, solves the problem of dynamic management of service flow resources, and can provide high-quality user experience. In addition, the method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented in the existing 5G base station architecture design through software upgrades, reducing the iteration cost.

[0053] Next, combine Figure 4 An example of allocating resources according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is described.

[0054] exist Figure 4 In the example, it involves services 1 and 2 in the URLLC (ultra-reliable and low-latency communication) scenario and services 3 and 4 in the eMBB (enhanced mobile broadband) scenario. The service flows corresponding to services 1 and 2 are carried on network slice 1, and the service flows corresponding to services 3 and 4 are carried on network slice 2. Service flow 1 of service 1 has user group 1, service flow 2 of service 2 has user group 2, service flow 3 of service 3 has user group 3, and service flow 4 of service 4 has user group 4. The service flow controller in the CU sets priorities for these service flows based on their requirements for at least one of latency, bandwidth, and reliability. The cross-layer scheduler in the DU calculates the new priority of the service flow based on the original priority of the service flow and the channel information fed back by the users related to the service flow, and allocates corresponding resources to the service flow in the time-frequency resources according to the new priority of the service flow, and performs user scheduling of the corresponding user group within the resources of the service flow through the proportional fairness algorithm, thereby realizing the optimal utilization of wireless resources for access network slices.

[0055] The above describes the method for resource allocation according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. Figures 5 to 7 A structural block diagram of an apparatus and a network device for resource allocation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is described.

[0056] Figure 5The device 500 for resource allocation shown includes a first determining component 510, a second determining component 520 and an allocating component 530. Each of these components can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. The first determining component 510 can be used to determine the current priority of each service flow carried in the network slice, and the second determining component 520 can be used to determine the next priority of each service flow carried in the network slice according to the current priority of the service flow and the channel quality of the user associated with the service flow. The allocating component 530 can be used to allocate time-frequency resources to each service flow according to the next priority of each service flow carried in the network slice.

[0057] The above and / or other operations and functions of the first determining component 510, the second determining component 520 and the allocating component 530 can refer to the above Figures 1 to 4 In order to avoid repetition, the relevant descriptions in will not be repeated here.

[0058] The device provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure can allocate more reasonable resources to the business flow by simultaneously considering the business flow priority reflecting the needs of the business flow itself and the channel quality of the users related to the business flow, avoiding the waste of resources and the underutilization of resources, thereby achieving optimal utilization of resources and improving resource utilization efficiency.

[0059] Figure 6 The first determining component 610 , the second determining component 620 and the allocating component 630 in the apparatus 600 for resource allocation are substantially the same as the first determining component 510 , the second determining component 520 and the allocating component 530 in the apparatus 500 .

[0060] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first determining component 610 can be further used to set an initial priority for each service flow as the current priority of each service flow according to different requirements of each service flow for at least one of delay, bandwidth and reliability.

[0061] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first determining component 610 may be in the CU.

[0062] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second determining component 620 can be further used to determine the next priority of the service flow according to the current priority of the service flow and the channel quality indication CQI of the user related to the service flow in the previous sending time interval. For example, the expression described in S220 above can be used to calculate the next priority of the service flow.

[0063] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second determining component 620 may be in the DU.

[0064] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the apparatus 600 may further include a scheduling component 640. The scheduling component 640 may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. The scheduling component 640 may be used to schedule users related to the service flow using a proportional fairness algorithm within the time-frequency resources allocated to each service flow.

[0065] The above and other operations and / or functions of the first determining component 610, the second determining component 620, the allocating component 630 and the scheduling component 640 in the apparatus 600 can refer to the above Figures 1 to 4 In order to avoid repetition, the relevant descriptions in will not be repeated here.

[0066] The second determining component 620 in the device 600 innovatively uses an expression that takes into account both the service flow demand and the channel quality of users related to the service flow, and can allocate more reasonable resources to the service flow, thereby achieving optimal utilization of resources.

[0067] exist Figure 7 , a structural block diagram of a network device 700 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The network device 700 may be a base station, or a single device or a combination of multiple devices that implement the CU and DU functional entities of the base station.

[0068] The network device 700 includes a memory 710 and a processor 720. The memory 710 may be a read-only memory, an optical disk, a hard disk, a magnetic disk, a flash memory, or any other non-volatile storage medium. The memory may store computer executable instructions for implementing at least one of the methods 200 and 300.

[0069] The processor 720 may be coupled to the memory 710, for example, via a bus, and may be implemented as one or more integrated circuits, such as a microprocessor or a microcontroller. The processor 720 is used to execute computer executable instructions stored in the memory 710 for implementing at least one of the methods 200 and 300. By executing the computer executable instructions, more reasonable resources can be allocated to the service flow, thereby optimizing the utilization of resources and improving the efficiency of resource utilization.

[0070] As in existing computer devices, the network device 700 can be connected to an external storage device through a read-write interface to call external data, and can also be connected to a network or other computer devices through a network interface, which will not be described in detail here.

[0071] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, computer executable instructions for executing at least one of methods 200 and 300 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium. When the instructions are executed by a processor, the processor is enabled to execute corresponding steps, thereby allocating more reasonable resources to business flows and optimizing resource utilization.

[0072] The above-mentioned apparatuses 500, 600 and network device 700 can all be connected to a wireless communication network as networking devices to communicate with end users and / or other devices.

[0073] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as methods, devices, or computer program products. Therefore, the present disclosure may take the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware. Moreover, the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable non-transient storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0074] The present disclosure is described with reference to flowcharts and / or block diagrams of methods, devices (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood that each process and / or block in the flowchart and / or block diagram and the combination of processes and / or blocks in the flowchart and / or block diagram can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device generate instructions for implementing the processes in the flowchart and / or block diagram. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in a block or multiple blocks.

[0075] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture comprising an instruction device, which implements the process Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A function specified in one or more boxes.

[0076] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing instructions for implementing the process. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The steps for the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0077] So far, the present disclosure has been described in detail. In order to avoid obscuring the concept of the present disclosure, some details known in the art are not described. Based on the above description, those skilled in the art can fully understand how to implement the technical solution disclosed here.

[0078] The method and system of the present disclosure may be implemented in many ways. For example, the method and system of the present disclosure may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination of software, hardware, and firmware. The above order of steps for the method is for illustration only, and the steps of the method of the present disclosure are not limited to the order specifically described above, unless otherwise specifically stated. In addition, in some embodiments, the present disclosure may also be implemented as a program recorded in a recording medium, which includes machine-readable instructions for implementing the method according to the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure also covers a recording medium storing a program for executing the method according to the present disclosure.

[0079] Although some specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail by way of example, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the above examples are for illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the above embodiments may be modified without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for resource allocation, comprising: Determine the current priority of each service flow carried in the network slice; For each service flow carried in the network slice, determine the next priority of the service flow according to the current priority of the service flow and the channel quality of the user related to the service flow; as well as According to the next priority of each service flow carried in the network slice, time and frequency resources are allocated to each service flow, where: Determining the next priority of the service flow according to the current priority of the service flow and the channel quality of the user associated with the service flow comprises: determining the next priority of the service flow according to the current priority of the service flow and the channel quality indication CQI of the user associated with the service flow in the previous sending time interval, The next priority of the service flow is determined by the following expression: Among them, F A is the next priority of service flow A, C A is the current priority of service flow A, K is the number of users associated with the service flow, n k is the bandwidth occupied by user k in service flow A, CQI k，A is the channel quality indicator of user k in service flow A in the previous transmission time interval, N A is the bandwidth occupied by service flow A, and α and β are numbers not less than 0 and not greater than 1.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Determining the current priority of each service flow carried in the network slice includes: According to different requirements of each service flow for at least one of delay, bandwidth and reliability, an initial priority is set for each service flow as the current priority of each service flow.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The initial priority setting is performed by the centralized processing unit CU.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The determination of the next priority of the traffic flow is performed by the distributed processing unit DU.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A proportional fairness algorithm is used to schedule users associated with each service flow within the time-frequency resources allocated to the service flow.

6. An apparatus for resource allocation, comprising means for performing the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1-5.

7. A network device comprising: a memory storing computer executable instructions; as well as A processor is coupled to the memory, wherein the computer executable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-5.

8. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions, wherein: The computer executable instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-5.

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