Device and method for frequency domain scheduler and time domain scheduler for network

Abstract

This document discloses a solution for scheduling resources in a network using split frequency domain scheduling and time domain scheduling. According to one embodiment, a method for a frequency domain scheduler includes: receiving, by the frequency domain scheduler, a first scheduling request including a first priority indicator from a first time domain scheduler that schedules time domain resources using a first scheduling policy; receiving, by the frequency domain scheduler, a second scheduling request from a second time domain scheduler that uses a second scheduling policy different from the first scheduling policy, the second scheduling request including a second priority indicator provided on the same scale as the first priority indicator; and scheduling, by the frequency domain scheduler, frequency domain resources to the first time domain scheduler and the second time domain scheduler based on the first priority indicator and the second priority indicator.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The exemplary and non-limiting embodiments of the present invention generally relate to wireless communication systems. In particular, the embodiments of the present invention relate to apparatus, methods, and computer program products for scheduling in a communication network. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems are constantly evolving. Currently, so-called fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication networks are under development. Future communication networks must have a flexible architecture capable of adapting to a wide range of use cases, users, sensors, service requirements, and network deployments. This goes beyond the conventional separation of control from user services and also impacts the system's structure. Decisions must be made about where certain functions in 5G mobile networks should be handled.

[0003] One possible implementation for a flexible communications system is to utilize remote radio heads (RRHs) and a cloud-based implementation of at least part of the system's infrastructure. The RRHs include some elements of a traditional base station. Typically, they include, for example, radio frequency equipment, analog-to-digital / digital-to-analog converters, and up / down converters. The rest of the system's base station functionality and infrastructure may be located elsewhere. In a cloud radio access network (Cloud-RAN), network functions can run on a pool of computing resources, including hardware accelerators for specific physical (PHY) layer tasks. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Aspects of the invention are defined by the independent claims.

[0005] Some embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

[0006] Embodiments and features described in this specification that do not fall within the scope of the independent claims, if any, are to be construed as examples that aid in understanding the various embodiments of the present invention. Some aspects of the present disclosure are defined by the independent claims.

[0007] According to one aspect, a device for a frequency domain scheduler of a network is provided, which includes components for performing the following: receiving a first scheduling request including a first priority indicator from a first time domain scheduler that adopts a first scheduling strategy to schedule time domain resources; receiving a second scheduling request from a second time domain scheduler that adopts a second scheduling strategy different from the first scheduling strategy, the second scheduling request including a second priority indicator provided on the same scale as the first priority indicator; and scheduling frequency domain resources to the first time domain scheduler and the second time domain scheduler based on the first priority indicator and the second priority indicator.

[0008] In one embodiment, the first priority indicator is within a first priority range assigned to the first time domain scheduler and the second priority indicator is within a second priority range assigned to the second time domain scheduler, and wherein the first priority range is different from the second priority range.

[0009] In one embodiment, the first priority indicator is within a first priority range assigned to a first time domain scheduler, and the second priority indicator is within a second priority range assigned to a second time domain scheduler, and wherein the component is configured to: clip at least one of the first priority range and the second priority range.

[0010] In one embodiment, the component is configured to: schedule frequency domain resources to a first time domain scheduler and a second time domain scheduler within a cell of a network, wherein the first time domain scheduler schedules time domain resources within a first network slice in the cell, and wherein the second time domain scheduler schedules time domain resources within a second network slice in the cell.

[0011] In one embodiment, the component is configured to receive multiple scheduling requests from each of the first time domain scheduler and the second time domain scheduler before performing the scheduling, each of the multiple scheduling requests is associated with a different transmission request from the terminal device, and the multiple scheduling requests include various priority indicators, and the component is configured to: schedule frequency domain resources for each scheduling request based on the priority indicator.

[0012] In one embodiment, the first priority indicator indicates a higher priority on a scale than the second priority indicator, and therefore, the component is configured to schedule the frequency domain resources to the first time domain scheduler before scheduling the frequency domain resources to the second time domain scheduler.

[0013] In one embodiment, the component is configured to perform frequency domain scheduling for each transmission time interval of the network.

[0014] According to one aspect, a device for a time domain scheduler of a network is provided, the device comprising components for performing the following: determining to schedule time-frequency resources to a terminal device; in response to the determination, determining a scheduling priority of the terminal device according to a scheduling policy of the device, and calculating a priority indicator based on the scheduling priority, the priority indicator being provided on a normalized scale shared with at least one other time domain scheduler using the same frequency domain scheduler; sending a scheduling request to the frequency domain scheduler, the scheduling request including the priority indicator; receiving a scheduling response from the frequency domain scheduler, the scheduling response indicating the frequency domain resources scheduled to the device; and scheduling time domain resources from the frequency domain resources to the terminal device according to the scheduling policy.

[0015] In one embodiment, the component is configured to store and use a priority range that limits the possible values of the priority indicator.

[0016] In one embodiment, the component is configured to schedule time domain resources of one network slice among a plurality of network slices in a cell, and wherein a frequency domain scheduler is common to a plurality of time domain schedulers associated with different network slices in the cell.

[0017] According to one aspect, a method for a frequency domain scheduler for a network is provided, the method comprising: receiving, by the frequency domain scheduler, a first scheduling request including a first priority indicator from a first time domain scheduler that schedules time domain resources using a first scheduling strategy; receiving, by the frequency domain scheduler, a second scheduling request from a second time domain scheduler that adopts a second scheduling strategy different from the first scheduling strategy, the second scheduling request including a second priority indicator provided on the same scale as the first priority indicator; and scheduling, by the frequency domain scheduler, frequency domain resources to the first time domain scheduler and the second time domain scheduler based on the first priority indicator and the second priority indicator.

[0018] In one embodiment, the first priority indicator is within a first priority range assigned to the first time domain scheduler and the second priority indicator is within a second priority range assigned to the second time domain scheduler, and wherein the first priority range is different from the second priority range.

[0019] In one embodiment, the first priority indicator is within a first priority range assigned to a first time domain scheduler, and the second priority indicator is within a second priority range assigned to a second time domain scheduler, and wherein the frequency domain scheduler clips at least one of the first priority range and the second priority range.

[0020] In one embodiment, the frequency domain scheduler schedules frequency domain resources to a first time domain scheduler and a second time domain scheduler within a cell of a network, wherein the first time domain scheduler schedules time domain resources within a first network slice in the cell, and wherein the second time domain scheduler schedules time domain resources within a second network slice in the cell.

[0021] In one embodiment, before performing the scheduling, the frequency domain scheduler receives multiple scheduling requests from each of the first time domain scheduler and the second time domain scheduler, each of the multiple scheduling requests is associated with a different transmission request from the terminal device, and the multiple scheduling requests include various priority indicators, and the scheduler schedules frequency domain resources for each scheduling request based on the priority indicator.

[0022] In one embodiment, the first priority indicator indicates a higher priority on a scale than the second priority indicator, and in response, the frequency domain scheduler schedules the frequency domain resources to the first time domain scheduler before scheduling the frequency domain resources to the second time domain scheduler.

[0023] In one embodiment, frequency domain scheduling is performed for each transmission time interval of the network.

[0024] According to one aspect, a method for a time domain scheduler for a network is provided, the method comprising: determining, by the time domain scheduler, to schedule time-frequency resources to a terminal device; in response to the determination, determining, by the time domain scheduler, a scheduling priority of the terminal device according to a scheduling policy of the device, and calculating a priority indicator based on the scheduling priority, the priority indicator being provided on a normalized scale shared with at least one other time domain scheduler using the same frequency domain scheduler; sending, by the time domain scheduler, a scheduling request to a frequency domain scheduler, the scheduling request including a priority indicator; receiving, by the time domain scheduler, a scheduling response from the frequency domain scheduler, the scheduling response indicating the frequency domain resources scheduled to the device; and scheduling, by the time domain scheduler, time domain resources from the frequency domain resources to the terminal device according to the scheduling policy.

[0025] In one embodiment, the time domain scheduler stores and uses priority ranges that limit the possible values of the priority indicators.

[0026] In one embodiment, a time domain scheduler schedules time domain resources of one network slice among multiple network slices in a cell, wherein the frequency domain scheduler is common to multiple time domain schedulers associated with different network slices in the cell.

[0027] According to one aspect, a computer program product implemented on a distribution medium is provided, which distribution medium is readable by a computer and includes program instructions, which, when loaded into a computer, execute a computer process for a frequency domain scheduler of a network, the computer process including: receiving, by the frequency domain scheduler, a first scheduling request including a first priority indicator from a first time domain scheduler that schedules time domain resources using a first scheduling strategy; receiving, by the frequency domain scheduler, a second scheduling request including a second priority indicator provided on the same scale as the first priority indicator from a second time domain scheduler that adopts a second scheduling strategy different from the first scheduling strategy; and scheduling, by the frequency domain scheduler, frequency domain resources to the first time domain scheduler and the second time domain scheduler based on the first priority indicator and the second priority indicator.

[0028] According to one aspect, a computer program product implemented on a distribution medium is provided, which distribution medium is readable by a computer and includes program instructions, which when loaded into a computer execute a computer process of a time domain scheduler for a network, the computer process including: determining by the time domain scheduler to schedule time-frequency resources to a terminal device; in response to the determination, determining by the time domain scheduler a scheduling priority of the terminal device according to a scheduling policy of the device, and calculating a priority indicator based on the scheduling priority, the priority indicator being provided on a normalized scale shared with at least one other time domain scheduler using the same frequency domain scheduler; sending by the time domain scheduler a scheduling request to the frequency domain scheduler, the scheduling request including a priority indicator; receiving by the time domain scheduler a scheduling response from the frequency domain scheduler, the scheduling response indicating the frequency domain resources scheduled to the device; and scheduling by the time domain scheduler time domain resources from the frequency domain resources to the terminal device according to the scheduling policy. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

[0030] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a communication environment in which some embodiments of the present invention may be applied;

[0031] Figure 2 and Figure 3 Flowcharts illustrating some embodiments of the present invention for performing wireless resource scheduling;

[0032] Figure 4 An embodiment of splitting and scheduling time-frequency resources to bearers or terminal devices is shown;

[0033] Figure 5 An example showing different priority ranges employed by different time-domain schedulers using the same frequency-domain scheduler is shown;

[0034] Figure 6 A signaling diagram illustrating communication between a time domain scheduler and a frequency domain scheduler according to an embodiment;

[0035] Figure 7 An embodiment illustrating a process for tailoring the priority ranges assigned to a time domain scheduler; and

[0036] Figure 8 and Figure 9 An example of an apparatus for implementing an embodiment of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] The following embodiments are merely examples. Although the specification may refer to "one," "an," or "some" embodiments in multiple places, this does not necessarily mean that each such reference refers to the same embodiment, or that a feature applies only to a single embodiment. Individual features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide further embodiments. Furthermore, the words "comprising" and "including" should be understood as not limiting the described embodiments to consisting only of the features mentioned, and such embodiments may also include features, structures, units, modules, etc. not specifically mentioned.

[0038] Some embodiments of the present invention are applicable to base stations, eNodeBs, distributed implementations of base stations, network elements of communication systems, corresponding components, and / or to any communication system or any combination of different communication systems that support the required functionality.

[0039] The specifications of the protocols, communication systems, servers, and user equipment used, especially in wireless communications, are evolving rapidly. This evolution may require additional changes to the embodiments. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly and are intended to illustrate, not to limit, the embodiments.

[0040] Figure 1 Shows a simplified view of a communication environment, showing only some elements and functional entities which are all logical units, the implementation of which may differ from what is shown. Figure 1 The connections shown in the figure are logical connections; the actual physical connections may be different. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the system also includes other functions and structures. It should be understood that the functions, structures, elements, and protocols used in or for communication are not relevant to the present invention. Therefore, they do not need to be discussed in detail here.

[0041] exist Figure 1 In the examples, a system based on a cloud radio access network (Cloud-RAN) is shown. However, the embodiments described in these examples are not limited to Figure 1 The system shown in Figure 1 These are merely examples of possible systems in which embodiments of the present invention may be applied.

[0042] Figure 1 The simplified network example can be divided into three parts or layers: a central cloud 100, one or more edge cloud ECs 102, 104, and multiple flexible front end units (FEUs) 106, 108, 110, connected to a set of remote radio heads (RRHs) 112, 114, 116. In one embodiment, the flexible front end units can be connected to the edge cloud via a software-defined network (SDN). The connection between the FEUs and the edge cloud can be represented as mid-haul. The edge cloud can be connected to the central cloud via a backhaul network. The connection between the RRHs and the FEUs can be represented as fronthaul.

[0043] In one embodiment, different parts or layers of the system perform different functions. The remote radio head is responsible for the air interface and RF operations. Typically, a flexible front end unit manages critical latency services. The front end unit is a resource pool controlled by a cloud approach. The FEU can be configured to provide ultra-reliable or low-latency services to be allocated. The hardware used to implement the FEU may be a server with dedicated hardware such as an accelerator board. The FEU may be located relatively close to the RRH, but the location should be easy to access, maintain, cool and power. In one embodiment, the connection between the RRH and the FEU is achieved through optical fiber, and the length of the connection link is several hundred meters.

[0044] In one embodiment, the edge cloud is a cloud that provides dedicated radio services logically assigned to the edge of the network, but in a locally centralized manner. Typically, the service area can be, for example, an area with a diameter of approximately 20 km around the RRH, depending on the transport network topology. Through this aggregation, aggregation gain can be achieved. As in the FEU, hardware accelerators may also be required, but the main components may be ordinary servers (off-the-shelf, OTS). Edge cloud hardware is easy to access, maintain, replace or update, cool, and power; but it is larger in scale, thereby improving aggregation gain.

[0045] In 5G networks, the concept of slicing is proposed. Slices are used for logical resource isolation. A network slice instance is a set of network functions and the resources of these network functions, which are arranged and configured to form a complete logical network to meet certain network and quality of service (QoS) characteristics. Each slice can be dedicated to a given type of service with similar network characteristics. For example, one slice may be responsible for mobile broadband, MBB or enhanced MBB, eMBB, another slice may manage ultra-reliable low latency connections (URLLC), and another slice may be responsible for the Internet of Things, IoT, business. Another aspect of network slicing is that an entity (such as a company) can obtain a network slice for dedicated use. In the central cloud, the service descriptor 120 is responsible for abstracting the slice description with key performance indicators, KPIs, and location information. The orchestrator 122 is responsible for end-to-end slicing and multi-tenant management. The central cloud also includes an enhanced packet core, EPC, function 124.

[0046] In one embodiment, each edge cloud includes a baseband unit (BBU) pool 126, 128. Each FEU may also have a baseband unit pool 130, 132, 134. The BBU aggregates all processing of the data plane and related control before the final modulation (demodulation in the downlink direction and uplink direction). A BBU pool is a set of resources (e.g., central processing units, CPUs, accelerators, memory) provided in the cloud to provide processing for BBU functions. A virtual BBU (vBBU) is a set of BBU functions floating in the cloud, consisting of resources in the BBU pool, providing one or more services to a group of users or clients. Typically, several vBBUs belong to a cell.

[0047] The baseband service connectors BBSC 136, 138 are configured to control flexible baseband processing and load balancing. The RAN orchestrators 140, 142 are responsible for multi-slice / tenant deployment in the edge cloud according to the request of the orchestrator 122.

[0048] Figure 1 An example is shown in which each FEU manages multiple network slices represented by baseband unit pools 130 to 134. The latency and other quality of service (QoS) requirements of different slices may be different. In addition, multiple FEUs can employ the same RRH, as illustrated by the layers associated with each FEU.

[0049] For example, the scheduler implemented in the FEU is tasked with allocating a limited set of radio resources to a set of bearers operating in a cell, attempting to adhere to as many bearer service level agreements (SLAs) as possible. Bearers, hoping to deliver their data in a timely manner, compete for radio resources. Network slicing adds another dimension to this problem: each slice requires different parameters and strategies for scheduling. For example, slice types such as URLLC, IoT, and (e)MBB differ in their scheduling requirements. For each newly emerging slice type, new scheduling strategies may be required. Cloud-level scaling adds another dimension of complexity to the scheduler by changing the slice-specific processing power required for scheduling and data processing.

[0050] Figure 2 and Figure 3 An embodiment for performing scheduling in a network is shown. The network may be a wireless network, but in some embodiments, the network is a wired network. The embodiment is based on dividing scheduling into frequency domain (FD) scheduling and time domain (TD) scheduling. Figure 2 The process is shown from the perspective of the FD scheduler, and Figure 3 The process is shown from the perspective of the TD scheduler.

[0051] refer to Figure 2, the process includes being performed by a device of the FD scheduler: receiving (block 200) a first scheduling request including a first priority indicator from a first time domain scheduler that schedules time domain resources using a first scheduling strategy; receiving (block 200) a second scheduling request from a second time domain scheduler that adopts a second scheduling strategy different from the first scheduling strategy, the second scheduling request including a second priority indicator provided on the same scale as the first priority indicator; and scheduling (block 202) frequency domain resources to the first time domain scheduler and the second time domain scheduler based on the first priority indicator and the second priority indicator.

[0052] refer to Figure 3 , the process includes being performed by an apparatus of a TD scheduler: determining (block 300) scheduling time-frequency resources to a terminal device; in response to the determination, determining (block 302) a scheduling priority of the terminal device according to a scheduling policy of the apparatus, and calculating a priority indicator based on the scheduling priority, the priority indicator being provided on a normalized scale shared with at least one other time-domain scheduler using the same frequency-domain scheduler; sending (block 304) a scheduling request to the frequency-domain scheduler, the scheduling request including the priority indicator; receiving (block 306) a scheduling response from the frequency-domain scheduler, the scheduling response indicating the frequency-domain resources scheduled to the apparatus; and scheduling (block 306) time-domain resources from the frequency-domain resources to the terminal device according to the scheduling policy.

[0053] The splitting of scheduling and the use of a common scale of priorities enable the TD scheduler to adopt local policies in TD scheduling as it deems appropriate and based on the needs and service requirements (such as QoS) of the terminal devices (UEs) served by each TD scheduler, but it enables dynamic, flexible and efficient utilization of FD resources with the help of a centralized FD scheduler. It also enables flexible deployment and removal of TD schedulers, for example when new network slices are introduced into or removed from the system.

[0054] Since priority indicators are comparable on the same scale, the value of a priority indicator directly represents its priority relative to other priority indicators provided on the same scale. Therefore, if a first priority indicator indicates a higher priority on the scale than a second priority indicator, the FD scheduler can schedule frequency domain resources to the first time domain scheduler before scheduling frequency domain resources to the second time domain scheduler. Therefore, in the case of limited FD resources, the TD scheduler that provides a higher priority indicator will be scheduled first and is more likely to obtain FD resources for TD scheduling.

[0055] In one embodiment, the FD scheduler is common to multiple TD schedulers in a cell.

[0056] Figure 4An embodiment of split scheduling is shown, in which a shared FD scheduler 410 schedules FD resources to multiple TD schedulers 400 to 404 using different scheduling strategies. The number of TD schedulers may depend on the implementation, such as multiple network slices in a system or cell. Each TD scheduler 400 to 404 may have a dedicated priority range assigned to the TD scheduler, and the TD scheduler may calculate the priority indicator within the assigned priority range. The priority ranges of different TD schedulers may be different from each other, thereby forming a priority between the TD schedulers. The priority range can be calculated based on the service requirements of the bearers served by each TD scheduler. The service requirements may define QoS requirements (such as 5QI values in 5G systems), and a specific priority range may be assigned to each QoS or 5QI value. Figure 5 One example of different priority ranges assigned to TD schedulers 400 to 404 is shown.

[0057] refer to Figure 5 , the TD scheduler 400 may have the widest priority range that can be assigned, for example, to the IoT slice. The TD scheduler 402 may be assigned a priority range from the higher end of the priority scale and may assign the priority range to high priority slices such as URLLC. The TD scheduler 404 may be assigned a priority range from the lower end of the priority scale and may assign the priority range to slices that do not deliver high priority traffic (e.g., MBB slices).

[0058] exist Figure 5In an embodiment of the present invention, priority range 500 partially overlaps with priority range 502, and priority ranges 502 and 504 do not overlap. Statistically, this has the following effect in terms of which TD scheduler takes precedence over another when competing for FD resources requested from the FD scheduler. If two TD schedulers have completely overlapping priority ranges, the schedulers are treated in the same manner and with maximum fairness. If two TD schedulers have partially overlapping priority ranges, one slice may take precedence over the other. For example, TD scheduler 402 statistically takes precedence over TD scheduler 400 because priority range 500 is larger and the priority indicators are statistically distributed over a wider range and lower than priority range 502. However, in an isolated case, TD scheduler 400 may take precedence over TD scheduler 402 depending on the values of the priority indicators provided by TD schedulers 400 and 402. If the TD schedulers have separate priority ranges, such as those of TD schedulers 402 and 404, one takes precedence over the other (402 takes precedence over 404), but each slice may still be able to use all resources within the cell. This dimensioning facilitates, for example, the coexistence of URLLC and MBB slices, where high-priority URLLC services are expected to occupy only a small portion of the cell capacity but require immediate scheduling.

[0059] The following describes the situation where the full frequency capacity of the FD resources is in use and not all scheduling requests can be accepted. In this case, depending on the traffic situation in the TD scheduler, TD scheduler 402 has the highest probability of obtaining FD resource scheduling, while TD scheduler 404 has the lowest probability. If such congestion persists, all TD schedulers may tend to set the priority indicator to the higher end of the priority range. Therefore, the higher the maximum priority in the corresponding priority range, the higher the probability of obtaining FD resources. The priority range of TD scheduler 404 ends first, so it has the lowest probability of obtaining FD resources in congestion. While both TD schedulers 400 and 402 may obtain FD resources, TD scheduler 402 may have a better chance than TD scheduler 400 thanks to the smaller range at the high end of the priority range.

[0060] In one embodiment, each TD scheduler 400 to 404 is configured to schedule time domain resources within a dedicated network slice in a cell, and the network slices may set different requirements for the scheduling policy. Therefore, each TD scheduler managing a network slice may define a different scheduling policy to be applied within the slice of the cell.

[0061] Reference below Figure 6The signaling diagram in FIG4 illustrates the scheduling of FD resources. For simplicity, only two TD schedulers 400 and 402 are considered in this case, and each TD scheduler only considers one terminal device (UE). In a conventional case, the number of TD schedulers and the number of UEs may be higher, but the procedure remains similar, only the scale is changed.

[0062] refer to Figure 6 , the TD schedulers 400 and 402 may initialize their scheduling in blocks 600 and 602, respectively. Initialization may include determining and storing a priority range for the TD scheduler. The priority range may be received from a radio access network (RAN) controller such as a RAN intelligent controller (RIC) in a 5G system. As described above, the priority range may depend on the type of service scheduled by the TD scheduler. There are other ways to set the priority range, for example, the TD scheduler of a cell owner may have a better priority range than the TD scheduler of a client or visitor belonging to the cell. Initialization may also include determining a scheduling policy. The scheduling policy may define TD scheduler-specific rules for prioritizing different UEs within a network slice or TD resources scheduled by a TD scheduler. An example of such a scheduling policy is to start with proportional fairness as follows:

[0063]

[0064] Where T = the potential achievable data rate, R is the historical average data rate, α = the weight of the channel conditions, and β = the weight of the average data rate. For example, (α, β) equal to (0, 1) indicates round robin scheduling, while (α, β) equal to (1, 0) indicates maximum throughput. (α, β) equal to (~1, ~1) indicates proportional fair scheduling.

[0065] By taking into account the service capabilities within the slice managed by the TD scheduler, α and β can be adjusted to balance the efficiency and throughput of a single bearer. This adjustment procedure can also be delegated to a control instance like the RIC. The TD scheduler can also monitor QoS parameters such as latency, achieved bit rate and throughput, and balance the TD scheduling of individual bearers within a slice. It may be beneficial for the overall throughput if the TD scheduler uses the jitter allowed by the service level agreement to determine the scheduling priority. This utilization provides freedom to optimize TD scheduling. The scheduling priority of a single bearer can be determined by taking into account slice specific quality (QoS, 5QI) parameters such as transmit buffer status (number of packets waiting to be transmitted), data rate, packet delay, packet loss rate.

[0066] For example, the TD scheduler can selectively adopt the following slice type specific scheduling strategies: for MBB services, flexible scheduling allowed by latency and queue depth is used to improve spectrum efficiency and limit the number of users per transmission time interval (TTI); for IoT services, knowledge about the family of objects / devices in the cell is used to balance bursty services, for example, in the case of a fire alarm, services from the fire alarm may take precedence over services from other objects / devices; for URLLC services, quasi-synchronous handshakes (known, for example, from industrial buses) can be organized to reduce bursts and / or repeated or multiple spontaneous events can be used to improve reliability within a TD scheduler.

[0067] The scheduling policy may define an algorithm for calculating an arbitrary (local) priority value f(P) for each bearer requiring TD scheduling. Priority values may be between 0.0 and 1.0, but the range of local priority values may be arbitrary. For example, the algorithm may use any of the following:

[0068] f(P)1=a*P+b, where a and b define the QoS level.

[0069] f(P) s =a*e bx *P, a and b define the QoS level, and x represents the amount of traffic in the transmission buffer that is used to increase priority exponentially according to the current service QoS requirement.

[0070] Furthermore, initialization may include determining a rule for mapping the aforementioned local priorities used in the scheduling policy of the TD scheduler to priority indicators provided on a standard scale common to the TD schedulers 400 and 402. In this step, the allowed priority range of the priority indicator is used to determine whether the priority indicator is within the range. For example, the rule may be pre-coded into the TD scheduler or received from the RIC.

[0071] Upon determining to schedule TD resources to a UE, such as upon receiving a transmission request from the UE (blocks 604, 606) or upon detecting downlink traffic to the UE, the TD scheduler may perform block 302. Block 302 may include calculating a scheduling priority for the UE using a scheduling policy of the TD scheduler, and the scheduling priority may include, for example, calculation of f(P). The TD scheduler may then convert the scheduling priority into a standard-scale priority indicator, such as by using the following formula:

[0072] (Max_Index-Min_Index)*f(P)+Min_Index

[0073] Among them, Max_Index and Min_Index define the maximum value and minimum value of the priority range of the TD scheduler on a common, standard scale, respectively. Then, in step 304, the calculated priority indicator is sent to the FD scheduler, and in step 200, the FD scheduler receives the priority indicator.

[0074] The FD scheduler can then execute block 202 and schedule the FD resources to the TD scheduler that has sent the scheduling request. The FD scheduler 410 can wait to receive multiple scheduling requests from each TD scheduler before executing the scheduling, where each of the multiple scheduling requests is associated with a different terminal device. Each scheduling request can include a separately calculated priority indicator. Upon receiving a sufficient number of scheduling requests or upon expiration of a time period calculated for accumulating scheduling requests, the FD scheduler executes block 202 and schedules the FD resources to the TD scheduler.

[0075] In one embodiment, the priority indicator is an index into a list stored in the FD scheduler, and the FD scheduler performs frequency domain scheduling by scrolling through the list and assigning frequency domain resources to scheduling requests in the order in which the priority indicators are included in the list. This reduces computational complexity by avoiding the need to sort received priority indicators. In the event that two priority indicators have the same value and map to the same index, the FD scheduler can perform deterministic contention resolution between the two scheduling requests, such as rolling a dice.

[0076] As mentioned above, each scheduling request may relate to a single bearer or UE.Thus, the TD scheduler may transmit multiple scheduling requests for a single FD scheduling 'run' of the FD scheduler.

[0077] After scheduling FD resources for the scheduling request, for example, in one or more physical resource blocks (PRBs), the FD scheduler may transmit a scheduling response to the TD scheduler from which the scheduling request was received (block 608). The scheduling response may indicate the scheduled FD resources. Upon receiving the scheduling response, the TD scheduler may schedule TD resources from the scheduled FD resources to the corresponding bearer or UE (block 306).

[0078] In one embodiment, the scheduling request is transmitted at a protocol layer above the media access control (MAC) layer, and the scheduling response is provided at the same layer. In another embodiment, the FD scheduler receives the scheduling request at a layer above the MAC layer and transmits the scheduling response to the TD scheduler at the MAC layer or the physical layer. The TD scheduler can perform TD scheduling at the MAC or physical layer, so receiving the scheduling response at this layer can accelerate TD scheduling.

[0079] In some cases, the scheduling request may be rejected by the FD scheduler, resulting in the TD scheduler being unable to perform TD scheduling for the corresponding bearer / UE.

[0080] In one embodiment, frequency-domain scheduling is performed at every transmission time interval in the wireless network. The TD scheduler can obtain transmission requests (from the UE or downlink buffer, etc.) asynchronously with the radio interface's TTI clock and determine the TTI at which to send the scheduling request to the FD scheduler. Therefore, the timing of the scheduling request can be implicitly defined as the TTI in which the FD resource is requested.

[0081] In one embodiment, the priority range assigned to the TD scheduler is clipped, for example, when certain events are detected. The clipping can be performed by the TD scheduler itself or by the FD scheduler. Figure 7 An embodiment of the process for said cutting is shown. Figure 7 In block 700, the FD / TD scheduler detects an event that affects scheduling. Upon detecting an event, the scheduler may determine a priority range to be clipped and then clip the corresponding priority range of the TD scheduler. Clipping may be performed from the higher end of the priority range and / or from the lower end of the priority range.

[0082] Some examples of how clipping can be performed are described. For example, when a cell is congested and cannot schedule FD resources for all scheduling requests, the FD scheduler can clip the priority range of at least one TD scheduler. Figure 5 In this case, the priority range 500 can be pruned from the higher end, for example, to make more room for sensitive services of the TD scheduler 402, such as URLLC services, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) services, live video services, and interactive gaming services.

[0083] In one embodiment, the TD scheduler provides a local priority value in the scheduling request, and the FD scheduler is configured to convert the local priority value to a common scale. In this embodiment, information about the priority range of the TD scheduler can be provided to the FD scheduler, and in some embodiments, information about the scheduling policy of the TD scheduler can be provided.

[0084] Figure 8 An embodiment showing the structure of the above-mentioned functions of a device that performs the above-mentioned embodiments (for example Figure 3The apparatus may include the functions of a TD scheduler in a process or any of its embodiments. For example, the apparatus may be included in an RRH or FEU. In one embodiment, the apparatus performing the above functions includes a circuit device such as a chip, a chipset, a processor, a microcontroller, or a combination of such circuit devices in an RRH, FEU, or another network element of a RAN. The apparatus may be an electronic device including an electronic circuit device for implementing some embodiments of the present invention.

[0085] refer to Figure 8 , the apparatus may include at least one processor or processing circuit device 10. The processing circuit device 10 may employ a communication interface 22 to communicate at least with the FD scheduler and, in some embodiments, with the terminal device. In the former case, the communication interface may support, for example, an interface of a (cloud) RAN. In the latter case, the communication interface may include a wireless interface that provides wireless communication capabilities for the apparatus. The wireless interface may include radio frequency converters and components such as amplifiers, filters, frequency converters, (de)regulators and encoder / decoder circuit devices and one or more antennas. The wireless interface may include a radio modem that is configured to perform transmission and reception of messages in a cell.

[0086] The processing circuit device 10 may include a scheduling controller 14, which is configured to control TD scheduling and obtain FD resources from the FD scheduler. The scheduling controller 14 may include a trigger module 19, which is configured to trigger the generation of a scheduling request. The trigger module can be configured to execute block 300 and enable the prioritization module 17 to apply the scheduling policy of the TD scheduler to define a local priority for the bearer / UE that has triggered TD scheduling. The prioritization module 17 can be configured to perform conversion between local priority values and priority indicators on a standard scale. Thereafter, the scheduling controller can use a communication interface to pass the scheduling request to the FD scheduler. Upon receiving the scheduling response and FD resource allocation from the FD scheduler, the scheduling controller 14 can control the TD scheduler 12 to perform TD scheduling on the scheduler FD resources. In an embodiment where the FD scheduler sends a scheduling response on a lower protocol layer, the FD scheduler can provide the scheduling response directly to the TD scheduler 12.

[0087] The processing circuitry 10 may include at least one processor. The apparatus may also include a memory 20 storing one or more computer program products 24 that configure the operation of the processor of the apparatus. The memory 20 may also store a configuration database 26 that stores the operational configuration of the apparatus. For example, the configuration database 26 may store priority ranges and scheduling policies, and in some embodiments, may store conversion rules for priority indicators.

[0088] Figure 9 An apparatus for an FD scheduler is shown, comprising processing circuitry 50, such as at least one processor, and at least one memory 60, including computer program code (software) 64, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code (software) are configured to cause the apparatus to execute, with the at least one processor, Figure 2 The process or any one of its above embodiments. For example, the device can be included in the FEU. Figure 9 The device may be an electronic device.

[0089] refer to Figure 9 Memory 60 may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory. The memory may include a configuration database 66 for storing configuration parameters, such as parameters for performing FD scheduling or resolving different priorities in received scheduling requests.

[0090] The apparatus may further include a communication interface 62 comprising hardware and / or software for implementing a communication connection with the TD scheduler according to one or more communication protocols. For example, the communication interface 62 may support an interface of a (cloud) RAN according to the 5G specification.

[0091] Processing circuitry 50 may include FD scheduler circuitry 54 configured to perform Figure 3 The FD scheduler 54 may include a priority solver 57 and an optional priority range limiter circuit 55 as sub-circuitry. The priority limiter 55 may be configured to perform Figure 7 The priority solver 57 may be configured to solve the priority of the received scheduling request by using the received priority indicator provided on the common scale. The priority solver 57 may perform FD scheduling of the available FD resources according to the determined priority order of the scheduling request defined by the priority indicator. The scheduling request may be received from the TD scheduler via the communication interface 62, and the scheduling response may be transmitted to the TD scheduler via the communication interface 62.

[0092] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" refers to one or more of the following: (a) a purely hardware circuit implementation, such as an implementation solely in analog and / or digital circuitry; (b) a combination of circuitry and hardware and / or firmware, such as, as applicable: (i) a combination of a processor or processor core; or (ii) a portion of a processor / software, including a digital signal processor, software, and at least one memory, that work together to enable the device to perform a specific function; and (c) a circuit, such as a microprocessor or portion of a microprocessor, that requires software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present.

[0093] This definition of 'circuitry' applies to the use of this term in this application. As another example, as used in this application, the term "circuitry" would also cover implementations of only a processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a processor (e.g., one core of a multi-core processor and its (or its, etc.) accompanying software and / or firmware). The term "circuitry" would also cover, for example and as applicable, specific elements of an apparatus according to embodiments of the invention, baseband integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and / or field programmable gate array (FPGA) circuits. In conjunction Figures 2 to 7 The described processes or methods may also be implemented in the form of one or more computer processes defined by one or more computer programs. A separate computer program may be provided in one or more devices that perform the functions of the processes described in conjunction with the diagrams. The computer program may be in source code form, object code form, or in some intermediate form and may be stored on a carrier of some kind, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program. Such carriers include transient and / or non-transitory computer media, such as recording media, computer memory, read-only memory, electrical carrier signals, telecommunications signals, and software distribution packages. Depending on the required processing power, the computer program may be executed in a single electronic digital processing unit, or it may be distributed among multiple processing units.

[0094] The embodiments described herein are applicable to the wireless networks defined above, as well as to other wireless networks, or even to other networks that are wired networks using a shared transmission medium. An example of such a wired network is a passive optical network (PON). The architecture of a PON implements a point-to-multipoint topology, in which the optical fiber bandwidth is divided (i.e., scheduled) between multiple access points using powerless (i.e., passive) fiber splitters, and the optical fiber is shared by multiple endpoints. The analogy with the embodiments of the wireless network described above is obvious, and therefore, the above principles can be applied to PON or other networks with similar architectures. The protocols used, the specifications of wireless and wired networks, and their network elements are developing rapidly. This development may require additional changes to the described embodiments. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly, and they are intended to illustrate rather than limit the embodiments. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that, as technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. The embodiments are not limited to the above examples, but may vary within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus for a frequency domain scheduler of a network, comprising: receiving, from a first time domain scheduler that schedules time domain resources using a first scheduling policy, a first scheduling request including a first priority indicator; receiving a second scheduling request from a second time-domain scheduler employing a second scheduling policy different from the first scheduling policy, the second scheduling request including a second priority indicator provided on the same scale as the first priority indicator; and scheduling frequency domain resources to the first time domain scheduler and the second time domain scheduler based on the first priority indicator and the second priority indicator, The first priority indicator is within a first priority range assigned to the first time domain scheduler, and the second priority indicator is within a second priority range assigned to the second time domain scheduler, and the first priority range is different from the second priority range.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first priority indicator is within a first priority range assigned to the first time domain scheduler, and the second priority indicator is within a second priority range assigned to the second time domain scheduler, and wherein the component is configured to reduce at least one of the first priority range and the second priority range.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the component is configured to: schedule frequency domain resources to the first time domain scheduler and the second time domain scheduler within a cell of the network, wherein the first time domain scheduler schedules time domain resources within a first network slice in the cell, and wherein the second time domain scheduler schedules time domain resources within a second network slice in the cell.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the component is configured to: before performing the scheduling, receive multiple scheduling requests from each of the first time domain scheduler and the second time domain scheduler, each of the multiple scheduling requests is associated with a different transmission request from the terminal device, and the multiple scheduling requests include various priority indicators, and the component is configured to: schedule the frequency domain resources for each scheduling request based on the priority indicator.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first priority indicator indicates a higher priority on the scale than the second priority indicator, and thus the component is configured to schedule the frequency domain resources to the first time domain scheduler before scheduling the frequency domain resources to the second time domain scheduler. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the component is configured to perform the frequency domain scheduling for each transmission time interval of the network.

7. An apparatus for a time domain scheduler of a network, comprising means for performing the following: Determine the time and frequency resources to be dispatched to the terminal device; In response to the determination, determining a scheduling priority for the terminal device according to a scheduling policy of the apparatus, and calculating a priority indicator based on the scheduling priority, the priority indicator being provided on a normalized scale common to at least one other time domain scheduler using the same frequency domain scheduler; storing and using priority ranges that constrain possible values for the priority indicator; sending a scheduling request to a frequency domain scheduler, the scheduling request including the priority indicator; receiving a scheduling response from the frequency domain scheduler, the scheduling response indicating frequency domain resources scheduled to the apparatus; According to the scheduling strategy, the time domain resources from the frequency domain resources are scheduled to the terminal device.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the component is configured to schedule time domain resources of one network slice among a plurality of network slices in a cell, and wherein the frequency domain scheduler is common to a plurality of time domain schedulers associated with different network slices in the cell.

9. A method for a frequency domain scheduler for a network, comprising: Receiving, by the frequency domain scheduler, a first scheduling request including a first priority indicator from a first time domain scheduler that schedules time domain resources using a first scheduling policy; Receiving, by the frequency domain scheduler, a second scheduling request from a second time domain scheduler that adopts a second scheduling strategy different from the first scheduling strategy, the second scheduling request including a second priority indicator provided on the same scale as the first priority indicator; as well as The frequency domain scheduler schedules frequency domain resources to the first time domain scheduler and the second time domain scheduler based on the first priority indicator and the second priority indicator, The first priority indicator is within a first priority range assigned to the first time domain scheduler, and the second priority indicator is within a second priority range assigned to the second time domain scheduler, and the first priority range is different from the second priority range.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first priority indicator is within a first priority range assigned to the first time domain scheduler, and the second priority indicator is within a second priority range assigned to the second time domain scheduler, and wherein the frequency domain scheduler reduces at least one of the first priority range and the second priority range.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the frequency domain scheduler schedules frequency domain resources to the first time domain scheduler and the second time domain scheduler within a cell of the network, wherein the first time domain scheduler schedules time domain resources within a first network slice in the cell, and wherein the second time domain scheduler schedules time domain resources within a second network slice in the cell.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein the frequency domain scheduler receives multiple scheduling requests from each of the first time domain scheduler and the second time domain scheduler before performing the scheduling, each of the multiple scheduling requests is associated with a different transmission request from the terminal device, and the multiple scheduling requests include various priority indicators, and the frequency domain scheduler schedules the frequency domain resources for each scheduling request based on the priority indicator.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the first priority indicator indicates a higher priority on the scale than the second priority indicator, and in response, the frequency domain scheduler schedules the frequency domain resources to the first time domain scheduler before scheduling the frequency domain resources to the second time domain scheduler. The method of claim 9 , wherein the frequency domain scheduling is performed for each transmission time interval of the network.

15. A method for a time domain scheduler for a network, comprising: The time domain scheduler determines to schedule time-frequency resources to the terminal device; In response to the determination, determining, by the time domain scheduler, a scheduling priority of the terminal device according to a scheduling policy of an apparatus performing the method, and calculating a priority indicator based on the scheduling priority, the priority indicator being provided on a normalized scale common to at least one other time domain scheduler using the same frequency domain scheduler; storing and using, by the time domain scheduler, a priority range that limits possible values for the priority indicator; Sending, by the time domain scheduler, a scheduling request to the frequency domain scheduler, where the scheduling request includes the priority indicator; receiving, by the time domain scheduler, a scheduling response from the frequency domain scheduler, the scheduling response indicating frequency domain resources scheduled to the device; The time domain scheduler schedules the time domain resources from the frequency domain resources to the terminal device according to the scheduling policy.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the time domain scheduler schedules time domain resources of one network slice among a plurality of network slices in a cell, wherein the frequency domain scheduler is common to a plurality of time domain schedulers associated with different network slices in the cell.

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