Rate Capping with Multiple Carrier Aggregation Schedulers

Abstract

Requests for carrier aggregation scheduling for a user equipment are received from a first cell used for carrier aggregation and n second cells. The requests include a first scheduling decision of the first cell and n second scheduling decisions of the n second cells. It is checked whether or not the requests exceed limits of the user equipment, and the n second scheduling decisions are modified according to predefined rules such that the requests do not exceed the limits. Limits of the user equipment are increased by a margin, the increased limits are split onto active cells of the first and n second cells according to a predefined rule, and the margin is controlled dependent on whether the increased and split limits are exceeded or not by the requests. If they are exceeded, the n second scheduling decisions may be modified.

1 . A method comprising:
 receiving requests for carrier aggregation scheduling for a user equipment from a first cell used for carrier aggregation for the user equipment in a cellular communications network and n second cells of the cellular communications network, used for the carrier aggregation, n being an integer equal to or greater than one, the requests including a first scheduling decision of the first cell and n second scheduling decisions of the n second cells;   checking whether or not the requests exceed limits of the user equipment; and   modifying the n second scheduling decisions according to predefined rules such that the requests do not exceed the limits of the user equipment.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein
 the first and n second cells are determined based on a cell index, and/or the first and n second cells are determined based on allocation decisions, wherein the modifying comprises:   processing an n-th second scheduling decision if an (n-I)-th second scheduling decision has been processed, according to the predefined rules such that the requests do not exceed the limits of the user equipment.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method is implemented in an entity of a base station, which performs uplink/downlink processing for the user equipment, and in an entity of the base station which constructs a physical downlink control channel for the user equipment. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method is implemented in a first entity of a base station, which performs uplink/downlink processing for the user equipment, or in a second entity of the base station which constructs a physical downlink control channel for the user equipment, wherein when the method is implemented in the first/second entity, the first/second entity informs the second/first entity about the modified n second scheduling decisions. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the limits are represented by an amount of data which can be transmitted/received by the user equipment, the modifying comprising:
 reducing a modulation and coding scheme set in the n second scheduling decisions until the amount of transmitted/received data is below the limits.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the modifying further comprises:
 reducing a number of allocated physical resource blocks in the n second scheduling decisions, until the amount of transmitted/received data is below the limits.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method is implemented for each user equipment. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first and n second scheduling decisions include time and frequency domain scheduling. 
     
     
         9 . A method comprising:
 increasing limits of a user equipment by a margin;   splitting the increased limits onto active cells of a first and n second cells used for carrier aggregation for the user equipment in a cellular communications network according to a predefined rule, n being an integer equal to or greater than one; and   controlling the margin dependent on whether the increased and split limits are exceeded or not by requests for scheduling for the user equipment from the first cell and n second cells.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 checking whether the limits are exceeded by the requests; and   
       if they are exceeded,
 modifying the n second scheduling decisions according to predefined rules such that the requests do not exceed the limits of the user equipment according to the following: 
 receiving requests for carrier aggregation scheduling for a user equipment from a first cell used for carrier aggregation for the user equipment in a cellular communications network and n second cells of the cellular communications network, used for the carrier aggregation, n being an integer equal to or greater than one, the requests including a first scheduling decision of the first cell and n second scheduling decisions of the n second cells; 
 checking whether or not the requests exceed limits of the user equipment; and 
 modifying the n second scheduling decisions according to predefined rules such that the requests do not exceed the limits of the user equipment. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , comprising:
 monitoring and controlling the margin such that a certain probability of limit excess is obtained.   
     
     
         12 . A computer program product including a program for a processing device, comprising software code portions for performing the steps of  claim 1  when the program is run on the processing device. 
     
     
         13 . The computer program product according to  claim 12 , wherein the computer program product comprises a computer-readable medium on which the software code portions are stored. 
     
     
         14 . The computer program product according to  claim 12 , wherein the program is directly loadable into an internal memory of the processing device. 
     
     
         15 . An apparatus configured to:
 receive requests for carrier aggregation scheduling for a user equipment from a first cell used for carrier aggregation for the user equipment in a cellular communications network and n second cells of the cellular communications network, used for the carrier aggregation, n being an integer equal to or greater than one, the requests including a first scheduling decision of the first cell and n second scheduling decisions of the n second cells;   check whether or not the requests exceed limits of the user equipment; and   modify the n second scheduling decisions according to predefined rules such that the requests do not exceed the limits of the user equipment.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , configured to:
 determine the first and n second cells based on a cell index, and/or   determine the first and n second cells based on allocation decisions,   wherein, for the modification of the n second scheduling decisions, the apparatus is configured to:   process an n-th second scheduling decision if an (n-I)-th second scheduling decision has been processed, according to the predefined rules such that the requests do not exceed the limits of the user equipment.   
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the apparatus comprises at least one of an entity of a base station, which performs uplink/downlink processing for the user equipment, and an entity of the base station which constructs a physical downlink control channel for the user equipment. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , configured to:
 send the modified n second scheduling decisions to a first entity of a base station, which performs uplink/downlink processing for the user equipment, or a second entity of the base station which constructs a physical downlink control channel for the user equipment, or   receive the modified n second scheduling decisions from the first/second entity.   
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the limits are represented by an amount of data which can be transmitted/received by the user equipment, wherein, for the modification of the n second scheduling decisions, the apparatus is configured to:
 reduce a modulation and coding scheme set in the n second scheduling decisions until the amount of transmitted/received data is below the limits.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein, for the modification of the n second scheduling decisions, the apparatus is further configured to:
 reduce a number of allocated physical resource blocks in the n second scheduling decisions, until the amount of transmitted/received data is below the limits.   
     
     
         21 . An apparatus configured to:
 increase limits of a user equipment by a margin;   split the increased limits onto active cells of a first and n second cells used for carrier aggregation for the user equipment in a cellular communications network according to a predefined rule, n being an integer equal to or greater than one; and   control the margin dependent on whether the increased and split limits are exceeded or not by requests for scheduling for the user equipment from the first cell and n second cells.   
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , configured to:
 check whether the limits are exceeded by the requests; and   if they are exceeded,   
       modify the n second scheduling decisions according to predefined rules such that the requests do not exceed the limits of the user equipment according to the operations of the apparatus further configured to:
 receive requests for carrier aggregation scheduling for a user equipment from a first cell used for carrier aggregation for the user equipment in a cellular communications network and n second cells of the cellular communications network, used for the carrier aggregation, n being an integer equal to or greater than one, the requests including a first scheduling decision of the first cell and n second scheduling decisions of the n second cells; 
 check whether or not the requests exceed limits of the user equipment; and 
 modify the n second scheduling decisions according to predefined rules such that the requests do not exceed the limits of the user equipment. 
 
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , configured to:
 monitor and control the margin such that a certain probability of limit excess is obtained.