Method and system for managing radio resources in a time-slotted communication system

Abstract

A method and system for managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system is based on the quality of service (QoS) information of a user. A plurality of time slots of a radio resource are sorted into a plurality of different categories, such as high QoS time slots, high capacity time slots, and balanced time slots. Each category is associated with a different level of QoS. QoS information with respect to a user is obtained in response to a radio resource request received from the user. The user is associated with a particular category of time slots based on the QoS information of the user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the method comprising:
 (a) sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;   (b) constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;   (c) if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes, dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation;   (d) if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed, freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion; and   (e) if data packet scheduling is required, adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate. 
     
     
         4 . A time-slotted wireless system for managing radio resources, the system comprising:
 (a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;   (b) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;   (c) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;   (d) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and   (e) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4  wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 4  wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate. 
     
     
         7 . A radio network controller (RNC) for managing radio resources in a time-slotted wireless communication system, the RNC comprising:
 (a) means for sorting a plurality of time slots of a radio resource into a plurality of different categories, each category being associated with a different level of quality of service (QoS), each time slot being assigned one of a plurality of designations based upon the QoS of a user, wherein at least one communication parameter is defined differently for each time slot designation, and the at least one communication parameter is dynamically adjusted by a radio resource management (RRM) function based on a state of traffic;   (b) means for constantly monitoring the state of the traffic;   (c) means for dynamically adjusting the number of time slots assigned to each time slot designation if traffic congestion occurs or the data rate for a particular time slot designation changes;   (d) means for freeing high capacity time slots and adjusting QoS requirements to avoid traffic congestion if a handover is initiated and there are not enough resources in a desired target cell to which the handover is directed; and   (e) means for adjusting delay and jitter for scheduling the data packets based on time slot designation if data packet scheduling is required.   
     
     
         8 . The RNC of  claim 7  wherein the time slot designations include at least one of a high QoS time slot, a high capacity time slot, a balanced time slot, a real time (RT) time slot and a non-real time (NRT) time slot. 
     
     
         9 . The RNC of  claim 7  wherein the at least one communication parameter includes at least one of maximum delay, signal-to-interference ratio, packet error rate and bit error rate.