Patent ID: 8249051
Filing Date: 2012-08-21
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
1. A method for allocating UL bandwidth in a base station for a broadband wireless communication system where the base station exchanges uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) traffic with one or more remote units over a shared link, the method comprising: maintaining at the base station a DL map and a UL map with a current DL bandwidth allocations and UL bandwidth allocations and periodically transmitting the maps to said remote units; identifying within the UL traffic received from a remote unit, a bandwidth request specifying a requested amount of UL bandwidth; based on said specified requested amount of UL bandwidth and on UL bandwidth available for sharing on said shared link, allocating an UL bandwidth grant to said remote unit; and updating said UL map based upon said UL bandwidth grant; wherein said bandwidth request is provided to said base station in response to a polling action initiated at said base station, said remote unit being polled from said base station at a polling rate determined by said base station using one or more traffic parameters, and wherein the traffic parameters include one or more of: the amount of bandwidth available for sharing among said remote units, the number of active remote units, the bandwidth currently used by the DL traffic, a composite priority parameter, and an estimated amount of bandwidth needed to accommodate bandwidth requests.