Patent ID: 7719973

Claim:
A method of a packet scheduling apparatus, for scheduling packets of data from transmission from a transmitter via at least one channel to a plurality of receivers, which method comprises: producing first measures of scheduling performance in at least two different aspects and employing a weighted combination of the first measures to decide the receiver(s) to which packets are to be transmitted, said weighted combination being produced by combining the first measures according to respective corresponding weights; producing at least one second measure of scheduling performance in another aspect different from the at least two different aspects of said first measures; for the or each said second measure, classifying the weights into at least two different classes of weights according to a probable influence the weight is expected to have on the second measure concerned; and employing the or each said second measure, together with the classification of the weights for the or each second measure, to adapt said weights, wherein at least one such weighted combination of the first measures is produced for each receiver, and the respective weighted combinations for the different receivers are employed to decide the receiver(s) to which packets are to be transmitted, generating a plurality of candidate scheduling solutions, each specifying at least the receiver(s) to which packets are to be transmitted; producing such first measures and such a weighted combination for each candidate solution; and employing the respective weighted combinations for the different candidate solutions to decide the receiver(s) to which packets are to be transmitted, wherein at least one of the candidate solutions is generated using a genetic algorithm.