Patent ID: 7796550

Claim:
In a communication system having a base station in wireless communication with a plurality of mobile stations, a method, comprising: measuring first values for a data transmission rate for each of the plurality of mobile stations over time, wherein the first values comprise a current value and one or more past values of the data transmission rate for each of the plurality of mobile stations; computing second values for a function of the data transmission rate for each of the mobile stations, wherein the second values include a current value of the function and at least one past value of the function that are determined, respectively, from the function evaluated at any current time and at least one previous time, and wherein the function at a given time depends upon at least one of the first values for the mobile station, and one or more defined constants; computing, for each of the plurality of mobile stations, a rate of change of the function using the second values associated therewith; computing, for each of the plurality of mobile stations, a stability of the function using the second values associated therewith and a maximum value of the second values; determining, for each of the plurality of mobile stations, a channel quality factor using the current value of the function, the rate of change of the function, and the stability of the function associated therewith; and at least one of scheduling opportunities for the plurality of mobile stations to transmit traffic to the base station using a quality of service (QoS) scheduling algorithm having the channel quality factor for each of the mobile stations as parametric input; and scheduling opportunities for exchange of traffic between the base station and the plurality of mobile stations using a quality of service (QoS) scheduling algorithm having the channel quality factor for each of the mobile stations as parametric input.