Method and apparatus for controlling uplink transmissions of a wireless communication system

Abstract

Techniques to partition and allocate the available system resources among cells in a communication system, and to allocate the resources in each cell to terminals for data transmission on the uplink. In one aspect, adaptive reuse schemes are provided wherein the available system resources may be dynamically and/or adaptively partitioned and allocated to the cells based on a number of factors such as the observed interference levels, loading conditions, system requirements, and so on. A reuse plan is initially defined and may be redefined to reflect changes in the system. In another aspect, the system resources may be partitioned such that each cell is allocated a set of channels having different performance levels. In yet another aspect, terminals in each cell are scheduled for data transmission (e.g., based on their priority or load requirements) and assigned channels based on their tolerance to interference and the channels' performance.

1 . A method for operating an uplink of a wireless communication system, comprising: 
 partitioning available system resources into a plurality of channels;    defining a reuse pattern for the communication system, wherein the reuse pattern includes a plurality of cells;    determining one or more characteristics for each cell in the communication system;    allocating a set of channels to each cell based at least in part on the determined one or more characteristics for the cell, wherein each allocated channel may be assigned to a terminal for data transmission on the uplink; and    repeating the determining and allocating to reflect changes in the communication system.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each cell in the reuse pattern is allocated a respective set of channels that includes one or more channels available for transmission at full power level and one or more channels available for transmission at reduced power levels.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the set of channels allocated to each cell is determined based in part on estimated loading conditions in the cell.  
   
   
       4 . A method for operating an uplink in a communication system, comprising: 
 defining a reuse scheme to be used for data transmission by a plurality of terminals, wherein the defined reuse scheme identifies a particular reuse pattern, an initial allocation of available system resources, and a set of operating parameters;    scheduling terminals for data transmission in accordance with the defined reuse scheme;    receiving transmission from scheduled terminals;    evaluating performance of the communication system;    determining whether the evaluated system performance is within particular thresholds; and    if the evaluated system performance is not within the particular thresholds, redefining the reuse scheme.    
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the defining the reuse scheme includes 
 developing characterization of interference received at each cell in the communication system,    partitioning the available system resources into a plurality of channels, and    allocating a set of channels to each cell based at least in part on the developed interference characterization for the cell.    
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the defining the reuse scheme further includes 
 defining a set of back-off factors to be associated with each allocated set of channels.    
   
   
       7 . A base station in a communication system, comprising: 
 a resource allocation processor configured to receive data defining a reuse plan to be used for uplink data transmissions by a plurality of terminals, wherein the defined reuse plan identifies a particular reuse pattern, an allocation of available system resources to a cell covered by the base station, and a set of operating parameters, wherein the resource allocation processor is further configured to schedule one or more terminals for data transmission and to assign a channel to each scheduled terminal;    at least one front-end processor configured to process one or more received signals from the one or more scheduled terminals to provide one or more received symbol streams; and    at least one receive processor configured to process the one or more received symbol streams to provide one or more decoded data streams and to estimate one or more characteristics for the cell,    wherein the resource allocation processor is further configured to receive channel state information (CSI) indicative of the one or more characteristics and to schedule terminals and assign channels based on the CSI.    
   
   
       8 . The base station of  claim 7 , wherein the allocated system resources comprise a plurality of channels, and wherein the resource allocation processor is further configured to determine a plurality of back-off factors for the plurality of channels based at least in part on the CSI.