Ultra-Lean Priority-Aware Uplink Access Scheduling for 5G and 6G

Abstract

Uplink access in 5G and 6G is tightly controlled by the base station. Prior art procedures can impose access delays, such as waiting for a periodic scheduling request opportunity, which may be excessive for some user devices. Disclosed is a compact and responsive procedure for the base station to provide access to high-priority user devices first, and then low-priority user devices in a cascaded manner. The low-priority user devices are allocated to sections and, on a periodic schedule, can transmit a signal indicating which sections include at least one user device seeking access. Then the base station can provide a user poll region in which the ready user devices can submit their scheduling requests on pre-assigned subcarriers, but including only those sections that have at least one ready user devices. High-priority users are thus served first, while time and resources are saved by ignoring sections that have no ready users.

1 . A method for a base station of a wireless network to communicate with high-priority user devices and low-priority user devices, the method comprising:
 a) allocating each user device of the wireless network to either a high-priority or a low-priority status;   b) broadcasting a starting message in a downlink scheduled portion of a resource grid, wherein the starting message indicates a first region of the resource grid, the first region configured for the high-priority user devices to request a transmission grant;   c) receiving, in the first region, one or more signals transmitted by one or more of the high-priority user devices; and   d) determining, according to a time or frequency of each signal received in the first region, which of the high-priority user devices seeks a transmission grant.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the starting message is configured according to 5G or 6G technology. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a) transmitting, to each high-priority user device that seeks a transmission grant, a BSR (buffer status report) grant allocating resources for an uplink BSR message;   b) receiving, from each of the high-priority user devices that seeks a transmission grant, a BSR message;   c) transmitting, responsive to each BSR message, a message grant allocating resources for an uplink data message; and   d) receiving, responsive to each message grant, an uplink data message.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 a) allocating each low-priority user device to one section of integer Ns sections, each section sized to accommodate integer Nz low-priority user devices; and   b) allocating a section poll comprising a second region of the resource grid, the section poll comprising Ns resource elements, wherein one resource element is allocated for each section, wherein each low-priority user device that seeks a transmission grant can transmit a signal in the particular resource element of the section poll corresponding to the low-priority user device’s section.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 a) receiving the section poll;   b) determining, according to which resource elements of the section poll are occupied by a signal, which sections include at least one low-priority user device that seeks a transmission grant; and   c) determining that integer Nr sections include at least one low-priority user device seeking a transmission grant.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the base station is configured to determine that any electromagnetic energy above a threshold energy, in the section poll, comprises an indication that at least one low-priority user device seeks a transmission grant in the section corresponding to the resource element containing the electromagnetic energy. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a) after receiving each data message from the high-priority user devices that seek a transmission grant, if any, then broadcasting a section message indicating which sections include at least one low-priority user device seeking a transmission grant;   b) allocating a user poll comprising a third region of the resource grid, the user poll configured for low-priority user devices to transmit scheduling request signals, wherein the user poll comprises at least (Nz times Nr) resource elements;   c) receiving one or more scheduling request signals in the user poll; and   d) determining, according to a time and a frequency of each of the scheduling request signals, which low-priority user devices seek transmission grants.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising transmitting, to each low-priority user device that seeks a transmission grant, a BSR grant. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the user poll comprises Nr symbol-times and Nz subcarriers. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the user poll comprises one symbol-time and (Nz times Nr) subcarriers. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein:
 a) the user poll comprises (Nr + 3) symbol-times and Nz subcarriers; and   b) each scheduling request signal in the user poll comprises a BSR message.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein each particular user device is configured to avoid transmitting a scheduling request signal in the user poll upon detecting that the scheduling request would overlap another message. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein:
 a) the section message comprises Ns resource elements in successive subcarriers of a single symbol-time;   b) wherein each resource element of the section message is set to a “1” when a signal is received in the corresponding resource element of the section poll; and   c) each resource element of the section message is set to a “0” when no signal above the threshold is received in the corresponding resource element of the section poll.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein:
 a) the section message comprises a demodulation reference, an indication of the number of sections that include at least one low-priority user device seeking a transmission grant, and a list of the section numbers of the sections that include at least one low-priority user device seeking a transmission grant.   
     
     
         15 . Non-transitory computer-readable media in a low-priority user device of a wireless network, the media containing instructions that when implemented in a computing environment cause a method to be performed, the method comprising:
 a) receiving or determining, by the low-priority user device, a section number of the low-priority user device and a position number of the low-priority user device within the section;   b) receiving or determining a schedule or periodicity of instances of a section poll, each section poll comprising an allocated region of a resource grid, wherein each section poll is configured for user devices to indicate readiness to transmit uplink messages;   c) determining, by the low-priority user device, that the low-priority user device has an uplink message ready to transmit; and   d) transmitting, during an instance of the user poll, a user poll signal comprising a transmission in a single resource element at a frequency or subcarrier corresponding to the section number of the low-priority user device.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 15 , the method further comprising receiving, during a scheduled downlink interval, a section message indicating which section numbers include at least one user poll signal therein. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 16 , the method further comprising:
 a) determining, according to the section message and the section number of the low-priority user device, a particular symbol-time;   b) determining, according to the position number of the low-priority user device, a particular subcarrier; and   c) transmitting, at the particular symbol-time, in the particular subcarrier, a scheduling request.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 17 , wherein the scheduling request comprises either:
 a) a signal transmitted in a single resource element at the particular symbol-time on the particular subcarrier; or   b) a buffer state report (“BSR”) message starting at the particular symbol-time on the particular subcarrier.   
     
     
         19 . A base station of a wireless network comprising an artificial intelligence (“AI”) model, the base station configured to:
 a) take, as input to the AI model, a number of high-priority user devices in the network, a number of low-priority user devices in the network, a number of sections Ns, and a number of low-priority user devices Nz per section; 
 b) provide, as output from the AI model, a format for a first region of a resource grid, the first region allocated for the high-priority user devices to transmit a scheduling request signal; 
 c) wherein the format for the first region comprises a number of subcarriers and a number of symbol-times allocated to the first region. 
 
     
     
         20 . The base station of  claim 19 , the base station further configured to:
 a) assign each low-priority user device to one of the Ns sections and to a position within that section; and   b) provide, as output from the AI model, a format for a second region of the resource grid, the second region allocated for the low-priority user devices to transmit a signal indicating readiness to transmit an uplink message.