Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation Algorithms for High-Speed Data Wireless Networks

Next generation wireless networks are expected to support a wide range of high-speed data services, Web browsing being one of the major applications. Although high data rates have been shown feasible in a single-user setting, the resource allocation issues that arise in a multiple-user context remain extremely challenging. As compared with voice, data traffic is typically more bursty, while the users are less sensitive to delay. These characteristics require resource allocation strategies to operate in a fundamentally different manner in order to achieve efficient spectrum utilization. The paper proposes several algorithms for scheduling the transmission of data to multiple users in an efficient manner. As a novel feature, the various schemes exploit knowledge of the buffer contents in order to achieve high throughput, while maintaining fairness by providing quality-of- service to individual users. The proposed algorithms are backward compatible with existing cellular and PCS standards such as IS-136, and provide a powerful approach to improve spectrum efficiency in forthcoming high-speed data complement services to existing cellular systems. Extensive simulation experiments demonstrate that the algorithms significantly outperform conventional schemes.