Max-utility subcarrier allocation for heterogeneous services in wireless OFDM system

In future wireless network, one user will require multiple homogeneous or heterogeneous services simultaneously. Then, the scheduling algorithm is not only responsible for assigning a resource block to different users but also sharing the assigned resource block among multiple services for one user. Most of the traditional scheduling algorithms are designed to serve one service per user, and cannot be applied directly to this scenario because of the fairness criterion. This article focuses on adaptive resource allocation for multiple services per user at the downlink of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based system. This article addresses this integrative resource scheduling problem based on utility function. First, the optimal algorithm for dynamic subcarrier allocation and share is deduced for homogeneous best-effort service system. Then the algorithm is extended to heterogeneous services system by classifying the delay sensitive service according to the head-of-line packet delay. The design goal is to maximize aggregate utility function to exploit multiuser diversity gain to the greatest extent even as guaranteeing quality of service (QoS) for delay sensitive service.