A generic centralized downlink scheduler for next generation wireless cellular networks

Future wireless cellular networks such as High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and 1x EVolution Data Optimized (1xEV-DO) promise to revolutionize the mobile user's wireless experience by offering high downlink data rates that are much more beyond what 2.5G and 3G cellular systems could offer. In order to support as many users as possible, these systems exploit the bursty nature of the data traffic by utilizing high speed downlink shared channels that are shared among the users according to the packet scheduling scheme being used. However, to support acceptable performance levels especially at peak loads, these systems require much more efficient downlink packet scheduling schemes than ever before. In this paper, we propose a novel Generic Centralized Downlink (GCD) packet scheduling scheme for next generation wireless cellular networks. The proposed scheme utilizes novel utility and opportunity cost functions to satisfy the mobile users as well as the service providers. We show that our scheme converges to two well known schemes, Max CIR and PF. Simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness and strength of the GCD scheme.