Method and system for priority-based state transition for high speed data transmission and wireless access networks

1. A method of transitioning a plurality of wireless devices between a plurality of states having increasing resource intensity from a least resource intensive state to a most resource intensive second state comprising:

ranking all power-on wireless devices from highest priority to lowest priority;

assigning a respective subset of the power-on wireless devices to each state based on the ranking of all power-on wireless devices, such that the priorities of power-on wireless devices of the subset assigned to a more resource intensive state of the plurality of states are higher than the priorities of power-on wireless devices of a subset assigned to a less resource intensive state of the plurality of states; and

signalling to the wireless devices to instruct them to implement any change in state,

wherein ranking all power-on wireless devices comprises:

determining a state priority for each of the power-on wireless devices, the state priority for at least one of the plurality of devices being determined as a function of packet priority information;

ranking each of the power-on wireless devices based on the state priority of the devices and occupancy of a buffer of the devices, wherein regardless of the state priority, devices with a full buffer are ranked higher than devices with an empty buffer.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the states are MAC (media access control) states.

3. A method according to claim 2 wherein the MAC states comprise, in increasing order of resource intensity, Dormant, Control-Hold, and Active.

4. A method according to claim 3 wherein a respective predetermined maximum number of wireless devices are allowed to be in the Control-Hold and Active MAC states, and wherein the subsets are defined subject to these respective predetermined maximum numbers.

5. A method according to claim 2 wherein a respective predetermined maximum number of wireless devices are allowed to be in at least one of the MAC states, and wherein the subsets are defined subject to these respective predetermined maximum numbers.

6. A method according to claim 2 further comprising:

transmitting a shared channel to the wireless devices on an ongoing basis, scheduling wireless devices in the most resource intensive MAC state on a time division basis access to the shared channel.

7. A method according to claim 6 further comprising:

scheduling wireless devices by ranking all wireless devices in the most resource intensive MAC state, and at a given scheduling period scheduling the wireless device which is ranked highest.

8. A method according to claim 7 wherein the ranking performed in scheduling wireless devices is substantially similar to the ranking performed in assigning MAC states.

9. A method according to claim 8 wherein the ranking performed in scheduling wireless devices is substantially similar to the ranking performed in assigning MAC states in that short term parameters are used to determine rankings for scheduling, and corresponding long term parameters are used to determine rankings for assigning MAC states.

10. A method according to claim 2 further comprising:

prior to assigning a respective subset of the power-on wireless devices to each MAC state, applying at least one constraint to re-organize the rankings.

11. A method according to claim 10 wherein applying at least one constraint to re-organize the rankings comprises defining at least one state transition from a previous state to a new state which is not allowed to occur, and re-organizing the rankings to eliminate any such state transitions.

12. A method according to claim 11 wherein the MAC states comprise, in increasing order of resource intensity, Dormant, Control-Hold, and Active, and the at least one state transition which is not allowed to occur is from dormant to control-hold.

13. A method according to claim 12 wherein the MAC states comprise, in increasing order of resource intensity, Dormant, Control-Hold, and Active, and the at least one state transition which is not allowed to occur is from Active to Dormant for an active wireless device with a full buffer and from Control-Hold to Dormant for a Control-Hold device with a full buffer.

14. A method according to claim 13 further comprising:

for the purpose of state scheduling, treating a wireless device in the Active state or the Control-Hold state having a buffer empty time less than a buffer empty time threshold or satisfying some other constraint as though the wireless device had a full buffer.

15. An apparatus adapted to control transitioning a plurality of wireless devices between a plurality of states having increasing resource intensity from a least resource intensive state to a most resource intensive second state comprising:

a state scheduler adapted to:

a) rank all power-on wireless devices from highest priority to lowest priority;

b) assign a respective subset of the power-on wireless devices to each state based on the ranking of all power-on wireless devices, such that the priorities of power-on wireless devices of the subset assigned to a more resource intensive state of the plurality of states are higher than the priorities of power-on wireless devices of a subset assigned to a less resource intensive state of the plurality of states; and

c) signal to the wireless devices to instruct them to implement any change in state,

wherein the state scheduler adapted to rank all power-on wireless devices comprises:

the state scheduler adapted to determine a state priority for each of the power-on wireless devices, the state priority for at least one of the plurality of devices being determined as a function of packet priority information;

the state scheduler adapted to rank each of the power-on wireless devices based on the state priority of the devices and occupancy of a buffer of the devices, wherein regardless of the state priority, devices with a full buffer are ranked higher than devices with an empty buffer.

16. An apparatus according to claim 15 wherein the states are MAC (media access control) states, the apparatus further comprising:

transmit circuitry adapted to transmit a shared channel to the wireless devices on an ongoing basis; and

a packet scheduler adapted to schedule wireless devices in the most resource intensive MAC state on a time division basis access to the shared channel;

wherein the scheduler schedules wireless devices by ranking all wireless devices in the most resource intensive MAC state, and at a given scheduling period schedules the wireless device which is ranked highest;

wherein the ranking performed by the packet scheduler is substantially similar to the ranking performed by the state scheduler.

17. An apparatus according to claim 15 wherein the states are MAC (media access control) states, the apparatus comprising a base station.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions stored thereon for execution by a computer processor, for, when executed transitioning a plurality of wireless devices between a plurality of states having increasing resource intensity from a least resource intensive state to a most resource intensive second state, the computer readable medium comprising:

computer executable instructions for ranking all power-on wireless devices from highest priority to lowest priority;

computer executable instructions for assigning a respective subset of the power-on wireless devices to each state based on the ranking of all power-on wireless devices, such that the priorities of power-on wireless devices of the subset assigned to a more resource intensive state of the plurality of states are higher than the priorities of power-on wireless devices of a subset assigned to a less resource intensive state of the plurality of states; and

computer executable instructions for generating signalling messages to be transmitted to the wireless devices to instruct them to implement any change in state,

wherein computer executable instructions for ranking all power-on wireless devices comprises:

computer executable instructions for determining a state priority for each of the power-on wireless devices, the state priority for at least one of the plurality of devices being determined as a function of packet priority information;

computer executable instructions for ranking each of the power-on wireless devices based on the state priority of the devices and occupancy of a buffer of the devices, wherein regardless of the state priority, devices with a full buffer are ranked higher than devices with an empty buffer.