Wireless telecommunication system including a base station, relay node and method for global fair scheduling

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;

memory storing computer program code;

wherein the memory storing the computer program code is configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:

receive at least one local fairness parameter originating at a multihop relay node with which a base station communicates using a wireless link of a first type, the base station also communicating with at least one user device using a wireless link of a second type, wherein said local fairness parameter represents the fairness of a distribution of radio resources of the multihop relay node over individual data flows in a combined data flow comprising multiple individual data flows relating to one or more of different services provided by a wireless network and user devices served by the wireless network, wherein the local fairness parameter is obtained through periodic performance of a local fair scheduling procedure; and

execute a global fair scheduling procedure for determining a fair distribution of available radio resources of a base station over said at least one wireless link of the first type and said at least one wireless link of the second type, wherein the local fairness parameter is used as a parameter in said global fair scheduling procedure, wherein said global fair scheduling procedure comprises calculating a utility function depending on the scheduled data rates and using the utility function to optimize the fairness of the distribution of the radio resources under the constraint that the available radio resources are exploited and wherein values of the utility function are exchanged between nodes.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the base station is further configured to:

encapsulate said multiple individual data flows into said combined data flow when transmitting the data flows over the wireless link of the first type to the multihop relay node or to

extract multiple individual data flows from a combined data flow received from the multihop relay node over the wireless link of the first type.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said global fair scheduling procedure applies a max-min fairness criterion.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said global fair scheduling procedure applies a proportional fairness criterion.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the functional dependence of the utility function on the resources assigned to the wireless link of the first type differs from the functional dependence of the utility function on the resources assigned to the wireless link of the second type.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the radio resources comprise data rates and radio channels.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the utility function comprises a polynomial series expansion of a sum of logarithms of the radio resources assigned to the wireless links.

8. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;

memory storing computer program code;

wherein the memory storing the computer program code is configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:

control a relay node to support a wireless link of a first type to a base station communicating with the relay node using the wireless link of the first type, and further control the relay node to support at least one further wireless link, with at least one user device within range of the relay node in order to forward at least one communication data flow between the user device and the base station;

control the multihop relay node to periodically perform a local fair scheduling procedure directed to a fair distribution of available radio resources of the relay node over the wireless link of the first type and the at least one further wireless link, to calculate a local fairness parameter representing the fairness of the achieved distribution and to transmit said local fairness parameter to the base station, wherein said global fair scheduling procedure comprises calculating a local utility function depending on the scheduled data rates and using, the local utility function to optimize the fairness of the distribution of the radio resources under the constraint that the available radio resources are exploited and wherein values of the local utility function are exchanged between nodes.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8 , characterized in that said local fairness parameter is determined by the value of the local utility function for the actual distribution of the radio resources.

10. A method for managing radio resources comprising:

calculating a local fairness parameter to be transmitted to a base station by a relay node, said local fairness parameter representing a fairness of a distribution of radio resources of the relay node over individual data flows in a combined data flow, wherein each individual data flow relates to one of a service provided by a network or a user device served by the network, and wherein the combined data flow comprises an encapsulation of the individual data flows, wherein the local fairness parameter is obtained through periodic performance of a local fair scheduling procedure; and

performing a global fair scheduling procedure for determining a fair distribution of available radio resources of the base station over said at least one wireless link of the first type and said at least one wireless link of the second type, wherein performing the global fair scheduling procedure uses the local fairness parameter, wherein said global fair scheduling procedure comprises calculating a utility function depending on the scheduled data rates and using the utility function to optimize the fairness of the distribution of the radio resources under the constraint that the available radio resources are exploited and wherein values of the utility function are exchanged between nodes.