Optimized scheduling method for delay-sensitive traffic on high speed shared packet data channels

1. A packet-based wireless communication system, comprising:

a scheduler configured to schedule transmission of information packets, each information packet comprised of at least one data packet, by assigning a priority generated from an algorithm which uses at least one performance metric for each data packet in a queue for transmission to a plurality of terminals, said at least one performance metric based at least in part on a number of packets whose time to expiration is less than a threshold; and

a transmitter configured to transmit information packets to a plurality of terminals, said transmitter being connected to the scheduler for sequentially transmitting information packets in the queue to the terminals according to the assigned priority.

2. The packet-based wireless communication system of claim 1 wherein the at least one performance metric comprises a rate metric computed based on a size of an information packet payload.

3. The packet-based wireless communication system of claim 1 wherein the algorithm comprises a first performance metric and a second performance metric.

4. The packet-based wireless communication system of claim 3 wherein the first performance metric comprises a delay metric computed based on the time to expiration of a data packet.

5. The packet-based wireless communication system of claim 3 wherein the second performance metric comprises a rate metric computed based on a size of an information packet payload.

6. The packet-based wireless communication system of claim 1 wherein the algorithm adds the value of a first performance metric to a second performance metric as part of the priority assignment generation.

7. The packet-based wireless communication system of claim 6 wherein the algorithm establishes a priority based on the sum of the first performance metric and the second performance metric, wherein the first performance metric is a delay metric and the second performance metric is a rate metric.

8. The packet-based wireless communication system of claim 7 wherein:

the delay metric is calculated using the time to expiration of a data packet; and

the rate metric is calculated based on a projected size of an information packet payload.

9. The packet-based wireless communication system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one performance metric is exponentially related to a time of expiration of a packet.

10. A method for assigning a time slot within a time slot cycle in a packet-based communication network, comprising the steps of:

scheduling transmission of an information packet by assigning a priority to a user of the network, said priority generated by an algorithm using at least one performance metric for each packet stored in a queue for said user, said performance metric based at least in part on a number of packets whose time to expiration is less than a threshold;

assembling said information packet from at least one data packet in said queue for said user; and

transmitting said information packet.

11. The method for assigning a time slot within a time slot cycle in a packet-based communication network of claim 10 , further comprising the step of:

calculating the priority using the sum of a first performance metric and a second performance metric.

12. The method for assigning a time slot within a time slot cycle in a packet-based communication network of claim 11 , further comprising the step of:

generating the second performance metric based on the number of data packets stored in the queue for a user that can be transmitted in an assembled information packet.

13. The method for assigning a time slot within a time slot cycle in a packet-based communication network of claim 11 , wherein the first performance metric is a delay metric.

14. The method for assigning a time slot within a time slot cycle in a packet-based communication network of claim 11 , wherein the second performance metric is a rate metric.

15. The method for assigning a time slot within a time slot cycle in a packet-based communication network of claim 10 , wherein the at least one performance metric is exponentially related to a time of expiration of a packet.

16. A method of packet-based wireless communication comprising the steps of:

providing a queue that stores data packets, said queue controlled by a radio network controller,

storing data packets for a user in the queue;

assigning a priority for a user to allocate system resources, said priority generated from an algorithm which uses at least one performance metric for each data packet in a queue for transmission to a plurality of terminals, said at least one performance metric based at least in part on a number of packets whose time to expiration is less than a threshold;

sequentially transmitting one or more data packets for a user with the highest priority in a current time slot, using a first performance metric and a second performance metric; and

calculating said second performance metric based on the number of data packets for a user that can be transmitted in an information packet for the current time slot.

17. The method of packet-based wireless communication of claim 16 , further comprising the step of:

calculating said first performance metric based on time to expiration of data packets for a user stored in said queue.

18. The method of packet-based wireless communication of claim 17 , wherein said priority is generated by an algorithm summing the first performance metric and the second performance metric.

19. The method of packet-based wireless communication of claim 16 , wherein the at least one performance metric is exponentially related to a time of expiration of a packet.