Apparatus, method and computer readable medium for payload segmentation of wireless packet data transmissions

1. A method for allocating resource blocks to scheduled uplink data transmissions, the method comprising:

determining a minimum number of resource blocks that can be assigned to a user equipment for delay sensitive traffic;

determining a maximum number of resource blocks for allocation to data based on a transmit power setting;

allocating a number of resource blocks to the uplink data transmission based on the minimum number of resource blocks and the maximum number of resource blocks for segmentation as segmented data;

predicting a Signal to Noise+Interference ratio (SINR) based on the allocated number of resource blocks;

assigning a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to a wireless transmission based on the predicted SINR and a threshold MCS; and

transmitting scheduling information to the user equipment, the scheduling information including the allocated number of resource blocks and the assigned MCS.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the number of allocated resource blocks is between the minimum number of resource blocks and the maximum number of resource blocks.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the number of allocated resource blocks is the maximum number of resource blocks if the minimum number of resource blocks is greater than the maximum number of resource blocks.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the minimum number of resource blocks is equal to a minimum threshold value greater than 1 if the user equipment is in a condition where the user equipment is transmitting at the user equipment's maximum uplink power to maintain a radio link and the user equipment is transmitting data with conversational quality of service (QoS) requirements.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predicted SINR is based on an SINR observed for previous data transmissions allocated over the number of resource blocks.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predicted SINR is based on the user equipment power headroom reports and uplink SINR information measured at the uplink receiver.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assigned MCS is looked-up in a look-up table using the predicted SINR.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assigned MCS is assigned such that a grant payload size is greater than a floor level, the floor level being determined such that there is no accumulated delay.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predicted SINR and the assigned MCS achieve a target Block Error Rate (BLER) for transmission of each segment of the segmented data.

10. A network element comprising:

a memory; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the processor configured to,

determine a minimum number of resource blocks that can be assigned to a user equipment for delay sensitive traffic;

determine a maximum number of resource blocks for allocation to data based on a transmit power setting;

allocate a number of resource blocks to the uplink data transmission based on the minimum number of resource blocks and the maximum number of resource blocks for segmentation as segmented data;

predict a Signal to Noise+Interference ratio (SINR) based on the allocated number of resource blocks;

assign a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to a wireless transmission based on the predicted SINR and a threshold MCS; and

transmit scheduling information to the user equipment, the scheduling information including the allocated number of resource blocks and the assigned MCS.

11. The network element of claim 10 , wherein the number of allocated resource blocks is between the minimum number of resource blocks and the maximum number of resource blocks.

12. The network element of claim 10 , wherein the number of allocated resource blocks is the maximum number of resource blocks if the minimum number of resource blocks is greater than the maximum number of resource blocks.

13. The network element of claim 10 , wherein the minimum number of resource blocks is equal to a minimum threshold value greater than 1 if the user equipment is in a condition where the user equipment is transmitting at the user equipment's maximum uplink power to maintain a radio link and the user equipment is transmitting data with conversational quality of service (QoS) requirements.

14. The network element of claim 10 , wherein the predicted SINR is based on an SINR observed for previous data transmissions allocated over the number of resource blocks.

15. The network element of claim 10 , wherein the predicted SINR is based on the user equipment power headroom reports and uplink SINR information measured at the uplink receiver.

16. The network element of claim 10 , wherein the assigned MCS is looked-up in a look-up table using the predicted SINR.

17. The network element of claim 10 , wherein the assigned MCS is assigned such that a grant payload size is greater than a floor level, the floor level being determined such that there is no accumulated delay.

18. The network element of claim 10 , wherein the predicted SINR and the assigned MCS achieve a target Block Error Rate (BLER) for transmission of each segment of the segmented data.

19. A user equipment, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the processor, the processor configured to,

receive a scheduling message, the scheduling message including an allocated number of resource blocks and an assigned modulation and coding scheme (MCS), the allocated number of resource blocks being based on,

a minimum number of resource blocks that can be assigned to the user equipment for delay sensitive traffic, and

a maximum number of resource blocks for allocation to data, the maximum number of resource blocks being based on a transmit power setting,

the MCS being based on a transmit based on a predicted Signal to Noise+Interference ratio (SINR), the predicted SINR ratio being based on the allocated number of resource blocks and a threshold MCS,

segment encoded data based on the allocated number of resource blocks, and

transmit the segmented encoded data over an uplink channel to a network element using the MCS.