Method and system for best effort scheduling for a point to multipoint broadband wireless system

1. A method for best effort uplink scheduling of air resources in a point to multipoint network comprising:

receiving a plurality of requests for uplink bandwidth from a respective plurality of remote stations;

creating a proposed allocation list comprising a plurality of proposal nodes, wherein each said proposal node is based on a request for uplink bandwidth and associated with an incremental bandwidth request over a prior bandwidth request for that remote station and a priority parameter;

ordering the proposal nodes in said proposed allocation list based at least on said priority parameter and time of arrival of said requests for uplink bandwidth to produce an ordered proposed allocation list;

distributing bytes of available uplink bandwidth among at least some of the proposal nodes based on their order in said ordered proposed allocation list, thereby creating a plurality of proposed allocations;

allocating available slots to at least some of the proposed allocations based on data and overhead requirements, thereby creating an uplink bandwidth allocation map; and

transmitting said uplink bandwidth allocation map to said remote stations.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting the plurality of requests for uplink bandwidth from a plurality of remote stations, respectively, wherein each of said requests comprises an aggregate for each of said remote stations of a plurality of outstanding demands for uplink bandwidth.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein said plurality of outstanding demands for uplink bandwidth comprise demands from a plurality of services associated with each said remote station.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein said plurality of outstanding demands for uplink bandwidth comprise previously transmitted demands for uplink bandwidth that have not been allocated.

5. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein each said proposal node associated with a time of arrival of an associated request for uplink bandwidth, and

wherein ordering the proposal nodes in said proposed allocation list is further based on said time of arrival of each proposal node.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving said uplink bandwidth allocation map at a remote station;

distributing portions of slots allocated to said remote station to a plurality of services operating on said remote station based on a service priority level associated with each of said services.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

concatenating packets from a plurality of services having the same service priority level into a single slot allocated to the remote station in said uplink bandwidth allocation map.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

fragmenting a packet from a single service into a plurality of sub-packets; and

transmitting said sub-packets in a plurality of slots allocated to the remote station in a respective plurality of received uplink bandwidth allocation maps.

9. A system for best effort uplink scheduling of air resources in a point to multipoint network comprising:

a base station processor capable of:

receiving a plurality of requests for uplink bandwidth from a respective plurality of remote stations;

creating a proposed allocation list comprising a plurality of proposal nodes, wherein each said proposal node is based on a request for uplink bandwidth and associated with an incremental bandwidth request over a prior bandwidth request for that remote station and a priority parameter;

ordering the proposal nodes in said proposed allocation list based at least on said priority parameter and time of arrival of said requests for uplink bandwidth to produce an ordered proposed allocation list;

distributing bytes of available uplink bandwidth among at least some of the proposal nodes based on their order in said ordered proposed allocation list, thereby creating a plurality of proposed allocations;

allocating available slots to at least some of the proposed allocations based on data and overhead requirements, thereby creating an uplink bandwidth allocation map; and

transmitting said uplink bandwidth allocation map to said remote stations; and

a plurality of remote station processors capable of:

aggregating a plurality of outstanding demands for uplink bandwidth; and

transmitting a request for uplink bandwidth based on said aggregate of outstanding demands for uplink bandwidth.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein said plurality of outstanding demands for uplink bandwidth comprise demands from a plurality of services associated with each said remote station.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein said plurality of outstanding demands for uplink bandwidth comprise previously transmitted demands for uplink bandwidth that have not been allocated.

12. The system of claim 9 ,

wherein each said proposal node associated with a time of arrival of an associated request for uplink bandwidth, and

wherein ordering the proposal nodes in said proposed allocation list is further based on said time of arrival of each proposal node.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the remote station processor is further capable of:

receiving said uplink bandwidth allocation map;

distributing portions of slots allocated to the remote station to a plurality of services operating thereon based on a service priority level associated with each of said services.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the remote station processor is further capable of:

concatenating packets from a plurality of services having the same service priority level into a single slot allocated to the remote station in said uplink bandwidth allocation map.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the remote station processor is further capable of:

fragmenting a packet from a single service into a plurality of sub-packets; and

transmitting said sub-packets in a plurality of slots allocated to the remote station in a respective plurality of received uplink bandwidth allocation maps.