SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC ALLOCATION OF FREQUENCY SUB-CHANNELS FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

1 . A method of dynamic allocation of sub-channels in an OFDMA wireless network having a plurality of cells, for use in a base station controller, the method comprising:

allocating to a plurality of base stations a first plurality of sub-channels according to a static allocation, wherein the number of sub-channels allocated to each base station is less than the number of available sub-channels, thereby resulting in available remaining sub-channels for each base station that are not assigned in the static allocation;

receiving a request from at least one of said base stations for increased throughput in downlink and/or uplink;

allocating at least one additional sub-channel to said requesting base station from among said remaining sub-channels not in use for static allocation according to a dynamic allocation; and

transmitting a message to said requesting base station based on said dynamic allocation.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising after allocating said first plurality of sub-channels, determining available remaining sub-channels for dynamic allocation, wherein dynamically allocating said at least one additional sub-channel is based on idle sub-channels.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein allocating said at least one additional sub-channel according to a dynamic allocation comprises allocating one or more sub-channels from among said remaining sub-channels based on an interference matrix.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining an expected forward error correction (FEC) based on an interference matrix;

calculating based on the expected FEC an amount of throughout increase to be obtained based on allocating the additional sub-channel; and

determining whether to allocate said additional sub-channel based on the calculated amount of throughput increase.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said static allocation allocates air interface resources on a first channel and said dynamic allocation allocates air interface resources on a second channel.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said OFDMA wireless communication system is configured for a plurality of uplink sub-channels and a plurality of downlink sub-channels, wherein said static allocation includes one downlink sub-channel and one uplink sub-channel for each said base station, and wherein dynamically allocating said at least one additional sub-channel comprises allocating additional air interface resources from the sub-channels not assigned in the static allocation.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, at a base station:

receiving said message based on said dynamic allocation; and

transmitting to remote stations in communication with said base station to communicate according to said dynamic allocation.

8 . A base station controller configured to manage dynamic allocation of sub-channels for a plurality of base stations in an OFDMA wireless network, the base station controller comprising:

a processor;

a non-transitory computer-readable medium in data communication with the processor and comprising instructions which when executed cause the processor to:

allocate to said plurality of base stations a first plurality of sub-channels according to a static allocation, wherein the number of sub-channels allocated to each base station is less than the number of available sub-channels, thereby resulting in available remaining sub-channels for each base station that are not assigned in the static allocation;

receive a request from at least one of said base stations for increased downlink and/or uplink throughput;

allocate at least one additional sub-channel to the requesting base station from among said available remaining sub-channels according to a dynamic allocation; and,

transmit a message notifying of allocation of the allocation of said at least one additional sub-channel to the requesting base station.

9 . The base station controller of claim 8 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the processor to:

after allocating said first plurality of sub-channels, determine available remaining sub-channels for dynamic allocation, wherein said processor is to allocate said at least one additional sub-channel based on idle sub-channels.

10 . The base station controller of claim 8 , wherein said remaining available sub-channels for dynamic allocation include air interface resources used by base stations that substantially do not interfere with other geographically proximate base stations.

11 . The base station controller of claim 8 , wherein said processor is to allocate said at least one additional sub-channel according to a dynamic allocation by allocating one or more sub-channels from among said remaining sub-channels based on an interference matrix.

12 . The base station controller of claim 8 , wherein said processor is to allocate said at least one additional sub-channel according to a dynamic allocation by:

determining an expected forward error correction (FEC) based on an interference matrix;

calculating based on the expected FEC an amount of throughout increase to be obtained based on allocating the additional sub-channel; and

determining whether to allocate said additional sub-channel based on the calculated amount of throughput increase.

13 . An OFDMA wireless communication system including:

a plurality of base stations;

a base station controller in communication with said plurality of base stations, said base station controller for managing dynamic allocation of sub-channels for said plurality of base stations, and configured to:

allocate to said plurality of base stations a first plurality of sub-channels according to a static allocation, wherein the number of sub-channels allocated to each base station is less than the number of available sub-channels, thereby resulting in available remaining sub-channels for each base station that are not assigned in the static allocation,

receive a request from at least one of the said base stations for increased throughput in downlink and/or uplink,

allocate at least one additional sub-channel to said requesting base station from among said remaining sub-channels not in use for static allocation according to a dynamic allocation, and

transmit a message to said requesting base station on said dynamic allocation;

wherein said base stations are configured, upon receiving said message from the base station controller, to transmit to geographically proximate remote stations an uplink and/or downlink map based on said message received from the base station controller.