Importance

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Abstract

A system is provided for scheduling data from a network element (101), such as an RNC (101), of a cellular communication system to at least one base station (103) across a shared communication link (105) shared between a plurality of cell sectors (107-111). The apparatus comprises resource allocators (113, 115, 117) each of which schedules data for a single cell sector (107-111). A resource determination processor (119) dynamically determines a resource requirement parameter for at least one of the cell sectors (107-111). The resource determination processor (119) is coupled to a resource assignment processor (121) which dynamically assigns a resource availability of the shared communication link (105) to each of the resource allocators (113, 115, 117) in response to the resource requirement parameter. The resource allocators (113, 115, 117) then schedule data for communication over the shared communication link in response to the resource availability. The invention provides improved utilisation of a shared communication link (105) while allowing independent scheduling by resource allocators associated with a single cell.

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First Claim