HK1114293B - Use of supplemental assignments to decrement resources - Google Patents

Abstract

Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate dynamically supplementing or decrementing resource assignments to mobile devices in a wireless network environment without requiring transmission of replacement assignments. Supplemental assignments can be generated based on information related to mobile device need and resource availability. Moreover, resource assignments can be persisted for a mobile device.

Description

Decrementing resources using supplemental assignments

Claiming priority in accordance with 35 U.S.C. § 120

The present patent application claims priority from U.S. pending patent application No. 11/142,121 entitled "USE OF support activity assignment" filed at 31, 2005, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The following description relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to dynamically managing network resources by providing supplemental resource assignments that facilitate decrementing resources.

Background

Wireless networking systems have become a popular means by which most people communicate worldwide. Wireless communication devices have become smaller and more powerful in order to meet consumer needs and to improve portability and convenience. The increase in processing power of mobile devices, such as cellular telephones, has resulted in an increase in demand for wireless network transmission systems. Such systems are typically not as easily updated as the cellular devices through which they communicate. As mobile device capabilities expand, it may be difficult to maintain an old wireless network system in a manner that facilitates fully exploiting new and improved wireless device capabilities.

For example, accurately describing channel assignments in a wireless network connection environment can be expensive (e.g., bit-by-bit). This is particularly true when a user (e.g., a mobile device) does not need to know system resource assignments to other users of the wireless system. In such cases, the assignment of system resources (e.g., broadcast channels and the like) may need to be updated on virtually every other broadcast cycle to provide each user with sufficient bandwidth and/or network connection power, which can increase the burden on the wireless network system and expedite the implementation of network limitations. In addition, such conventional system resource allocation methods may require expensive and high power communication components (e.g., transceivers, processors.) that just meet system requirements, due to such frequent requirements for such continuous updates and/or complete reassignment messages to be transmitted to users.

Multiple access communication systems typically employ a method of assigning system resources to individual users of the system. When such assignments change rapidly over time, the overhead required to simply manage the assignments can become a significant portion of the overall system capacity. Assignment costs can be somewhat reduced when sending assignments using messages that can limit assignment of resource blocks to a subset of all possible block permutations, but due to the limitations, assignments are limited. Furthermore, in systems where assignments are "sticky" (e.g., assignments persist over time rather than have a determined expiration time), it can be difficult to formulate a restricted assignment message that addresses the instantaneously available resources.

In view of at least the foregoing, there is a need in the art for a system and/or methodology for improving assignment notifications and/or updates in a wireless network system and reducing assignment message overhead.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of such embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all embodiments nor delineate the scope of any or all embodiments. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more embodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

According to one aspect, a method of dynamically allocating system resources comprises: determining whether at least one mobile device requires additional resources or requires resource deallocation; generating a supplemental assignment that deassigns the resource and is indicated as a supplemental assignment message; and transmitting the supplemental assignment to the at least one mobile device.

In another aspect, a system that facilitates supplementing resource assignments for mobile devices includes a supplementing component that receives information related to increased or decreased resource requirements for at least one of a plurality of mobile devices and generates a supplemental assignment to allocate additional resources or deassign existing resources to meet the resource requirements. The system can further include a transceiver that transmits a supplemental assignment message to the plurality of mobile devices.

In yet another aspect, an apparatus comprises: means for determining whether at least one mobile device requires additional resources or requires resource deallocation; means for generating a supplemental assignment that deassigns the resource and indicates as a supplemental assignment message; and transmitting the supplemental assignment to a transmitter of the at least one mobile device.

In other aspects, a mobile device includes a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor can be configured to identify whether an assignment message is a supplemental assignment and determine whether the supplemental assignment intends to deassign resources.

In a further other aspect, a method comprises determining whether a received assignment message is a supplemental assignment and, if the assignment message is a supplemental assignment, determining whether the supplemental assignment intends to deassign resources. The method also includes de-assigning resources according to the identified resources in the assignment message if the assignment message is a supplemental assignment.

In yet a further aspect, an apparatus comprises means for determining whether a received assignment message is a supplemental assignment, and if the assignment message is a supplemental assignment, determining whether the supplemental assignment intends to de-assign resources. The apparatus can further comprise means for deassignating resources based on the identified resources in the assignment message if the assignment message is a supplemental assignment.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more embodiments comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects of the one or more embodiments. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various embodiments may be employed and the described embodiments are intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

Drawings

Fig. 1 illustrates a group of N system resource blocks to facilitate understanding of a method in which various embodiments provided herein may operate.

Fig. 2 is an illustration of a channel table that can be employed in a wireless networking system to facilitate assignment of system resources including multiple users (e.g., devices) and their respective resource assignments.

Fig. 3 illustrates a group of resource blocks that may be allocated to multiple users.

Fig. 4 is an illustration of a series of non-persistent (e.g., non-sticky) assignments made over time.

Fig. 5 is an illustration of a series of persistent or "sticky" assignments made over time, such as can be employed with respect to various embodiments described herein.

Fig. 6 is an illustration of a system that facilitates employing supplemental assignments to allocate system resources in a manner that reduces system overhead and/or transmission requirements by reducing signal size.

Fig. 7 illustrates a system that facilitates providing supplemental resource assignments to users of a communication network to reduce assignment signal overhead costs.

Fig. 8 is an illustration of a system that facilitates generating supplemental assignments to assign system resources to users of a communication network while mitigating resource allocation costs.

Fig. 9 illustrates a system that facilitates assigning system resources to users with minimal overhead cost.

Fig. 10 illustrates a methodology for generating and providing supplemental system resource assignments to users of a wireless network.

Fig. 11 illustrates a methodology for generating and transmitting supplemental assignments to users in the illustrated wireless network environment.

Fig. 12 is an illustration of a methodology for providing supplemental resource assignments to devices communicating over a wireless network.

Fig. 13 is an illustration of a wireless network environment that can be employed in conjunction with the various systems and methods described herein.

Fig. 14 is an illustration of a methodology for processing supplemental resource assignments to determine whether to de-assign resources at a wireless communication device.

Fig. 15 is an illustration of an apparatus for processing supplemental resource assignments to determine whether to de-assign resources at a wireless communication device.

Detailed Description

Various embodiments will now be described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more embodiments. It may be evident, however, that such embodiment(s) may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing one or more embodiments.

As used in this application, the terms "component," "system," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. One or more components may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. Also, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal).

Further, various embodiments are described herein in connection with a subscriber station. A subscriber station can also be called a system, a subscriber unit, mobile station, mobile, remote station, access point, base station, remote terminal, access terminal, user agent, or user equipment. A subscriber station may be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device having wireless connection capability, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem.

Moreover, various aspects or features described herein may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or media. For example, a computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips.), optical disks (e.g., Compact Disk (CD), Digital Versatile Disk (DVD)), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, key drive).

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a group of N system resource blocks 100 to facilitate an understanding of the methods in which the various embodiments provided herein may operate. These resource blocks 100 may be, for example, time slots, frequencies, code slots, combinations of the preceding, and the like. A general description of a subset of such blocks is, for example, a block index list, e.g., a list of blocks assigned to a particular user. For example, an index list such as {2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13} may be used to represent the assignment of such blocks to users. Alternatively, a Boolean array may be used to describe the same assignment, e.g., an array of N bits {01100000011110 }. Conventional systems employing such assignment mechanisms would realize significant expense in doing so, even with different characteristics. For example, with respect to the number of bits required to transmit such assignments, the block index list may be substantially more expensive as the size of the subset of blocks to be assigned grows. On the other hand, boolean arrays exhibit a somewhat fixed cost regardless of the number of 1's and 0's, but the cost is relatively large, particularly as N grows.

Additionally, in cases where assignments are limited to contiguous sets of blocks or resources, such assignments can be signaled by indicating the first block in the assignment and the total number of blocks in the assignment. For example, block index assignments such as 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 may be signaled as 11, 5, where "11" represents the first block to be assigned to a given user and "5" represents the total number of contiguous blocks to be assigned (where 11 is the first block). Still further, if the user's rank is known, the assignment signal can be transmitted without user information. For example, as long as all users know the assignment for all other users, only the number of blocks to be assigned need be signaled. For example, if an assignment for users 1-3 is represented by { users 1:1-5}, { users 2:6-7}, and { users 3:8-12}, and if all users know their respective number of users, then this assignment can be written as {5, 2, 5 }. However, this assignment requires that all users on the system know the assignment to all other users, e.g., because user 2 may not know that its assignment starts with block 6 unless it knows that user 1 has been assigned blocks 1-5. Thus, it can be seen that implementing a system employing such conventional methods of assigning system resources can be expensive and can substantially increase the burden on the system transmission resources in which the system is implemented. As will be seen, the systems and methods described herein facilitate overcoming such traditional burdens.

Fig. 2 is an illustration of a channel table 200 that can be employed in a wireless networking system to facilitate assignment of system resources (e.g., transmission channels, time slots, code slots, frequencies.) that include a plurality of users (e.g., devices) and their respective resource assignments. This table 200 is known to all users who can use the channel table index to interpret the assignment message. For example, according to table 200, assignments such as { user 1: index 2} can be written, which can reduce assignment signal cost as compared to block index and/or Boolean array techniques. The following table sets forth a summary of the conventional assignment mechanism features and their associated benefits and results.

Method of producing a composite material	Limitation of	Cost of	All users must view all assignments
				Block index list	Whether or not	Height of	Whether or not
Connection block	Is that	In	Whether or not
				Boolean array	Whether or not	Height of	Whether or not
Known user sequence	Is that	Is low in	Is that
				Channel list	Is that	In	Whether or not

Thus, it can be seen that typical assignment allocation schemes do not provide a mechanism that is inexpensive and non-limiting and does not require all users on the system to observe all user assignments.

Fig. 3 illustrates a group of resource blocks 300 that may be allocated to multiple users. Such resources may include, for example, system channels, time slots, frequencies, code slots, and the like. According to an embodiment, sticky assignments (e.g., assignments that are valid until other assignment signals are received) can be used to assign system resources in a wireless communication network (e.g., OFDM, OFDMA, CDMA, TDMA, gsm.). Such assignments can also be restrictive in order to reduce signal overhead at the expense of limiting the ability to arbitrarily assign resource block groups. To overcome such limitations while minimizing allocation signal cost, supplemental assignments can be used to manage system resources and meet user resource needs. For example, resource block 300 may include a first block set 302 containing blocks 1-4 to be assigned to user 1. User 2 may be assigned a second block set 304 comprising blocks 5 and 6. Finally, blocks 7-9 may comprise a block group 306 of unused blocks. It may be determined that the requirements of user 1 have increased to the point that user 1 needs additional resource blocks. According to this aspect, supplemental assignments can be generated that can augment user 1's current assignment rather than completely replacing it. For example, a flag bit can be incorporated into the supplemental assignment to flag the assignment as a supplemental assignment so that the recipient device can recognize it as a supplemental assignment. If the designator bit is set to "supplemental," the channel or resource described by the message can be added to the assignment previously owned by the user. If the designator bit is not set to "supplemental," the message can be interpreted as replacing the previous assignment. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other message designation methods for supplemental/non-supplemental assignments may be employed, and the embodiments described herein are not limited to employing designator bits, but rather may use any suitable designation mechanism, whether implicit or explicit.

For example, the initial sticky assignment for user 1 can be represented as {1, 2, 3, 4:0}, where "0" indicates a non-supplemental assignment and channels 1-4 are assigned channels. Additionally, to mitigate signaling overhead in the case where assigned channels are contiguous, such non-supplemental assignment can be expressed as [1, 4:0], where a first integer "1" represents a first assigned channel and a second integer "4" represents the length of the assigned channel. For example, if a supplemental channel is to be assigned to user 1 because of increased user needs and the like, a supplemental assignment can be generated and transmitted to user 1. For example, {7, 8, 9:1} may represent channels 7, 8, and 9 to be additionally assigned to user 1. In this example, the designator bit is set to "1" to indicate that the assignment is supplemental and should not only replace the previous user 1 assignment of channels 1-4 but augment such assignment. In addition, since additional channels 7-9 are contiguous, the supplemental assignment can be expressed as [7, 3:1], where 7 is the first supplemental channel assignment and the length of the contiguous supplemental channel to be assigned is 3. According to this latter aspect, assignment signal overhead can be further reduced when compared to conventional systems (e.g., a bulky second signal such as {1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9:0} must be transmitted).

In other aspects, supplemental assignments can be employed as decremental assignments, an assignment that can reduce assigned resources. This may be accomplished by transmitting an assignment, where the supplemental flag is set but only identifies one or more existing resources that have been assigned to the user. In this way, the user will receive the supplemental assignment and reduce its resources. This approach allows the same format message to be used to implement supplemental assignments that increase and decrease resource allocation. This saves the overhead of new assignments while not requiring the user to perform an implicit deassignment process.

For example, a user receives an initial sticky assignment that can be expressed as {1, 2, 3, 4:0}, where "0" indicates a non-supplemental assignment and channels 1-4 are assigned channels. User 1 then receives a supplemental assignment, e.g., {3:1} can indicate that channels 3 and 4 are maintained as assigned to user 1, while the other channels 1 and 2 are to be removed from user 1. In this example, the designator bit is set to "1" to indicate that the assignment is supplemental and should not replace only the previous user 1 assignment for channels 1-4. Alternatively, the supplemental assignment 3:1 could represent that channels 1-3 are to be maintained for user 1 while channel 4 is removed.

According to related aspects, supplemental assignment transmission permissions may be predicted from acknowledgements previously assigned to the user (e.g., receipt of certain acknowledgement data, such as a validation message indicating successful packet or sequence decoding on the reverse link, acknowledgements of successful receipt or decoding on the forward link). In this manner, the network can confirm the user's assignment prior to supplementing such assignment.

Fig. 4 is an illustration of a series of non-persistent (e.g., non-sticky) assignments 400 made over time. Frequencies are illustrated as the type of system resources to be assigned, although assignable system resources are not limited to frequencies. According to the figure, a first user U1 is assigned a frequency fa at time 1. At time 2, frequency fa can be reassigned to user 2, in part because the initial assignment is not a sticky assignment. Frequency fc is illustrated as being assigned to user 3 during both time 1 and time 2. However, the assignment of frequency fc to user 3 is not a sticky assignment, so user 3's frequency fc retention may require separate assignments at each of time 1 and time 2, resulting in an undesirable increase in assignment signal overhead, which in turn can detrimentally affect system resources. Thus, a system employing non-sticky assignments would require N different assignment messages per time frame to assign N available frequencies to N users.

Fig. 5 is an illustration of a series of persistent or "sticky" assignments 500 that can be made over time, such as can be employed with respect to various embodiments described herein. For example, a first set of assignments can be transmitted to users 1-N during a first time frame, and such assignments can persist until one or more subsequent assignments are transmitted to one or more individual users. Thus, the first set of N assignments can be sufficient to provide system resource assignments to all users until such assignments are desired and/or needed to change (e.g., due to user needs, bandwidth availability). In case frequency fd becomes available as illustrated at t3, a subsequent user such as U6 may be assigned this frequency. In this manner, fewer assignment messages need be transmitted over the network than if non-sticky assignments were employed.

In addition, available system resources can be assigned to any user 1-N in the event that the user requires additional resources. For example, it may be determined that, in addition to frequency fe, U5 requires additional frequency availability at some time during communication over the network. A subsequent assignment message may be transmitted to U5 to indicate that frequencies fe and ff have been assigned to U5. Further, in conjunction with the various embodiments detailed herein, such additional assignment message can be a supplemental assignment to mitigate consumption of network resources when reassigning frequencies to U5.

Further, supplemental assignments can be employed as decremental assignments. For example, with respect to U5, sometimes after being assigned frequencies fe and ff, it may decide to remove resources. Thus, the supplemental assignment identifies the frequency ff. U5 interprets this message as a deassignment of frequency fe and will cease utilizing or expect to communicate on frequency fe.

Fig. 6 is an illustration of a system 600 that facilitates employing supplemental assignments to allocate system resources in a manner that reduces system overhead and/or transmission requirements by reducing signal size. System 600 can comprise an assignment component 602 that controls allocation of system resources (e.g., channels, frequencies, time slots, code slots). Assignment component 602 comprises a sticky component 604 that generates sticky assignments that can persist in time until subsequent assignment information is received by a user (e.g., a device). Assignment component 602 additionally comprises a supplemental component 606 that generates supplemental assignments to allocate system resources in accordance with user needs as they change. In addition, supplemental component 606 can be employed to de-assign resources that have been assigned to one or more user devices 610. For example, a supplemental assignment can identify one resource, from which other de-assigned resources can be inferred according to a predetermined algorithm, or a reserved or de-assigned resource can be explicitly identified.

According to an example, user device 610 can be initially assigned a subset of available resources, e.g., {1, 3, 4, 6:0 }. User device 610 can then require additional resources and can determine that a resource block or channel 2 is available. According to an embodiment, a supplemental assignment [2, 1:1] can be generated and transmitted to a user to add a resource (e.g., channel 2) starting with block 2 and having a length of 1. In this manner, system 600 does not need to retransmit a large complete assignment message (e.g., {1, 2, 3, 4, 6:0 }).

According to another example, resources 1-4 can be assigned to a user by an assignment such as [1, 4:0] (e.g., using a block index array, a contiguous assignment), or the like, by assignment component 602. After the user resource requirement increases, additional resources can be assigned to the user via a supplemental assignment message. Conventional approaches may resubmit a complete new assignment message (e.g., [1, 5:0]) to add resource block 5 to the user's assigned resource list. Alternatively, the supplemental assignment can be generated by a supplemental component, e.g., [5, 1:1 ]. However, resource block 5 must be available for legacy systems that are capable of using a reduced message format for successive assignments of resources 1-5, as represented herein by the bold brackets (e.g., "[ ]"). In case resource block 5 suffers from a sticky assignment (e.g., is unavailable) to another user, system 600 can permit a supplemental assignment of resources to be implemented at a reduced overhead cost even if the resources are not contiguous. Thus, if non-contiguous resources are available, a legacy system would need to generate and transmit expensive new assignment messages (e.g., {1, 2, 3, 4, 6:0}) to users to assign resources 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. Conversely, supplemental component 606 can generate a supplemental assignment message such as [6, 1:1] that indicates that the user's assigned resources are to be augmented by a resource allocation starting with resource 6 and having a vector length of 1. The supplemental resource assignment can then be transmitted to user device 610 via one or more base stations 608.

According to yet another example, a user at the initial stage of a communication event may require a large number of system resource blocks. For example, blocks 3, 4, 7, and 8 can be determined to be available for assignment component 602. In this case, two simple messages may be generated and/or transmitted simultaneously to assign a channel to a user. For example, the messages may be denoted as [3, 2:0] and [7, 2:1 ]. Thus, sticky component 604 can generate an initial assignment message and supplemental component 606 can generate a supplemental assignment that can be simultaneously transmitted to a user in order to assign non-contiguous channels 3, 4, 7, and 8 to the user at a reduced cost of system 600. It will be appreciated that the systems and/or methods detailed herein in accordance with various embodiments can be used in conjunction with systems that employ non-sticky assignments as well as sticky assignments.

Fig. 7 illustrates a system 700 that facilitates providing supplemental resource assignments to users of a communication network to reduce assignment signal overhead costs. System 700 comprises an assignment component 702 that can be employed to generate resource assignments for transmissions from one or more base stations 708 to one or more network user equipment 710. Assignment component 702 comprises a sticky component 704 that can selectively generate sticky (e.g., persistent) assignments for users, wherein such assignments are maintained until a subsequent non-supplemental assignment signal resets a user's resource assignment. Assignment component 702 can generate non-sticky assignments, if desired, and employing non-sticky assignments can facilitate reducing system overhead by mitigating the number of assignment messages required to allocate resources to network users. Once assignment component 702 and/or sticky component 704 have assigned assignments to network users, supplemental component 706 can generate supplemental assignments as needed to allocate additional resources to one or more users. In addition, supplemental component 706 can be employed to de-assign resources that have been assigned to one or more user devices 710. For example, a supplemental assignment can identify one resource, from which other de-assigned resources can be inferred according to a predetermined algorithm, or a reserved or de-assigned resource can be explicitly identified.

System 700 can additionally comprise a memory 712 operatively coupled to assignment component 702 and storing information related to user device 710, system resources, assignments thereof, and any other suitable information related to providing dynamic allocation of system resources (e.g., channels, frequencies, time slots, code slots.) to one or more users. A processor 714 can be operatively coupled to assignment component 702 (and/or memory 712) to facilitate analysis of information related to generating resource assignments and the like. It is to be appreciated that processor 714 can be a processor dedicated to analyzing and/or generating information for receipt by assignment component 702, a processor that controls one or more components in system 700, and/or a processor that both analyzes and generates information for receipt by assignment component 702 and controls one or more components in system 700.

Memory 712 can additionally store protocols associated with generating supplemental and/or non-supplemental assignments, etc., such that system 700 can employ stored protocols and/or algorithms to effectuate supplemental assignments of system resources as described herein. It will be appreciated that the data storage components (e.g., memories) described herein can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. By way of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory can include Read Only Memory (ROM), programmable ROM (prom), electrically programmable ROM (eprom), electrically erasable ROM (eeprom), or flash memory. Volatile memory can include Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM may take many forms, such as Synchronous RAM (SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct bus RAM (DRRAM). The memory 712 in the systems and methods is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

Fig. 8 is an illustration of a system 800 that facilitates generating supplemental assignments to assign system resources to users of a communication network while mitigating resource allocation costs. System 800 comprises an assignment component 802 that generates resource assignments for transmission to one or more network user devices 810 through one or more base stations 808. Such assignments can be non-sticky (e.g., generated during each time frame). The assignment component comprises a sticky component 804 that generates non-supplemental sticky or persistent assignments for the device 810, wherein such resource assignments are persisted for the user's device 810 until a subsequent non-supplemental assignment message is transmitted to the particular user. Sticky component 804 can facilitate reducing a number of assignment messages that need to be sent to a network user by transmitting persistent assignments. To further reduce transmission costs and assignment message size, assignment component 802 can comprise a supplemental component 806 that generates supplemental assignment messages as described with respect to previous figures. In addition, supplemental component 806 can be employed to de-assign resources that have been assigned to one or more user devices 810. For example, a supplemental assignment can identify one resource, from which other de-assigned resources can be inferred according to a predetermined algorithm, or a reserved or de-assigned resource can be explicitly identified.

Such supplemental assignment messages can include a designator bit that informs the receiving device 810 that the message is actually supplemental and that an existing resource assignment for the device 810 should be extended rather than replaced. For example, a designator bit can be appended to an assignment message by assignment component 802 such that a message in which the value of the designator bit is "0" can indicate that the assignment message is a standard sticky assignment such that the included assignment should thereby replace an existing assignment. Additionally, if the designator bit has a value of "1," this can indicate that the assignment message is a supplemental assignment message and that the assignment therein should be added to an existing resource assignment. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the flag bit may be designed to provide an active low indication of supplemental/non-supplemental status, whereby a flag bit of "1" (e.g., high) may indicate non-supplemental status and a zero value may indicate supplemental status, as desired for system design goals and the like.

The system 800 may additionally include a memory 812 and a processor 814 as detailed above with respect to fig. 7. Further, an AI component 816 can be operatively associated with assignment component 802 and inferences can be made regarding resource allocation in view of overhead cost considerations and the like. The term "inference" or "inference" refers generally to the process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system, environment, and/or user from a set of observations as captured via events and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specific context or action, or can generate a probability distribution over states, for example. The inference can be probabilistic-that is, the computation of a probability distribution over states of interest based on a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer to techniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set of events and/or data. Such inference can result in the construction of new events or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored event data, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporal proximity, and whether the events and data come from one or several event and data sources.

Fig. 9 illustrates a system 900 that facilitates assigning system resources to users with minimal overhead cost. System 900 comprises an assignment component 902 that can assign resources, e.g., frequencies, channels, transmission slots, etc., to one or more user devices 910 via one or more base stations 908 in a communication network. Assignment component 902 can comprise a sticky component 904 that provides non-supplemental assignments and a supplemental component 906 that can generate supplemental assignments as described herein with respect to previous figures. Assignment component 902 is additionally operatively coupled to each of memory 912, processor 914, and AI component 916, which in turn are operatively coupled to each other. Additionally, supplemental component 906 can be employed to de-assign resources that have been assigned to one or more user devices 910. For example, a supplemental assignment can identify one resource, from which other de-assigned resources can be inferred according to a predetermined algorithm, or a reserved or de-assigned resource can be explicitly identified. .

Assignment component 902 can additionally comprise a verification component 918 that receives validation data from one or more user devices 910 via one or more base stations 908. According to such a case, user device 910 can include transceiving functionality to transmit acknowledgement information back to assignment component 902. Such acknowledgement data may be, for example, a validation message indicating successful packet or sequence decoding on the reverse link, an Acknowledgement (ACK) of successful assignment reception and/or decoding on the forward link, and the like. Such an authentication message can be generated by an authentication component (not shown) associated with the user device or the like that can recognize a successful resource assignment, receipt of a message conveying assignment information, and the like. In this manner, system 900 can validate assignments to users prior to supplementing assignments with signals generated by supplemental component 906.

Referring to fig. 10-12, methodologies relating to generating supplemental system resource assignments are illustrated. For example, methodologies can relate to supplemental assignments in an OFDM environment, an OFDMA environment, a CDMA environment, or any other suitable wireless environment. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or more embodiments, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a methodology in accordance with one or more embodiments.

Referring now solely to fig. 10, a methodology 1000 provides for generating and providing supplemental system resource assignments to users of a wireless network. The method 1000 may permit the use of efficient channel assignment techniques while avoiding major limitations on such techniques. Despite the utilization of supplemental resource assignments, the network can closely match the user's resource assignments to the user's needs and enable the network to optimize the use of system resources, even if the sub-set of assignable resources are limited by the assignment message format. Additionally, by using supplemental assignment messages to increase or decrease assigned resources, the method 1000 can reduce the number of assignment and deassignment messages required to be communicated to achieve a desired resource allocation.

To facilitate utilizing supplemental resource assignments, initial resource assignments can be generated and transmitted over a network to devices of one or more users at 1002. For example, an assignment can be a non-supplemental assignment of resources (e.g., network frequencies, channels, time slots, etc.). Additionally, such assignments can be sticky assignments in order to minimize the total number of assignments to transmit over the network over time. Once the assignments have been transmitted to the users of the network, the network can be monitored at 1004 to determine if any user requires additional resources or if resources should be reduced. Upon determining that a user requires a resource assignment in addition to the user's existing assignment, a supplemental assignment can be generated for the user and transmitted to the user's communication device at 1006. Once the supplemental assignment has been transmitted, the method can return to 1004 to continue monitoring and/or determining whether additional resources are needed by any user, or whether de-assignment of existing resources should be made, such that generation and transmission of further supplemental resource assignments can then be triggered at 1006.

For example, a user can be initially assigned resource blocks 1-5 at 1002. If the user requires additional resources, the determination at 1004 can detect such a requirement and generate such resource assignments at 1006 in a manner that facilitates reducing system overhead with respect to assignment message size, and the like. For example, generation of the supplemental assignment can include first determining which resources (and/or resource blocks) are available. Based on this evaluation, a supplemental assignment can be generated and flagged to permit the network and/or receiving device to identify the assignment as supplemental. For example, if it is determined that resource blocks 11 and 12 are available for assignment to a user, a supplemental message assigning only blocks 11 and 12 may be generated at 1106. The message may be appropriately marked as "supplemental" to ensure that blocks 11 and 12 are added to assigned blocks 1-5 rather than replacing such blocks. In the case of decremental assignments, the determination 1004 can detect a need for reduced resources and then transmit such resource deassignment in the form of a supplemental assignment at 1006.

Tagging assignment messages can be facilitated by: a designator bit is appended to all assignment messages, whether supplemental or non-supplemental, such that the value of the designator bit informs the recipient device and/or network that the assignment should replace an existing assignment or should augment an existing assignment. For example, a designator bit having a value of "0" can indicate that the assignment is non-supplemental, while a value of "1" can indicate that the assignment is supplemental. It will be appreciated that the value of the designator bit can be reversed, so long as such values are consistently used to represent each of the two possible states of the assignment message (e.g., supplemental and non-supplemental). Further, whether the assignment is supplemental or non-supplemental is not limited to the use of a designator bit, but can be implemented using any suitable indicator (e.g., a bit sequence, a message prefix, a flag … in a message header).

Turning now to fig. 11, illustrated is a methodology 1100 for generating and transmitting supplemental assignments to users in a wireless network environment. At 1102, an initial resource allocation can be transmitted to a network user. For example, non-supplemental assignment messages can be generated and transmitted to individual user devices without requiring knowledge of assignments to other devices. At 1104, the mobile device can provide an acknowledgement signal to the network to verify successful decoding and acceptance of the assigned resource message. At 1106, a determination can be made as to whether one or more mobile devices require additional system resources or whether resources should be de-assigned from the user. If it is determined that no additional resources are needed, or the assignment should be deassignated, the method can terminate.

If, at 1106, it is determined that the device requires additional resources, or should be de-assigned, then such resources can be provided with a supplemental assignment at 1108. For example, a mobile device, such as a cellular telephone, may receive an initial resource allocation at 1102 that permits sound transmission. The determination at 1106 may indicate that the user of the mobile device is attempting to download a web page, transmit a digital photograph or video clip, etc., which may require additional transmission bandwidth. Accordingly, at 1108, a supplemental resource assignment can be generated to satisfy the device's bandwidth need, and the generated supplemental resource assignment can be transmitted to the device to satisfy the device's need.

According to a related example, if the device initially verifies receipt and/or acceptance of resource block 100-104 and requires an additional four resource blocks, a supplemental assignment message (e.g., [ X, 4:1] can be transmitted to the device, where X is an integer representing the first resource block in the first contiguous set of available resource blocks, since all previous resource assignments have been confirmed at 1104, the complete list of available resources for supplemental assignment generation and transmission at 1108 can be known, upon supplemental assignment transmission at 1108, the method can return to 1104 for another iteration of assignment verification, which can include verifying supplemental assignments before monitoring the network to determine whether subsequent supplemental assignments are necessary for one or more users at 1106. Such assignments can be expressed in a manner that facilitates the generation of convenient and cost-effective assignment messages (e.g., an array of block indices). For example, such an assignment can be expressed with two indices and one designator bit.

Referring now to fig. 12, a methodology 1200 provides for providing supplemental resource assignments to devices communicating over a wireless network. At 1202, an initial resource allocation can be made and an assignment can be transmitted to one or more devices using the network. For example, a first user can be assigned resource blocks by a non-supplemental sticky assignment (e.g., {1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10:0}, while a second user is assigned resource blocks according to a second non-supplemental assignment message (e.g., {4, 5, 8:0}), where "0" represents a designator bit identifying the assignment message as non-supplemental, the user need not know (e.g., need not observe) the assignment messages of other users at 1204, the assignment message can be confirmed by the receiving mobile device. The method may terminate. If one or more devices require additional resources or need to be removed, the message may proceed to 1208. For example, the first user may need an additional three resource blocks for operation on the network. The most efficient supplemental message format can be inferred at 1208 to provide the supplemental assignment to the first user at the lowest overhead cost (e.g., based on a cost-benefit analysis, optimization technique …).

For example, if all initial resource block assignments have been confirmed according to 1204, the next three available resource blocks can be known as blocks 7, 9, and 11. The supplemental assignment message including these block assignments can be denoted as 7, 9, 11:1 and can be transmitted to the first user at 1210. However, a more efficient message (e.g., a shorter message) can be [9, 4:1] which can transmit a supplemental resource assignment for four consecutive resource blocks beginning with block 9. Since block 10 is already assigned to the first user's device, there is no conflict and new blocks 9, 11 and 12 can additionally be assigned to the first user to meet the user's resource needs. An inference can be made at 1208 (e.g., using artificial intelligence techniques, machine learning techniques), which can facilitate determining that the more efficient (e.g., cheaper) message is desired, and such inference can be selected for generation and transmission at 1210. In the case of decremental assignments, determination 12064 can detect a need for reduced resources and then transmit such resource deassignment in the form of a supplemental assignment at 1208.

According to a similar example, it can be determined at 1204 that the second user cannot verify receipt/acceptance of its initial assignment message. As long as such resource blocks are still available (e.g., not already assigned to a third or subsequent user device), the resource blocks can be assigned to the first user in a supplemental assignment message such as 4, 5, 8: 1. Only the first user needs to know the supplemental assignment because the supplemental assignment is transparent to all users except the recipient to reduce network overhead, processing time, etc., even further. Additionally, at 1208, it can be inferred that the supplemental assignment message can be reduced to a contiguous assignment such as [4, 5:1], where "4" represents a first resource block, "5" represents a series of contiguous blocks starting with 4, and "1" marks the message as supplemental. This is permitted because it is known that blocks 6 and 7 have been assigned to the first user, so that the more efficient subsequent supplemental assignment does not conflict with the first user's existing assignment. In this manner, the inference made at 1208 can facilitate generation and transmission of a supplemental assignment message at 1210 that is most cost effective with respect to overhead requirements and/or assignment transmission message size.

Fig. 13 shows an example wireless communication system 1300. The wireless communication system 1300 depicts one base station and one terminal for sake of brevity. It is to be appreciated, however, that the system can include more than one base station and/or more than one terminal, wherein additional base stations and/or terminals can be substantially similar or different for the exemplary base station and terminal described below. In addition, it is to be appreciated that the base station and/or the terminal can employ the systems (fig. 6-9) and/or methods (fig. 10-12) described herein to facilitate wireless communication there between.

Referring now to fig. 13, on a downlink, at an access point 1305, a Transmit (TX) data processor 1310 receives, formats, codes, interleaves, and modulates (or symbol maps) traffic data and provides modulation symbols ("data symbols"). An OFDM modulator 1315 receives and processes the data symbols and pilot symbols and provides a stream of OFDM symbols. OFDM modulator 1315 multiplexes data and pilot symbols on the correct subbands, provides a signal value of zero for each unused subband, and obtains a set of N transmit symbols for the N subbands for each OFDM symbol period. Each transmission symbol may be a data symbol, a pilot symbol, or a signal value of zero. The pilot symbols may be sent continuously in each OFDM symbol period. Alternatively, the pilot symbols may be Time Division Multiplexed (TDM), Frequency Division Multiplexed (FDM), or Code Division Multiplexed (CDM). OFDM modulator 1315 may transform each set of N transmit symbols to the time domain using an N-point IFFT to obtain a "transformed" symbol that contains N time-domain chips. OFDM modulator 1315 typically repeats a portion of each transformed symbol to obtain a corresponding OFDM symbol. The repeated portion is referred to as a cyclic prefix and is used to combat delay spread in the wireless channel.

A transmitter unit (TMTR)1320 receives and converts the stream of OFDM symbols into one or more analog signals and further conditions (e.g., amplifies, filters, and frequency upconverts) the analog signals to generate a downlink signal suitable for transmission over the wireless channel. The downlink signal is then transmitted via an antenna 1325 to the terminals. At terminal 1330, an antenna 1335 receives the downlink signal and provides a received signal to a receiver unit (RCVR) 1340. Receiver unit 1340 conditions (e.g., filters, amplifies, and frequency downconverts) the received signal and digitizes the conditioned signal to obtain samples. An OFDM demodulator 1345 removes the cyclic prefix appended to each OFDM symbol, transforms each received transformed symbol to the frequency domain using an N-point FFT, obtains N received symbols for the N subbands for each OFDM symbol period, and provides received pilot symbols to a processor 1350 for channel estimation. OFDM demodulator 1345 further receives a frequency response estimate for the downlink from processor 1350, performs data demodulation on the received data symbols to obtain data symbol estimates (which are estimates of the transmitted data symbols), and provides the data symbol estimates to an RX data processor 1355, which demodulates (i.e., symbol demaps), deinterleaves, and decodes the data symbol estimates to recover the transmitted traffic data. The processing by OFDM demodulator 1345 and RX data processor 1355 is complementary to the processing by OFDM modulator 1315 and TX data processor 1310, respectively, at access point 1305.

On the uplink, a TX data processor 1360 processes traffic data and provides data symbols. An OFDM modulator 1365 receives and multiplexes the data symbols with pilot symbols, performs OFDM modulation, and provides a stream of OFDM symbols. Pilot symbols may be transmitted on subbands that have been assigned to terminal 1330 for pilot transmission, where the number of uplink pilot subbands may be the same or different from the number of downlink pilot subbands. A transmitter unit 1370 then receives and processes the stream of OFDM symbols to generate an uplink signal, which is transmitted by the antenna 1335 to the access point 1305.

At access point 1305, the uplink signal from terminal 1330 is received by the antenna 1325 and processed by a receiver unit 1375 to obtain samples. An OFDM demodulator 1380 then processes the samples and provides received pilot symbols and data symbol estimates for the uplink. An RX data processor 1385 processes the data symbol estimates to recover the traffic data transmitted by terminal 1330. A processor 1390 performs channel estimation for each active terminal performing a transmission on the uplink. Multiple terminals may transmit pilot concurrently on the uplink on their respective assigned sets of pilot subbands, where the pilot subband sets may be interlaced.

Processors 1390 and 1350 direct (e.g., control, coordinate, manage, etc.) operation at access point 1305 and terminal 1330, respectively. For example, the processor 1350 may be configured to implement the functions described with respect to fig. 14 and 15. Respective processors 1390 and 1350 can be associated with memory units (not shown) that store program codes and data. Processors 1390 and 1350 can also perform computations to derive frequency and impulse response estimates for the uplink and downlink, respectively.

Fig. 14 is an illustration of a methodology 1400 for processing supplemental resource assignments to determine whether to de-assign resources at a wireless communication device. The methodology 1400 can permit the use of efficient channel assignment techniques while avoiding major limitations on such techniques. Despite the utilization of supplemental resource assignments, the network can closely match the user's resource assignments to the user's needs and enable the network to optimize the use of system resources, even if the sub-set of assignable resources are limited by the assignment message format. Additionally, by using supplemental assignment messages to increase or decrease assigned resources, the method 1000 can reduce the number of assignment and deassignment messages required to be communicated to achieve a desired resource allocation.

To facilitate utilizing supplemental resource assignments, the user determines that an assignment message has been received, block 1402. A determination is then made as to whether the assignment message is a standard assignment message or a supplemental assignment message, block 1404. In certain aspects, such a determination may be made by determining whether a supplemental flag or bit is set in the assignment message.

If the assignment is not supplemental, no further processing of the resource deassignment is required. If the assignment is a supplemental assignment, a determination is made as to whether to deassign resources using the supplemental assignment, block 1406. This can be accomplished by determining whether any resources identified by the supplemental assignment have been assigned to the user. If this is the case, the supplemental assignment can be thought of as a de-assignment of certain resources.

If the supplemental assignment is not a resource deassignment, no further processing of the resource deassignment is required. If the assignment is a supplemental assignment, the appropriate resources are de-assigned, block 1408. This can be determined by explicit resources in the supplemental assignment from those resources that overlap the current assignment. Alternatively, the determination can be made by all resources having a logical order (e.g., channel ID or channel tree node ID) that is greater than or less than the logical order of the resources identified in the supplemental assignment. Further, deassignment can be specified by providing first and second resources and all resources having a logical order between them will be reserved or removed after deassignment.

Fig. 15 is an illustration of a device 1500 that processes supplemental resource assignments to determine whether to de-assign resources at a wireless communication device. Means 1502 for determining whether a received assignment message is a standard assignment message or a supplemental assignment message communicates with means 1504 for determining whether to de-assign resources using the supplemental assignment. This can be accomplished by determining whether the resource identified by the supplemental assignment has been assigned to the user. If this is the case, the supplemental assignment can be thought of as a de-assignment of certain resources.

The device 1504 communicates with a device for deassignating an appropriate resource 1506. This can be determined by explicit resources in the supplemental assignment from those resources that overlap existing assignments. Alternatively, the determination can be made by all resources having a logical order (e.g., channel ID or channel tree node ID) that is greater than or less than the logical order of the resources identified in the supplemental assignment. Further, deassignment can be specified by providing first and second resources and all resources in logical order between them are reserved or removed after deassignment.

In a multiple-access OFDM system, such as an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) system, multiple terminals may transmit on the uplink simultaneously. For such a system, the pilot subbands may be shared among different terminals. The channel estimation techniques may be used in situations where the pilot subbands for each terminal span the entire operating band (possibly except for the band edges). This pilot subband structure would be needed to obtain frequency diversity for each terminal. The techniques described herein may be implemented by various means. For example, the techniques may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing units used for channel estimation may be implemented within one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof. For software, implementation can be through modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be stored in memory unit and executed by the processors 1390 and 1350.

What has been described above includes examples of one or more embodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the aforementioned embodiments, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of various embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the described embodiments are intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term "includes" is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising" as "comprising" is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.

Claims (30)

1. A method of dynamically allocating system resources, the method comprising:

determining whether at least one mobile device requires additional resources or resource deallocation relative to an existing resource assignment;

generating a supplemental assignment, the supplemental assignment indicated as a supplemental assignment message, the supplemental assignment message used to increase or decrease assigned resources; and

transmitting the supplemental assignment to the at least one mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises identifying a first resource that represents a plurality of resources that remain part of the assignment of resources after de-assignment.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises explicitly identifying a plurality of resources that will remain part of the assignment of resources after de-assignment.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises explicitly identifying a plurality of resources to be removed as part of the deassignment.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating comprises setting a flag in the supplemental assignment message to identify the supplemental assignment message as the supplemental assignment.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the flag consists of one bit.

7. A system that facilitates supplementing resource assignments for mobile devices, the system comprising:

a supplemental component configured to:

receiving information relating to increased or decreased resource requirements of at least one of the mobile devices;

generating a supplemental assignment, wherein the supplemental assignment explicitly identifies a plurality of resources that remain part of the assignment of resources after de-assignment;

allocating additional resources or deallocating existing resources to meet the increased or decreased resource requirements of at least one of the mobile devices; and

a transceiver configured to transmit a supplemental assignment message to at least one of the mobile devices.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the supplemental component is further configured to identify a first resource that represents a plurality of resources that remain part of the assignment of resources after de-assignment.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the supplemental component is further configured to explicitly identify a plurality of resources to be removed as part of the deassignment.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the supplemental component is further configured to set a flag in the supplemental assignment message to identify the supplemental assignment message as the supplemental assignment.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the flag consists of one bit.

12. An apparatus for allocating resources, the apparatus comprising:

means for determining whether at least one mobile device requires additional resources or requires resource deallocation relative to an existing resource assignment;

means for generating a supplemental assignment, the supplemental assignment indicated as a supplemental assignment message, the supplemental assignment message for increasing or decreasing assigned resources; and

a transmitting device configured to transmit the supplemental assignment to the at least one mobile device.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the generating means comprises identifying means for identifying a first resource that represents the plurality of resources that will remain part of the assignment after de-assignment.

14. A method of processing resource assignments in a mobile device, the method comprising:

identifying whether the assignment message is a supplemental assignment for increasing or decreasing assigned resources; and is

In response to the assignment message being a supplemental assignment, determining whether the supplemental assignment is for deassignment of resources and determining a number of resources that are deassignated from among the first resources specified in the supplemental assignment.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising determining the plurality of resources that are de-assigned by the supplemental assignment.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising determining a first plurality of resources to de-assign from a second plurality of resources indicated in the supplemental assignment.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising determining whether the assignment message is the supplemental assignment according to a flag in the assignment message.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the flag consists of one bit.

19. A method of processing resource assignments, the method comprising:

determining whether the received assignment message is a supplemental assignment, the supplemental assignment being indicated as a supplemental assignment message, the supplemental assignment message being used to increase or decrease assigned resources;

in response to the assignment message being the supplemental assignment, determining whether the supplemental assignment is for de-assigning a first set of resources; and

in response to the supplemental assignment being used to de-assign the first set of resources, de-assign the first set of resources in accordance with the identified resources in the assignment message.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the deassignment comprises deassignment of a first plurality of resources based on a first identified resource that represents a second plurality of resources that will remain part of the received assignment after deassignment.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the deassignment comprises deassignment of a first plurality of resources based on a plurality of identified resources that represent a second plurality of resources that will remain as part of the received assignment after deassignment.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the deassignment comprises deassignment of a first plurality of resources that are the same as a plurality of identified resources that represent a second plurality of resources that will remain part of the received assignment after deassignment.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the determining whether the received assignment message is a supplemental assignment comprises determining from a flag in a received assignment message to identify the message as a supplemental assignment.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the flag consists of one bit.

25. A system for processing resource assignments, the system comprising:

means for determining whether the received assignment message is a supplemental assignment, wherein the supplemental assignment is indicated as a supplemental assignment message, the supplemental assignment message being used to increase or decrease assigned resources;

means for determining whether the supplemental assignment is for deassignment of a first set of resources in response to the assignment message being a supplemental assignment; and

means for deassignating the first set of resources according to the identified resources in the assignment message in response to the supplemental assignment being used to deassignate the first set of resources.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein means for de-assigning the first set of resources according to identified resources in the assignment message in response to the supplemental assignment being used to de-assign the first set of resources comprises means for de-assigning a first plurality of resources according to a first identified resource that represents a second plurality of resources that will remain part of an existing assignment after de-assignment.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein means for de-assigning the first set of resources based on the identified resources in the assignment message in response to the supplemental assignment being used to de-assign the first set of resources comprises means for de-assigning a first plurality of resources based on a plurality of identified resources representing a second plurality of resources that will remain part of an existing assignment after de-assignment.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein means for de-assigning the first set of resources according to the identified resources in the assignment message in response to the supplemental assignment being used to de-assign the first set of resources comprises means for de-assigning a first plurality of resources that are the same as a plurality of identified resources that represent a second plurality of resources that will remain part of an existing assignment after de-assignment.

29. The system of claim 25, wherein the means for determining whether a received assignment message is a supplemental assignment comprises means for determining according to a flag in the assignment message.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the flag consists of one bit.