Scheduling algorithms for 4G wireless networks

Scheduling algorithms are fundamental components in the process of resource management in mobile communication networks with heterogeneous QoS requirements such as delay, delay jitter, packet loss rate or throughput. The random characteristics of the propagation environment and the use of complex physical layers in order to combat this random behavior does not ease in the design of simple, efficient, scalable and fair scheduling algorithms. This paper presents the main criteria used in the design of scheduling algorithms for 3G/4G mobile communications networks and provides a survey of scheduling mechanisms proposed for use in TDMA and CDMA based networks.