Maximum expansion with contiguity constraints scheduling algorithm: enhancing uplink transmission in long-term evolution vehicular environments

Abstract

Uplink scheduling has become increasingly important due to increased activities like uploading videos, photos, and file sharing. Many users share or stream live videos and engage with social networks, significantly increasing uplink data traffic volume. Single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) is favored for its power efficiency and high data rates, benefiting user equipment (UE) battery life. However, maintaining the contiguity of resource blocks (RBs) poses challenges in uplink scheduling. The maximum expansion with contiguity constraints (MECC) algorithm has been introduced to address this challenge. MECC prioritizes contiguity, fairness, and throughput for users at the cell edge. The algorithm operates in two phases: initially allocating RBs proportionally and assigning RBs with the highest metrics while ensuring contiguity. Performance evaluation of MECC, conducted under conditions simulating vehicular movement at 30 km/h, demonstrates its superiority over other algorithms. MECC provides high fairness and throughput for both real-time (RT) and non-real-time (NRT) traffic, making it the preferred scheduler for ensuring quality of service (QoS) for both traffic types. Its focus on contiguity, fairness, throughput, and spectral efficiency establishes MECC as a valuable tool for optimizing uplink transmission in mobile networks, addressing the evolving needs of users in today's digital landscape.