Scheduling resource usage

Abstract

Methods of scheduling usage of a resource between multiple resource users and corresponding schedulers are disclosed. The scheduling is performed by initially allocating a per-round usage allowance to each resource user of the multiple resource users and then determining a usage schedule for the resource in a sequence of rounds. At each round the determining comprises, for each resource user, when there are unscheduled usage requests for the resource user, scheduling a portion of the unscheduled usage requests which does not exceed the per-round usage allowance for the resource user, wherein the portion is scheduled for resource usage in association with the current round. Further, at each round, when there exists a remainder of the unscheduled usage requests which exceeds the per-round usage allowance for the resource user, the remainder is scheduled in association with a later round, wherein a number of rounds offset from the current round to the later round is calculated in dependence on a specified maximum request latency for the resource user. Minimum bandwidth and maximum latency requirements for each user are thus supported.