Optimal downlink scheduling policies for slotted wireless time-varying channels

We consider the problem of scheduling transmissions from the base station to a number of mobile users sharing the same wireless slotted time-varying multirate channel. As a performance measure, we consider the throughput assigned to each user and with each user, we associate a general reward function that reflects the level of satisfaction for a given throughput allocation. By exploiting the variations in the channel conditions and under reasonable statistical assumptions, we propose a policy that maximizes the long-term reward of the system. Specific choices of the reward functions lead to several fairness criteria.