Wireless communication networks are responsible for managing a variety of wireless devices that require a variety of communications. Not only must these networks manage the movement of the devices as the devices move from one location to another, but they must also maintain appropriate scheduling to provide the appropriate data to the devices. Typically, this scheduling includes dividing the network both in frequency and in time to allocate resource blocks for the individual wireless devices.
In some examples, a wireless communication system may employ carrier aggregation. Carrier aggregation allows Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks to increase bandwidth, and thereby increase bitrates. This increase in bandwidth allows the network to provide a user with a greater amount of data over a shorter period of time. In practice to provide this increase in bandwidth, carrier aggregation may be applied in a variety of ways. One such way that carrier aggregation may be applied is through intra-band, contiguous aggregation that uses contiguous component carriers within the same operating frequency band. An alternative aggregation includes intra-band, non-contiguous aggregation that spaces the component carriers within the same operating frequency band. Finally, in situations where the network includes multiple frequency bands, the scheduler may employ inter-band, non-contiguous aggregation, which spaces the component carriers across the multiple frequency bands.