ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Proportional-fair rule

Have you ever played with a toy where you have to share it with your friends? Sometimes everyone wants to play with it at the same time, but there's only one toy. That's where the proportional-fair rule comes in.

The proportional-fair rule means that everyone gets a fair share of the toy based on how long they've waited to play with it. So if you waited longer than your friends to play with the toy, you get to play with it for a longer time. But if you didn't wait as long, you get to play with it for a shorter time.

Think of it like a line at a water slide. If you wait in line for a long time, you get to go down the slide for longer than someone who just got in line. That way, everyone gets a fair turn and no one feels left out or like they didn't get enough time to play.

The proportional-fair rule is like that for things like sharing toys, but it can also be used for things like cell phone networks. When lots of people are using the network at the same time, the proportional-fair rule helps make sure that everyone gets a fair share of the network based on how long they've been waiting to use it. That way, everyone can use their phones and the network without any problems.