SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING/RECEIVING MULTICAST/BROADCAST SIGNAL IN A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20080089265A1
• Filed: 10/15/2007
• Published: 04/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Ki-Back, Park, Eun-Chan, Park, Dong-Soo, Song, Jin-Han, Lim, Hae-Jung, Kwon, Jae-Woo
• Granted Patent: US 8,194,578 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/312
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1881 with schedule organisation, e.g. priority, sequence management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/189 in combination with wireless systems selective distribution or broadcast in wireless communication networks H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/121 for groups of terminals or users
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services

Abstract

A system and method for transmitting/receiving a multicast/broadcast signal in a communication system are provided, in which if the communication system includes at least one zone to which the same service is provided and the zone includes at least one ASN_GW and at least one BS connected to the ASN_GW, the ASN_GW generates a second multicast/broadcast signal using a received first multicast/broadcast signal according to information about the zone, generates time information indicating a time when the BS is to transmit the second multicast/broadcast signal, and transmits the second multicast/broadcast signal and the time information to the BS.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting/receiving a multicast/broadcast signal in an Access Service Network GateWay (ASN_GW) in a communication system, comprising:

when the communication system includes at least one zone to which the same service is provided and the zone includes at least one ASN_GW and at least one Base Station (BS) connected to the ASN_GW, generating a second multicast/broadcast signal using a received first multicast/broadcast signal according to information about the zone;

generating time information indicating a time when the BS is to transmit the second multicast/broadcast signal; and

transmitting to the BS the second multicast/broadcast signal and the time information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the time information generation comprises:

transmitting second information to the BS, the second information requesting transmission of first information associated with a Time of Day (ToD) managed by the BS;

receiving the first information from the BS in response to the second information; and

generating the time information using the first information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, when the first information is ToD information, the time information generation using the first information comprises generating a frame number as the time information using the ToD information, a frame being a transmission unit of the second multicast/broadcast signal.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein, when the first information is a frame number, a frame being a transmission unit of the second multicast/broadcast signal, the time information generation using the first information comprises generating the received frame number as the time information.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein when the ASN_GW is connected to one BS, the second information transmission comprises:

receiving from the BS a normal operation notification message indicating normal operation of the BS; and

including the second information in an ACKnowledgment (ACK) message indicating successful reception of the normal operation notification message and transmitting the ACK message to the BS.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein when the ASN_GW is connected to at least two BSs, the second information transmission comprises:

receiving from the at least two BSs normal operation notification messages indicating normal operations of the at least two BSs;

selecting at least one of the at least two BSs to transmit the first information; and

including the second information in an ACK message indicating successful reception of the normal operation notification message from the selected at least one BS and transmitting the ACK message to the at least one BS.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving from an upper layer Radio Frequency (RF) scheduling information including upper layer-generated time information;

performing packetization operation on the first multicast/broadcast signal using the RF scheduling information; and

including third information indicating a result of the packetization operation in the second multicast/broadcast signal and transmitting to the BS the second multicast/broadcast signal.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving from the BS RF scheduling information including BS-generated time information;

performing packetization operation for the first multicast/broadcast signal using the RF scheduling information; and

including third information indicating a result of the packetization operation in the second multicast/broadcast signal and transmitting to the BS the second multicast/broadcast signal.

9. A method for transmitting/receiving a multicast/broadcast signal in a Base Station (BS) in a communication system, comprising:

when the communication system includes at least one zone to which the same service is provided and the zone includes at least one Access Service Network GateWay (ASN_GW) and at least one BS connected to the ASN_GW, receiving a multicast/broadcast signal and time information from the ASN_GW, the time information indicating a time when the BS is to transmit the multicast/broadcast signal; and

transmitting the multicast/broadcast signal according to the time information.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the time information is generated by the ASN_GW using first information associated with a Time of Day (ToD) managed by the BS.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving from the ASN_GW second information requesting transmission of first information associated with a ToD managed by the BS; and

transmitting the first information to the ASN_GW in response to the second information.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the multicast/broadcast signal includes information indicating a result of packetization operation performed by the ASN_GW.

13. A system for transmitting/receiving multicast/broadcast signals in a communication system, comprising an Access Service Network GateWay (ASN_GW),

wherein when the communication system includes at least one zone in which the same service is provided and the zone includes at least one ASN_GW and at least one Base Station (BS) connected to the ASN_GW, the ASN_GW generates a second multicast/broadcast signal using a received first multicast/broadcast signal according to information about the zone, generates time information indicating a time when the BS is to transmit the second multicast/broadcast signal, and transmits to the BS the second multicast/broadcast signal and the time information.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the ASN_GW transmits second information to the BS, the second information requesting transmission of first information associated with a Time of Day (ToD) managed by the BS, receives the first information from the BS in response to the second information, and generates the time information using the first information.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein, when the first information is ToD information, the ASN_GW generates a frame number as the time information using the ToD information, a frame being a transmission unit of the second multicast/broadcast signal.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein, when the first information is a frame number, a frame being a transmission unit of the second multicast/broadcast signal, the ASN_GW generates the received frame number as the time information.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein when the ASN_GW is connected to one BS, the ASN_GW receives from the BS a normal operation notification message indicating normal operation of the BS, includes the second information in an ACKnowledgment (ACK) message indicating successful reception of the normal operation notification message, and transmits the ACK message to the BS.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein when the ASN_GW is connected to at least two BSs, the ASN_GW receives from the at least two BSs normal operation notification messages indicating normal operations of the at least two BSs, selects at least one of the at least two BSs to transmit the first information, includes the second information in an ACK message indicating successful reception of the normal operation notification message from the selected at least one BS, and transmits the ACK message to the at least one BS.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the ASN_GW receives Radio Frequency (RF) scheduling information including upper layer-generated time information from an upper layer, performs packetization operation for the first multicast/broadcast signal using the RF scheduling information, includes third information indicating a result of the packetization operation in the second multicast/broadcast signal, and transmits the second multicast/broadcast signal to the BS.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the ASN_GW receives RF scheduling information including BS-generated time information from the BS, performs packetization operation for the first multicast/broadcast signal using the RF scheduling information, includes third information indicating a result of the packetization operation in the second multicast/broadcast signal, and transmits the second multicast/broadcast signal to the BS.

21. A system for transmitting/receiving multicast/broadcast signals in a communication system, comprising a Base Station (BS),

wherein when the communication system includes at least one zone to which the same service is provided and the zone includes at least one Access Service Network GateWay (ASN_GW) and at least one BS connected to the ASN_GW, the BS receives from the ASN_GW a multicast/broadcast signal and time information indicating a time when the BS is to transmit the multicast/broadcast signal, and transmits the multicast/broadcast signal according to the time information.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the time information is generated by the ASN_GW using first information associated with a Time of Day (ToD) managed by the BS.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the BS receives second information requesting transmission of first information associated with a ToD managed by the BS from the ASN_GW, and transmits the first information to the ASN_GW in response to the second information.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the multicast/broadcast signal includes information indicating a result of packetization operation performed by the ASN_GW.