MANAGING ACKNOWLEDGMENT TRANSMISSIONS FROM MULTICAST GROUP MEMBERS OF A MULTICAST GROUP WITHIN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

• US 20090080356A1
• Filed: 09/17/2008
• Published: 03/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: SONG, Bongyong, GILL, Harleen
• Application Number:
  US12/212,423
• Publication Number:
  US 20090080356A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/312
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1872 avoiding ACK or NACK implosion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/189 in combination with wireless systems selective distribution or broadcast in wireless communication networks H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/12 Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/15 in relation to multipoint traffic arrangements for broadcast or multicast in data networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/32 by discarding or delaying data units, e.g. packets or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/323 Discarding or blocking control packets, e.g. ACK packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/02 Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/10 Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-On-Call services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/40 for selective distribution or broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]

Abstract

Aspects of managing acknowledgment transmissions from multicast group members of a multicast group within a wireless communications network are disclosed. An access network transmits an announce message announcing a multicast session to a plurality of access terminals. One of the plurality of access terminals (i.e., a first responder) sends a BCMCSFlowRegistration message and an announce acknowledgment (ACK) message to the access network. In an example, the BCMCSFlowRegistration message and announce ACK message are sent within the same access probe on a reverse link access channel. Next, the access network sends, in response to the received BCMCSFlowRegistration message, a suppression message to request access terminals not to send announce acknowledgment messages for the announced multicast session. Alternatively, an application server sends the suppression message in response to the received announce ACK message. In either scenario, the access terminals receiving the suppression message suppress transmission of subsequent announce ACK messages.

Claims

1. A method of suppressing acknowledgments to multicast announce messages within a wireless communications network, comprising:

sending an announce message announcing a multicast session to a plurality of access terminals;

receiving, from one of the plurality of access terminals, at least one response message responsive to the announce message; and

sending, in response to the received at least one response message, a suppression message to request access terminals not to send announce acknowledgment messages for the announced multicast session.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving step receives the at least one response message in accordance with an access control message (ACM) that indicates a manner in which access terminals are to attempt to send response messages to the announce message.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the ACM designates, for the access terminal from which the at least one response message is received, a first position in a response order indicated by the ACM.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one response message includes an announce acknowledgment message acknowledging that the transmitted announce message has been received.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one response message includes a multicast registration message requesting registration to the announced multicast session.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the multicast registration message is a BCMCSFlowRegistration message.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one response message includes (i) an announce acknowledgment message acknowledging that the transmitted announce message has been received and (ii) a multicast registration message requesting registration to the announced multicast session.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the announce acknowledgment message and the multicast registration message are bundled together within a single access probe on a reverse link channel.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending steps and receiving step are performed at an application server.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the suppression message has a proprietary message format that is not defined by 1x EV-DO standards.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending steps and receiving steps are performed at an access network.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the suppression message corresponds to a broadcast overhead message (BOM) or a proprietary message having a format that is not defined by 1x EV-DO standards.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the BOM is either sent in at least one reserved slot of a downlink control channel that is reserved for BOMs, or is sent in at least one slot being earlier than the at least one reserved slot of the downlink control channel.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one earlier slot is a first available slot on the downlink control channel subsequent to receiving the at least one response message.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether sufficient resources are available to support the multicast session in one or more sectors of the wireless communication system,

wherein the sending step sends the suppression message in sectors that are determined not to have sufficient resources to support the multicast session.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the suppression message further informs the access terminals to ignore the announced multicast session.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the suppression message is a broadcast reject message (BRM).

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending step sends the suppression message within a sector including the access terminal that sent the at least one response message.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the sending step sends the suppression message in each sector where the announce message has announced the given multicast session.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending step sends the suppression message in a given cluster within the wireless communications network, the cluster being a subset of sectors where the announce message has announced the given multicast session.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the cluster includes a contiguous set of sectors carrying the multicast flow on a given interlace-multiplex pair of a downlink broadcast channel.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the cluster wherein the cluster includes at least one target sector that is expected to include one or more access terminals participating in the given multicast session, and at least one supporting sector that is not expected to include any access terminals participating in the given multicast session.

23. A method of suppressing acknowledgments to multicast announce messages within a wireless communications network, comprising:

receiving, at an access terminal, an announce message announcing a multicast session, the announced multicast session being a multicast session that the access terminal wishes to monitor;

receiving, at the access terminal, a suppression message requesting the access terminal not to transmit an announce acknowledgment message for the announced multicast session; and

suppressing transmission of the announce acknowledgment message in response to the received suppression message.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

receiving an access control message (ACM) that indicates a manner in which the access terminal is to attempt to send the announce acknowledgment message,

wherein the access terminal receives the suppression message before the access terminal makes the attempt in accordance with the ACM.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the suppression message originates at an application server.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the access terminal is configured to recognize the suppression message as a request not to send the announce acknowledgment message for the announced multicast session.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the suppression message originates at an access network.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the suppression message corresponds to one of a broadcast overhead message (BOM) and a proprietary message having a format that is not defined by 1x EV-DO standards.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the BOM is either sent in at least one reserved slot of a downlink control channel that is reserved for BOMs, or is sent in at least one slot being earlier than the at least one reserved slot of the downlink control channel.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the at least one earlier slot is a first available slot on the downlink control channel subsequent to receiving the announce acknowledgment message.

31. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

monitoring, at the access terminal, the downlink control channel after receiving the announce message, to determine whether a suppression message has been received.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the monitoring step includes monitoring the at least one reserved slot of the downlink control channel and the at least one earlier slot of the downlink control channel.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the monitoring step includes monitoring each synchronous control channel of the downlink control channel after receiving the announce message.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein the monitoring step includes monitoring each synchronous and sub-synchronous control channel capsule of the downlink control channel after receiving the announce message.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the monitoring step monitors each synchronous, sub-synchronous and asynchronous control channel capsule of the downlink control channel after receiving the announce message.

36. The method of claim 23, wherein the suppression message informs the access terminal to ignore the announced multicast session.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the suppression message is a broadcast reject message (BRM).

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the BRM is received if sufficient resources are not available at a serving base station to support the announced multicast session.

39. A method of sending acknowledgments to multicast announce messages within a wireless communications network, comprising:

receiving, at an access terminal, an announce message announcing a multicast session, the announced multicast session being a multicast session that the access terminal wishes to monitor; and

sending, from the access terminal, a multicast registration message requesting registration to the announced multicast session for the access terminal and an announce acknowledgment message acknowledging that the announce message has been received, the multicast registration message and announce acknowledgment message being sent to an access network within the same access probe on a reverse link channel.

40. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

receiving an access control message (ACM) that indicates a manner in which the access terminal is to attempt to send response messages to the announce message;

selecting the access probe upon which to send the multicast registration message and the announce acknowledgment message based on the ACM.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein the multicast registration message is a BCMCSFlowRegistration message.

42. The method of claim 39, wherein the sending step delays a transmission of at least one of the multicast registration message and the announce acknowledgment message such that the multicast registration message and the announce acknowledgment message are sent together on the same access probe on the reverse link channel.

43. A wireless communication system, comprising:

logic configured to send an announce message announcing a multicast session to a plurality of access terminals;

logic configured to receive, from one of the plurality of access terminals, at least one response message responsive to the announce message; and

logic configured to send, in response to the received at least one response message, a suppression message to request access terminals not to send announce acknowledgment messages for the announced multicast session.

44. The wireless communication system of claim 43, wherein the logic configured to receive receives the at least one response message in accordance with an access control message (ACM) that indicates a manner in which access terminals are to attempt to send response messages to the announce message.

45. The wireless communication system of claim 43, wherein the at least one response message includes at least one of (i) an announce acknowledgment message acknowledging that the transmitted announce message has been received and (ii) a multicast registration message requesting registration to the announced multicast session.

46. The wireless communication system of claim 45, wherein the announce acknowledgment message and the multicast registration message are bundled together within a single access probe on a reverse link channel.

47. The wireless communication system of claim 46, wherein the suppression message corresponds to a broadcast overhead message (BOM) or a proprietary message having a format that is not defined by 1x EV-DO standards.

48. The wireless communication system of claim 47, wherein the BOM is either sent in at least one reserved slot of a downlink control channel that is reserved for BOMs, or is sent in at least one slot being earlier than the at least one reserved slot of the downlink control channel.

49. The wireless communication system of claim 43, further comprising:

logic configured to determine whether sufficient resources are available to support the multicast session in one or more sectors of the wireless communication system,

wherein the logic configured to send the suppression message sends the suppression message in sectors that are determined not to have sufficient resources to support the multicast session.

50. The wireless communication system of claim 43, wherein the suppression message is a broadcast reject message (BRM).

51. An access terminal, comprising:

logic configured to receive an announce message announcing a multicast session, the announced multicast session being a multicast session that the access terminal wishes to monitor;

logic configured to receive a suppression message requesting the access terminal not to transmit an announce acknowledgment message for the announced multicast session; and

logic configured to suppress transmission of the announce acknowledgment message in response to the received suppression message.

52. The access terminal of claim 51, further comprising:

logic configured to receive an access control message (ACM) that indicates a manner in which the access terminal is to attempt to send the announce acknowledgment message,

wherein the access terminal receives the suppression message before the access terminal makes the attempt in accordance with the ACM.

53. The access terminal of claim 51, wherein the suppression message corresponds to one of a broadcast overhead message (BOM) and a proprietary message having a format that is not defined by 1x EV-DO standards.

54. The access terminal of claim 53, wherein the BOM is either sent in at least one reserved slot of a downlink control channel that is reserved for BOMs, or is sent in at least one slot being earlier than the at least one reserved slot of the downlink control channel.

55. The access terminal of claim 54, further comprising:

logic configured to monitor the downlink control channel after receiving the announce message, to determine whether a suppression message has been received.

56. The access terminal of claim 51, wherein the suppression message is a broadcast reject message (BRM).

57. An access terminal, comprising:

logic configured to receive an announce message announcing a multicast session, the announced multicast session being a multicast session that the access terminal wishes to monitor; and

logic configured to send a multicast registration message requesting registration to the announced multicast session for the access terminal and an announce acknowledgment message acknowledging that the announce message has been received, the multicast registration message and announce acknowledgment message being sent to an access network within the same access probe on a reverse link channel.

58. The access terminal of claim 57, further comprising:

logic configured to receive an access control message (ACM) that indicates a manner in which the access terminal is to attempt to send response messages to the announce message;

logic configured to select the access probe upon which to send the multicast registration message and the announce acknowledgment message based on the ACM.

59. The access terminal of claim 57, wherein the logic configured to send delays a transmission of at least one of the multicast registration message and the announce acknowledgment message such that the multicast registration message and the announce acknowledgment message are sent together on the same access probe on the reverse link channel.

60. A wireless communication system, comprising:

means for sending an announce message announcing a multicast session to a plurality of access terminals;

means for receiving, from one of the plurality of access terminals, at least one response message responsive to the announce message; and

means for sending, in response to the received at least one response message, a suppression message to request access terminals not to send announce acknowledgment messages for the announced multicast session.

61. The wireless communication system of claim 60, wherein the means for receiving receives the at least one response message in accordance with an access control message (ACM) that indicates a manner in which access terminals are to attempt to send response messages to the announce message.

62. The wireless communication system of claim 60, wherein the at least one response message includes at least one of (i) an announce acknowledgment message acknowledging that the transmitted announce message has been received and (ii) a multicast registration message requesting registration to the announced multicast session.

63. The wireless communication system of claim 62, wherein the announce acknowledgment message and the multicast registration message are bundled together within a single access probe on a reverse link channel.

64. The wireless communication system of claim 63, wherein the suppression message corresponds to a broadcast overhead message (BOM) or a proprietary message having a format that is not defined by 1x EV-DO standards.

65. The wireless communication system of claim 64, wherein the BOM is either sent in at least one reserved slot of a downlink control channel that is reserved for BOMs, or is sent in at least one slot being earlier than the at least one reserved slot of the downlink control channel.

66. The wireless communication system of claim 60, further comprising:

means for determining whether sufficient resources are available to support the multicast session in one or more sectors of the wireless communication system,

wherein the means for sending the suppression message sends the suppression message in sectors that are determined not to have sufficient resources to support the multicast session.

67. The wireless communication system of claim 60, wherein the suppression message is a broadcast reject message (BRM).

68. An access terminal, comprising:

means for receiving an announce message announcing a multicast session, the announced multicast session being a multicast session that the access terminal wishes to monitor;

means for receiving a suppression message requesting the access terminal not to transmit an announce acknowledgment message for the announced multicast session; and

means for suppressing transmission of the announce acknowledgment message in response to the received suppression message.

69. The access terminal of claim 68, further comprising:

means for receiving an access control message (ACM) that indicates a manner in which the access terminal is to attempt to send the announce acknowledgment message,

wherein the access terminal receives the suppression message before the access terminal makes the attempt in accordance with the ACM.

70. The access terminal of claim 68, wherein the suppression message corresponds to one of a broadcast overhead message (BOM) and a proprietary message having a format that is not defined by 1x EV-DO standards.

71. The access terminal of claim 70, wherein the BOM is either sent in at least one reserved slot of a downlink control channel that is reserved for BOMs, or is sent in at least one slot being earlier than the at least one reserved slot of the downlink control channel.

72. The access terminal of claim 71, further comprising:

means for monitoring the downlink control channel after receiving the announce message, to determine whether a suppression message has been received.

73. The access terminal of claim 68, wherein the suppression message is a broadcast reject message (BRM).

74. An access terminal, comprising:

means for receiving an announce message announcing a multicast session, the announced multicast session being a multicast session that the access terminal wishes to monitor; and

means for sending a multicast registration message requesting registration to the announced multicast session for the access terminal and an announce acknowledgment message acknowledging that the announce message has been received, the multicast registration message and announce acknowledgment message being sent to an access network within the same access probe on a reverse link channel.

75. The access terminal of claim 74, further comprising:

means for receiving an access control message (ACM) that indicates a manner in which the access terminal is to attempt to send response messages to the announce message;

means for selecting the access probe upon which to send the multicast registration message and the announce acknowledgment message based on the ACM.

76. The access terminal of claim 74, wherein the means for sending delays a transmission of at least one of the multicast registration message and the announce acknowledgment message such that the multicast registration message and the announce acknowledgment message are sent together on the same access probe on the reverse link channel.

77. A computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon, the program code configured to operate within a wireless communications system including a plurality of sectors, comprising:

program code to send an announce message announcing a multicast session to a plurality of access terminals;

program code to receive, from one of the plurality of access terminals, at least one response message responsive to the announce message; and

program code to send, in response to the received at least one response message, a suppression message to request access terminals not to send announce acknowledgment messages for the announced multicast session.

78. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, wherein the program code to receive receives the at least one response message in accordance with an access control message (ACM) that indicates a manner in which access terminals are to attempt to send response messages to the announce message.

79. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, wherein the at least one response message includes at least one of (i) an announce acknowledgment message acknowledging that the transmitted announce message has been received and (ii) a multicast registration message requesting registration to the announced multicast session.

80. The computer-readable medium of claim 79, wherein the announce acknowledgment message and the multicast registration message are bundled together within a single access probe on a reverse link channel.

81. The computer-readable medium of claim 80, wherein the suppression message corresponds to a broadcast overhead message (BOM) or a proprietary message having a format that is not defined by 1x EV-DO standards.

82. The computer-readable medium of claim 81, wherein the BOM is either sent in at least one reserved slot of a downlink control channel that is reserved for BOMs, or is sent in at least one slot being earlier than the at least one reserved slot of the downlink control channel.

83. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, further comprising:

program code to determine whether sufficient resources are available to support the multicast session in one or more sectors of the wireless communication system,

wherein the program code to send the suppression message sends the suppression message in sectors that are determined not to have sufficient resources to support the multicast session.

84. The computer-readable medium of claim 77, wherein the suppression message is a broadcast reject message (BRM).

85. A computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon, the program code configured to operate within an access terminal, comprising:

program code to receive an announce message announcing a multicast session, the announced multicast session being a multicast session that the access terminal wishes to monitor;

program code to receive a suppression message requesting the access terminal not to transmit an announce acknowledgment message for the announced multicast session; and

program code to suppress transmission of the announce acknowledgment message in response to the received suppression message.

86. The computer-readable medium of claim 85, further comprising:

program code to receive an access control message (ACM) that indicates a manner in which the access terminal is to attempt to send the announce acknowledgment message,

wherein the access terminal receives the suppression message before the access terminal makes the attempt in accordance with the ACM.

87. The computer-readable medium of claim 85, wherein the suppression message corresponds to one of a broadcast overhead message (BOM) and a proprietary message having a format that is not defined by 1x EV-DO standards.

88. The computer-readable medium of claim 87, wherein the BOM is either sent in at least one reserved slot of a downlink control channel that is reserved for BOMs, or is sent in at least one slot being earlier than the at least one reserved slot of the downlink control channel.

89. The computer-readable medium of claim 88, further comprising:

program code to monitor the downlink control channel after receiving the announce message, to determine whether a suppression message has been received.

90. The computer-readable medium of claim 85, wherein the suppression message is a broadcast reject message (BRM).

91. A computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon, the program code configured to operate within an access terminal, comprising:

program code to receive an announce message announcing a multicast session, the announced multicast session being a multicast session that the access terminal wishes to monitor; and

program code to send a multicast registration message requesting registration to the announced multicast session for the access terminal and an announce acknowledgment message acknowledging that the announce message has been received, the multicast registration message and announce acknowledgment message being sent to an access network within the same access probe on a reverse link channel.

92. The computer-readable medium of claim 91, further comprising:

logic configured to receive an access control message (ACM) that indicates a manner in which the access terminal is to attempt to send response messages to the announce message;

logic configured to select the access probe upon which to send the multicast registration message and the announce acknowledgment message based on the ACM.

93. The computer-readable medium of claim 91, wherein the program code to send delays a transmission of at least one of the multicast registration message and the announce acknowledgment message such that the multicast registration message and the announce acknowledgment message are sent together on the same access probe on the reverse link channel.