Systems and methods for multicast communications

• US 7,061,880 B2
• Filed: 10/11/2001
• Issued: 06/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Basilier, Henrik
• Primary Examiner(s): Ton, Dang
• Assistant Examiner(s): HOM, SHICK C
• Application Number:
  US09/975,760
• Publication Number:
  US 20030073453A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,706 Days
• Field of Search: 370/310, 370/312, 370/329, 370/341, 370/347, 370/348, 370/349, 370/352, 370/390, 370/437, 370/395.52
• US Class Current: 370/312
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/185 with management of multicast group membership
• 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 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided to establish multicast capabilities for communication systems including wireless communication and internet protocol (IP). An exemplary communication system may include one or more content servers (CSs), IP network, packet data serving nodes (PDSNs), IP radio-to-packet network (IP (RP)), base stations (BSs), and mobile stations (MSs) all communicatively coupled together. The content servers may provide a communication multicast on the same IP multicast address. The PDSN to MS communications may use, for example, protocols IGMP (IPv4) and/or MLD (IPv6) for control signaling of the IP multicasting. These protocols may be augmented by MCFTP. The signaling may include identifiers including the IP multicast address, a flow code that may be generated by the PDSN, a unique mapping reference identifier, and various radio parameters. Various signal flow approaches are presented for establishing and maintaining multicast communication between a content server and a mobile station.

Claims

1. A method for managing a multicast session in a communication system, comprising the steps of:

generating a first multicast flow identifier that is used to select one of many available multicast session information flows;

generating a second multicast flow identifier, smaller than the first multicast flow identifier, that is used to select one of many available multicast session information flows;

establishing an inter-relationship between the first multicast flow identifier and the second multicast flow identifier;

generating a set of radio parameters to establish a communication channel to support a selected multicast session information flow;

mapping the second multicast flow identifier to the set of radio parameters;

sending the mapping of the second multicast flow identifier to the set of radio parameters to a mobile station (MS) requesting receipt of the selected multicast session information flow; and

sending the second multicast flow identifier to the MS.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first multicast flow identifier is globally unique and the second multicast flow identifier is locally unique.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a router generates the first multicast flow identifier and the second multicast flow identifier, and establishes their inter-relationship, and the BS generates the set of radio parameters.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

storing the inter-relationship between the first multicast flow identifier and the second multicast flow identifier in the BS.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first multicast flow identifier determines that only a single transmission of the selected multicast session information flow is sent over a radio broadcast channel even though multiple routers have respective MSs requesting the same selected multicast session information flow.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the second multicast flow identifier determines that the MS continues to receive the selected multicast session information flow after transitioning from a connection with a first BS to a connection with a second BS where the selected multicast session information flow is routed through the same router.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the routers are packet data serving nodes (PDSNs) and the multicast session is provided using internet protocol (IP).

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

sending multicast filter information from the MS to the router using a multi-channel flow treatment protocol (MCFTP) message, wherein multicast filter information is used to generate the first multicast flow identifier.

9. A communication system for managing a multicast session, comprising:

a router configured to generate a first multicast flow identifier that is used to select one of many available multicast session information flows and to generate a second multicast flow identifier, smaller than the first multicast flow identifier, that is used to select one of many available multicast session information flows, wherein the router is further configured to establish an inter-relationship between the first multicast flow identifier and the second multicast flow identifier;

a base station (BS) configured to generate a set of radio parameters to establish a communication channel to support a select multicast session information flow and to map the second multicast flow identifier to the set of radio parameters; and

wherein the BS is configured to send the mapping of the second multicast flow identifier to the set of radio parameters to a mobile station (MS), and the router is configured to send the second multicast flow identifier to the MS in a multi-channel flow treatment protocol (MCFTP) statement.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the first multicast flow identifier is globally unique and the second multicast flow identifier is locally unique.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the system is configured to store the inter-relationship between the first multicast flow identifier and the second multicast flow identifier in the BS.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the first multicast flow identifier determines that only a single transmission of the multicast flow is sent over a radio broadcast channel even though multiple routers have respective MSs requesting the same selected multicast session information flow.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the second multicast flow identifier determines that the MS continues to receive the selected multicast session information flow after transitioning from a connection with a first BS to a connection with a second BS where the selected multicast session information flow is routed through the same router.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the routers are packet data serving nodes (PDSNs) and the multicast session is provided using internet protocol (IP).

15. An internet protocol (IP) multicast service, comprising:

a router configured to generate a first multicast flow identifier that is used to select one of many available multicast session information flows and generate a second multicast flow identifier, smaller than the first multicast flow identifier, that is used to select one of many available multicast session information flows;

a base station (BS) coupled to the router, the BS stores an inter-relationship between the first multicast flow identifier and the second multicast flow identifier and generates a set of radio parameters to establish a communication channel to support a selected multicast session information flow and maps the second multicast flow identifier to the set of radio parameters; and

a mobile station (MS) coupled to the base station that selects one of the many available multicast session information flows, receives the second multicast flow identifier from the router, receives the radio parameters from the BS, and tunes into the selected multicast session information flow using the radio parameters.

16. The service of claim 15, wherein the router establishes an inter-relationship between the first multicast flow identifier and the second multicast flow identifier.

17. The service of claim 16, wherein the first multicast flow identifier is globally unique and the second multicast flow identifier is locally unique.

18. The service of claim 17, wherein the BS sends the mapping of the second multicast flow identifier to the set of radio parameters to the MS, and the router sends the second multicast flow identifier to the MS in a multi-channel flow treatment protocol (MCFTP) statement.

19. The service of claim 18, wherein the first multicast flow identifier determines that only a single transmission of the selected multicast session information flow is sent over a radio broadcast channel even though multiple routers have respective MSs requesting the same selected multicast session information flow.

20. The service of claim 19, wherein the second multicast flow identifier determines that the MS continues to receive the selected multicast session information flow after transitioning from a connection with a first BS to a connection with a second BS where the selected multicast session information flow is routed through the same router.

21. The service of claim 20, wherein the routers are packet data serving nodes (PDSNs).

22. The service of claim 15, wherein the IP multicast service is provided by the BS over a radio broadcast channel in response to a request from the MS.

23. The service of claim 15, wherein the IP multicast service is provided by a BS over a dedicated radio channel in response to a request from the MS.

24. The service of claim 15, wherein the IP multicast service is provided by the BS over a radio broadcast channel even though the MS requests a dedicated radio channel.

25. The service of claim 15, wherein the IP multicast service is provided by the BS over a dedicated radio channel even though the MS requests a broadcast radio channel.

26. A communication system for managing a multicast session, comprising:

a router configured to generate a first multicast flow identifier that is globally unique and used to select one of many available multicast session information flows; and

a base station (BS) that generates a set of radio parameters to establish a communication channel and maps the first multicast flow identifier to the set of radio parameters, wherein the BS sends the mapping of the first multicast flow identifier to the set of radio parameters to a mobile station (MS), and the router sends the first multicast flow identifier to the MS in a multi-channel flow treatment protocol (MCFTP) statement wherein the router generates a locally unique second multicast flow identifier, smaller than the first multicast flow identifier, that is used to select one of many available multicast session information flows and establishes an inter-relationship between the first multicast flow identifier and the second multicast flow identifier.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein router receives multicast filter information in a MCFTP message sent from the MS, and the multicast filter information is used to generate the first multicast flow identifier.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the system is configured to store the inter-relationship between the first multicast flow identifier and the second multicast flow identifier in the BS.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the router sends the second multicast flow identifier to the MS in a multi-channel flow treatment protocol (MCFTP) statement.