Method and system for controlling MBMS service

• US 9,025,511 B2
• Filed: 08/26/2011
• Issued: 05/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ZTE Corporation
• Original Assignee: ZTE Corporation
• Inventors: Zhu, Changqing, Wang, Bin, Lu, Chen, Ma, Zijiang, Xu, Hui
• Primary Examiner(s): Phunkulh, Bob
• Assistant Examiner(s): CLARK, ROSENE S
• Application Number:
  US13/819,468
• Publication Number:
  US 20130155871A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,348 Days
• Field of Search: 370/241, 370/241.1, 370/312, 370/328, 370/329, 370/330, 370/390, 370/252, 370/331, 370/335, 370/352, 370/230, 370/230.1, 370/310, 370/311, 370/332, 370/341, 370/401, 370/432, 370/445, 370/465, 370/480, 455/450, 455/436, 455/422.1, 455/452.1, 455/452.2, 455/466, 455/511, 455/522, 455/338, 455/412.2, 455/414.1, 455/414.2, 455/434, 455/435.2, 455/437, 455/438, 455/439, 455/442, 455/443, 455/447, 455/448, 455/451, 455/453, 455/454, 455/458, 455/464, 455/510, 455/515, 455/62, 455/69, 455/70
• US Class Current: 370/312
• 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 76/40 for selective distribution or broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/18 Service support devices; Network management devices

Abstract

The disclosure provides a method for controlling a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS), which includes: a network side processes uplink feedback information from User Equipment (UE) and makes an Activation/Deactivation determination on an MBMS service according to the processing result; and the network side activates/deactivates the MBMS service according to the determination result. The disclosure also provides a system for controlling an MBMS service correspondingly. The disclosure can control the activation/deactivation of an MBMS service according to uplink feedback information from UE, thereby improving system efficiency.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS), comprising:

processing, by a network side, uplink feedback information from UE through gathering statistics according to collected uplink feedback information and sending a statistical result to a Multi-cell/Multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), by an eNB;

making, by a network side, an Activation/Deactivation determination on an MBMS service according to a processing result through determining, by the MCE, whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result from the eNB, or, further reporting, by the MCE, the statistical result to an Operation, Administration and Maintenance (OAM) of the MCE, which then determines whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result from the eNB; and

activating/deactivating, by the network side, the MBMS service according to the Activation/Deactivation determination,

wherein in a condition that the MBMS service was started but currently is in an Active state, the activating/deactivating, by the network side, the MBMS service according to the Activation/Deactivation determination comprises;

if the determination is a Deactivation determination, then sending, by an MCE, the Deactivation determination to a Broadcast Multicast Service Centre (BM-SC) through a Mobility Management Entity (MME), and after the BM-SC receives the Deactivation determination sent from the MCE, initiating, by the BM-SC, an MBMS Session Stop procedure of the MBMS service;

or,

if the determination is a Deactivation determination, then directly sending, by the MCE, MBMS service Deactivation indication information to a corresponding eNB;

after the corresponding eNB receives the MBMS service Deactivation indication information, stopping sending, by the corresponding eNB, corresponding MBMS service data on an air interface;

wherein in a condition that the MBMS service was started but currently is in a Deactivated state, the activating/deactivating, by the network side, the MBMS service according to the Activation/Deactivation determination comprises;

if the determination is an Activation determination, then sending, by an MCE, the Activation determination to a BM-SC through an MME, and after the BM-SC receives the Activation determination sent from the MCE, initiating, by the BM-SC, an MBMS Session Start procedure of a corresponding MBMS service;

or,

if the determination is an Activation determination, then directly sending, by the MCE, MBMS service Activation indication information to a corresponding eNB, and after the corresponding eNB receives the MBMS service Activation indication information, starting to send, by the corresponding eNB, corresponding MBMS service data on an air interface.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the uplink feedback information is an MBMS service the UE is interested in or an MBMS service the UE is receiving;

the gathering statistics, by an eNB, according to collected uplink feedback information comprises;

gathering statistics of corresponding UE which is interested in/receiving the MBMS service;

the determining, by the MCE, whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result from the eNB comprises;

adding the statistical result of the MBMS service from each eNB;

if the sum is not less than a corresponding threshold, determining that it is needed to activate the corresponding MBMS service;

if the sum is less than the corresponding threshold, determining that it is needed to deactivate the corresponding MBMS service;

the determining, by an OAM of the MCE, whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result from the eNB comprises;

determining whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result from the eNB by OAM software or manually.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the gathering statistics according to collected uplink feedback information and sending a statistical result to a Multi-cell/Multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), by an eNB comprises:

gathering statistics, by an eNB, according to collected uplink feedback information;

making a preliminary determination, by the eNB, on whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the MBMS service according to a statistical result, or, further reporting, by the eNB, the statistical result to an OAM of the eNB, which then makes a preliminary determination on whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the MBMS service according to the statistical result, and sending, by the eNB, a preliminary determination result to an MCE;

the determining, by the MCE, whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result from the eNB comprises;

finally determining, by the MCE, whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to the preliminary determination result from the eNB, or, further reporting, by the MCE, the preliminary determination result from the eNB to the OAM of the MCE, which then finally determines whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the corresponding MBMS service according to the preliminary determination result from the eNB.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the uplink feedback information is an MBMS service the UE is interested in or an MBMS service the UE is receiving;

the gathering statistics, by an eNB, according to collected uplink feedback information comprises;

gathering statistics of corresponding UE which is interested in/receiving the MBMS service;

the making a preliminary determination, by the eNB, on whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the MBMS service according to a statistical result comprises;

if the statistical result of the MBMS service is not less than a corresponding threshold, then determining that it is needed to activate a corresponding MBMS service;

if the statistical result of the MBMS service is less than the corresponding threshold, then determining that it is needed to deactivate the corresponding MBMS service;

the making a preliminary determination, by an OAM of the eNB, on whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the MBMS service according to the statistical result comprises;

making a preliminary determination on whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the MBMS service according to the statistical result by OAM software or manually;

the finally determining, by the MCE, whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to the preliminary determination result from the eNB comprises;

according to the preliminary determination result of the MBMS service from each eNB, determining, by the MCE, that it is needed to activate the MBMS service if the number/percentage of eNBs with preliminary determination results of “

Activation Needed”

is not less than the number/percentage of eNBs with preliminary determination results of “

Deactivation Needed”

, and determining, by the MCE, that it is needed to deactivate the MBMS service if the number/percentage of eNBs with preliminary determination results of “

Activation Needed”

is less than the number/percentage of eNBs with preliminary determination results of “

Deactivation Needed”

;

the finally determining, by the OAM of the MCE, whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the corresponding MBMS service according to the preliminary determination result from the eNB comprises;

finally determining whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the corresponding MBMS service according to the preliminary determination result from the eNB by OAM software or manually.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the gathering statistics according to collected uplink feedback information and sending a statistical result to a Multi-cell/Multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), by an eNB comprises:

forwarding, by an eNB, the uplink feedback information from the UE to an MCE;

gathering statistics, by the MCE, according to collected uplink feedback information;

the determining, by the MCE, whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result from the eNB comprises;

determining, by the MCE, whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to a statistical result, or, further reporting, by the MCE, the statistical result to an OAM of the MCE, which then determines whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the uplink feedback information is an MBMS service the UE is interested in or an MBMS service the UE is receiving;

the gathering statistics, by the MCE, according to collected uplink feedback information comprises;

gathering statistics of corresponding UE which is interested in/receiving the MBMS service;

the determining, by the MCE, whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result comprises;

if the statistical result of the MBMS service is not less than a corresponding threshold, then determining that it is needed to activate the corresponding MBMS service;

if the statistical result of the MBMS service is less than the corresponding threshold, then determining that it is needed to deactivate the corresponding MBMS service;

the determining, by an OAM of the MCE, whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result comprises;

determining whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result by OAM software or manually.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein in a condition that the MBMS service has never been started, the activating/deactivating, by the network side, the MBMS service according to the Activation/Deactivation determination comprises:

saving, by an MCE, the Activation/Deactivation determination;

when a BM-SC initiates an MBMS Session Start procedure of the MBMS service, establishing or rejecting, by the MCE, bearing of the MBMS service according to the saved the Activation/Deactivation determination.

8. A system for controlling a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) service, configured to process uplink feedback information from UE and to make an Activation/Deactivation determination on an MBMS service according to a processing result, and activate/deactivate an MBMS service according to the Activation/Deactivation determination,

wherein in a condition that the MBMS service was started but currently is in an Active state, the activating/deactivating the MBMS service according to the Activation/Deactivation determination by the network side comprises:

if the determination is a Deactivation determination, then sending, by an MCE, the Deactivation determination to a BM-SC through an MME, and after the BM-SC receives the Deactivation determination sent from the MCE, initiating, by the BM-SC, an MBMS Session Stop procedure of the MBMS service;

or,

if the determination is a Deactivation determination, then directly sending, by the MCE, MBMS service Deactivation indication information to a corresponding eNB, and after the corresponding eNB receives the MBMS service Deactivation indication information, stopping sending, by the corresponding eNB, corresponding MBMS service data on an air interface;

or wherein in a condition that the MBMS service was started but currently is in an Deactivated state, the activating/deactivating the MBMS service according to the Activation/Deactivation determination by the network side comprises;

if the determination is an Activation determination, then sending, by an MCE, the Activation determination to an BM-SC through an MME, and after the BM-SC receives the Activation determination sent from the MCE, initiating, by the BM-SC, an MBMS Session Start procedure of a corresponding MBMS service;

or,

if the determination is an Activation determination, then directly sending, by the MCE, MBMS service Activation indication information to a corresponding eNB, and after the corresponding eNB receives the MBMS service Activation indication information, starting to send, by the corresponding eNB, corresponding MBMS service data on an air interface;

or wherein the activating/deactivating the MBMS service according to the Activation/Deactivation determination by the network side comprises;

saving, by an MCE, the Activation/Deactivation determination;

when a BM-SC initiates an MBMS Session Start procedure of the MBMS service, establishing or rejecting, by the MCE, bearing of the MBMS service according to the saved the Activation/Deactivation determination,

or

wherein in a condition that the MBMS service was started but currently is in an Active state, the activating/deactivating the MBMS service according to the Activation/Deactivation determination comprises;

if the determination is a Deactivation determination, then sending, by an MCE, the Deactivation determination to a BM-SC through an MME, and after the BM-SC receives the Deactivation determination sent from the MCE, initiating, by the BM-SC, an MBMS Session Stop procedure of the MBMS service;

or,

if the determination is a Deactivation determination, then directly sending, by the MCE, MBMS service Deactivation indication information to a corresponding eNB, and after the corresponding eNB receives the MBMS service Deactivation indication information, stopping sending, by the corresponding eNB, corresponding MBMS service data on an air interface;

or wherein in a condition that the MBMS service was started but currently is in an Deactivated state, the activating/deactivating the MBMS service according to the Activation/Deactivation determination comprises;

if the determination is an Activation determination, then sending, by an MCE, the Activation determination to an BM-SC through an MME, and after the BM-SC receives the Activation determination sent from the MCE, initiating, by the BM-SC, an MBMS Session Start procedure of a corresponding MBMS service;

or,

if the determination is an Activation determination, then directly sending, by the MCE, MBMS service Activation indication information to a corresponding eNB, and after the corresponding eNB receives the MBMS service Activation indication information, starting to send, by the corresponding eNB, corresponding MBMS service data on an air interface;

or wherein the activating/deactivating the MBMS service according to the Activation/Deactivation determination comprises;

saving, by an MCE, the Activation/Deactivation determination;

when a BM-SC initiates an MBMS Session Start procedure of the MBMS service, establishing or rejecting, by the MCE, bearing of the MBMS service according to the saved Activation/Deactivation determination.

9. The system according to claim 8, comprising one of the following apparatus groups A-G:

A. an eNB, an Operation, Administration and Maintenance (OAM) of the eNB, and a Multi-cell/Multicast Coordination Entity (MCE),

wherein the eNB is configured to gather statistics according to collected uplink feedback information and to send a statistical result to the OAM of the eNB;

the OAM of the eNB is configured to make a preliminary determination on whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the MBMS service according to the statistical result and to send a preliminary determination result to the MCE through the eNB; and

the MCE is configured to finally determine whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to the preliminary determination result from the eNB;

B. an eNB, an MCE, and an OAM of the MCE,

wherein the eNB is configured to gather statistics according to collected uplink feedback information, to make a preliminary determination on whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the MBMS service according to a statistical result and to send a preliminary determination result to the MCE;

the MCE is configured to report the preliminary determination result from the eNB to the OAM of the MCE; and

the OAM of the MCE is configured to finally determine whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to the preliminary determination result from the eNB;

C. an eNB, an MCE, and an OAM of the MCE,

wherein the eNB is configured to gather statistics according to collected uplink feedback information and to send a statistical result to the MCE;

the MCE is configured to further report the statistical result to the OAM of the MCE; and

the OAM of the MCE is configured to determine whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result from the eNB;

D. an eNB, an MCE, and an OAM of the MCE,

wherein the eNB is configured to forward the uplink feedback information from the UE to the MCE;

the MCE is configured to gather statistics according to collected uplink feedback information and to report a statistical result to the OAM of the MCE; and

the OAM of the MCE is configured to determine whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result;

E. an eNB and an MCE,

wherein the eNB is configured to gather statistics according to collected uplink feedback information and to send a statistical result to the MCE; and

the MCE is configured to determine whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result from the eNB;

F. an eNB and an MCE,

wherein the eNB is configured to gather statistics according to collected uplink feedback information, to make a preliminary determination on whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the MBMS service according to a statistical result and to send a preliminary determination result to the MCE; and

the MCE is configured to finally determine whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to the preliminary determination result from the eNB;

G. an eNB and an MCE,

wherein the eNB is configured to forward the uplink feedback information from the UE to the MCE; and

the MCE is configured to gather statistics according to collected uplink feedback information and to determine whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to a statistical result.

10. The system according to claim 8, comprising one of the following apparatus groups I-III:

I;

a Multi-cell/Multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), a Mobility Management Entity (MME) and a Broadcast Multicast Service Centre (BM-SC);

wherein the MCE is configured to send the Activation/Deactivation determination to the BM-SC through the MME or not send the Activation/Deactivation determination to the BM-SC; and

the BM-SC is configured to initiate an MBMS Session Stop procedure of the MBMS service or perform no operation after receiving the Activation/Deactivation determination from the MCE;

II;

an MCE and an eNB,

wherein the MCE is configured to directly send indication information to a corresponding eNB according to the Activation/Deactivation determination or not send indication information; and

the eNB is configured to perform a corresponding operation according to the indication information or perform no operation;

III;

an MCE and a BM-SC,

wherein the MCE is configured to save the Activation/Deactivation determination of the MBMS service and to establish or reject bearing of the MBMS service according to the saved Activation/Deactivation determination when the BM-SC initiates an MBMS Session Start procedure of the MBMS service.

11. The system according to claim 8, wherein the processing uplink feedback information from the UE and activating/deactivating the MBMS service according to a processing result comprises:

gathering statistics according to collected uplink feedback information and sending a statistical result to an MCE, by an eNB;

determining, by the MCE, whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result from the eNB, or, further reporting, by the MCE, the statistical result to an OAM of the MCE, which then determines whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result from the eNB;

or, gathering statistics, by the eNB, according to collected uplink feedback information;

making a preliminary determination, by the eNB, on whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the MBMS service according to a statistical result, or, further reporting, by the eNB, the statistical result to an OAM of the eNB, which then makes a preliminary determination on whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the MBMS service according to the statistical result, and sending, by the eNB, a preliminary determination result to the MCE;

finally determining, by the MCE, whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to the preliminary determination result from the eNB, or, further reporting, by the MCE, the preliminary determination result from the eNB to the OAM of the MCE, which then finally determines whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the corresponding MBMS service according to the preliminary determination result from the eNB;

or, forwarding, by the eNB, the uplink feedback information from the UE to the MCE;

gathering statistics, by the MCE, according to collected uplink feedback information;

determining, by the MCE, whether it is needed to activate/deactivate a corresponding MBMS service according to a statistical result, or, further reporting, by the MCE, the statistical result to the OAM of the MCE, which then determines whether it is needed to activate/deactivate the corresponding MBMS service according to the statistical result.