RESPONDING TO AN INTRACTIVE MULTICAST MESSAGE WITHIN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20090080355A1
• Filed: 09/17/2008
• Published: 03/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: SONG, Bongyong
• Granted Patent: US 8,625,475 B2
• 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

Wireless communication systems and methods of scheduling access terminal responses to an interactive multicast message are provided. A radio access network (RAN) generates an access control message (ACM), the ACM indicating feedback instructions for a plurality of access terminals (ATs) belonging to a given multicast group. The feedback instructions of the ACM designate a temporary manner in which the plurality of access terminals are to respond to an interactive multicast message. The target ATs receive the interactive multicast message as well as the ACM. The target ATs, or multicast group members, respond to the interactive multicast message based on the feedback instructions for the plurality of access terminals indicated by the ACM.

Claims

1. A method of responding to a multicast message, comprising:

receiving an interactive multicast message designated for a multicast group including a plurality of multicast group members, the interactive multicast message requesting a response from the plurality of multicast group members;

receiving an access control message (ACM) for the multicast group, the access control message indicating feedback instructions for the multicast group; and

responding to the interactive multicast message based on the feedback instructions for the plurality of access terminals indicated by the access control message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the feedback instructions include at least one of (i) an order of a given plurality of access terminals, the given plurality of access terminals belonging to the multicast group, or (ii) information from which the multicast group members may determine a probabilistic response protocol for responding to the interactive multicast message.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

delaying the response to the interactive multicast message for a given access terminal based on a position of the given access terminal within the order of the plurality of access terminals.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

delaying the response to the interactive multicast message for a given access terminal based on the number of the plurality of access terminals within the order if the given access terminal is not present within the order.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

responding to the interactive multicast message in a subsequent time slot based on the probabilistic response protocol.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the probabilistic response protocol is an APersistence function and the information includes either an APersistence value, a persistence probability for the APersistence function or at least one number from which each AT may probabilistically determine the number of time slots to delay the response.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one number includes N, N being the number of the plurality of access terminals to which the interactive multicast message is transmitted.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the persistence probability of the APersistence function is 1/N.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the probabilistically determined delay is determined randomly in the range between 0 and (N−

1).

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the number of the plurality of access terminals to which the interactive multicast message is transmitted is N, the number of the plurality of access terminals within the event response sequence is X, and the at least one number includes both N and X.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the persistence probability of the APersistence function is 1/(N−

X).

12. The method of claim 2, wherein the order of the plurality of access terminals is determined based on at least one access terminal criterion.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one access terminal criterion includes an expected availability of a given access terminals to respond.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the expected availability is based on when the given access terminal last reported to be available.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the given access terminal reports availability based on a distance-based registration (DBR) protocol.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the given access terminal reports availability on a periodic basis.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the given access terminal reports availability in response to an inquiry from a base station.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the availability report is a multicast group report indicating a requested multicast group membership for the given access terminal.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the multicast group report is provided within one of a BCMCSFlowRegistration message or a StorageBLOBNotification message in accordance with 1×

EV-DO standards.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the availability report is a location update report indicating a requested multicast group membership for the given access terminal.

21. The method of claim 2, wherein the order of the plurality of access terminals is provided within a control message addressed to a multicast ATI (MATI) and includes a plurality of unicast ATIs (UATIs), each of the UATIs addressed to a different access terminal among the plurality of access terminals to indicate the order.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein an access terminal among the plurality of access terminals not designated by a corresponding UATI within the control message is scheduled to respond via the probabilistic response protocol after each access terminal having a UATI is first given an opportunity to respond.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transitioning from the feedback instructions included in the access control message to a previous set of feedback instructions after the responding step.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the previous set of feedback instructions corresponds to an APersistence function indicated by an AccessParameters message.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the received access control message is received over a downlink control channel.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the received access control message is addressed to a multicast access terminal identifier (MATI) for the multicast group.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the received access control message is included within a StorageBLOBAssignment message.

28. A method of scheduling responses to a multicast message, comprising:

generating an access control message, the access control message indicating feedback instructions for a plurality of access terminals belonging to a given multicast group, and the feedback instructions designating a temporary manner in which the plurality of access terminals are to respond to an interactive multicast message.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

transmitting the access control message to the plurality of access terminals; and

transmitting an interactive multicast message to the plurality of access terminals, the interactive multicast message designated for the given multicast group including the plurality of access terminals.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the feedback instructions are intended to be followed for responses to the interactive multicast message associated with the access control message.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein the feedback instructions include at least one of (i) an order of a given plurality of access terminals, the given plurality of access terminals belonging to the multicast group, or (ii) information from which the multicast group members may determine a probabilistic response protocol for responding to the interactive multicast message.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein the generating step is performed at an application server and the first and second transmitting steps are performed at a radio access network (RAN).

33. The method of claim 29, wherein both transmitting steps are performed at a radio access network (RAN).

34. The method of claim 29, wherein the access control message is included within the multicast message and both transmitting steps are performed concurrently.

35. The method of claim 29, wherein the access control message is transmitted over a downlink control channel.

36. The method of claim 28, wherein the generated access control message is addressed to a multicast access terminal identifier (MATI) for the multicast group.

37. The method of claim 29, wherein the access control message is transmitted within a StorageBLOBAssignment message.

38. A method of scheduling access terminal responses to an interactive multicast message, comprising:

populating a list of target access terminals, the populated list of target access terminals corresponding to a multicast group for the interactive multicast message;

selecting less than all of the access terminals within the populated list of target access terminals, the selected access terminals including a given number of access terminals that are expected to be more likely to respond to the interactive multicast message than one or more of the un-selected access terminals within the populated list of target access terminals;

determining a sequence of the selected access terminals; and

generating an access control message (ACM) indicating the determined sequence.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising:

transmitting the ACM to each of the target access terminals within the populated list; and

receiving feedback from one or more of the target access terminals within the populated list based on the sequence indicated by the ACM.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein the ACM is transmitted over a downlink control channel, the ACM being addressed to a multicast access terminal identifier (MATI) for the multicast group.

41. The method of claim 38, wherein the populating step populates the list of target access terminals based on (i) group member reports received from the target access terminals requesting to be associated with multicast messages for a given multicast group or (ii) location update reports sent by the target access terminals subsequent to the group member reports updating a location of one or more of the target access terminals.

42. The method of claim 38, wherein the selecting step selects the target access terminals considered to be most likely to respond to the interactive multicast message.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the target access terminals considered to be most likely to respond are based on (i) group member reports received from the target access terminals requesting to be associated with multicast messages for a given multicast group or (ii) location update reports sent by the target access terminals subsequent to the group member reports updating a location of one or more of the target access terminals.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the target access terminals having reported (i) or (ii) most recently are selected as the selected target access terminals.

45. The method of claim 38, wherein the determining step determines the sequence based on a relative expectation of each of the selected target access terminals to respond to the interactive multicast message.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the sequence is arranged such that earlier target access terminals in the sequence correspond to target access terminals expected to be more likely to respond.

47. The method of claim 38, wherein the generating step generates the ACM such that the sequence is indicated by at least one unicast access terminal identifier (UATI) corresponding to one of the selected target access terminals.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the ACM includes a plurality of UATIs arranged in accordance with the determined sequence, the plurality of UATIs corresponding to the selected target access terminals.

49. The method of claim 38, wherein the populated list of target access terminals includes each target access terminal for the interactive multicast message within one of a given sector and a given cluster of sectors.

50. The method of claim 38, wherein the ACM instructs the unselected target access terminals from among the populated list to execute an APersistence function.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the APersistence function is based on one of an APersistence value included in the ACM or a number from which an APersistence value may be derived included in the ACM.

52. A wireless communication system, comprising:

means for receiving an interactive multicast message designated for a multicast group including a plurality of multicast group members, the interactive multicast message requesting a response from the plurality of multicast group members;

means for receiving an access control message (ACM) for the multicast group, the access control message indicating feedback instructions for the multicast group; and

means for responding to the interactive multicast message based on the feedback instructions for the plurality of access terminals indicated by the access control message.

53. The wireless communication system of claim 52, wherein the feedback instructions include at least one of (i) an order of a given plurality of access terminals, the given plurality of access terminals belonging to the multicast group, or (ii) information from which the multicast group members may determine a probabilistic response protocol for responding to the interactive multicast message.

54. The wireless communication system of claim 52, further comprising:

means for transitioning from the feedback instructions included in the access control message to a previous set of feedback instructions after the responding step.

55. The wireless communication system of claim 52, wherein the received access control message is received over a downlink control channel.

56. The wireless communication system of claim 52, wherein the received access control message is addressed to a multicast access terminal identifier (MATI) for the multicast group.

57. The wireless communication system of claim 52, wherein the received access control message is included within a StorageBLOBAssignment message.

58. A wireless communication system, comprising:

means for generating an access control message, the access control message indicating feedback instructions for a plurality of access terminals belonging to a given multicast group, the feedback instructions designating a temporary manner in which the plurality of access terminals are to respond to an interactive multicast message.

59. The wireless communication system of claim 58, further comprising:

means for transmitting the access control message to the plurality of access terminals; and

means for transmitting an interactive multicast message to the plurality of access terminals, the interactive multicast message designated for the given multicast group including the plurality of access terminals.

60. The wireless communication system of claim 58, wherein the feedback instructions are intended to be followed for responses to the interactive multicast message associated with the access control message.

61. The wireless communication system of claim 58, wherein the feedback instructions include at least one of (i) an order of a given plurality of access terminals, the given plurality of access terminals belonging to the multicast group, or (ii) information from which the multicast group members may determine a probabilistic response protocol for responding to the interactive multicast message.

62. The wireless communication system of claim 58, wherein the generated access control message is addressed to a multicast access terminal identifier (MATI) for the multicast group.

63. The wireless communication system of claim 59, wherein the access control message is transmitted within a StorageBLOBAssignment message.

64. A wireless communication system, comprising:

means for populating a list of target access terminals, the populated list of target access terminals corresponding to a multicast group for an interactive multicast message,

means for selecting less than all of the access terminals within the populated list of target access terminals, the selected access terminals including a given number of access terminals that are expected to be more likely to respond to the interactive multicast message than one or more of the un-selected access terminals within the populated list of target access terminals;

means for determining a sequence of the selected access terminals; and

means generating an access control message (ACM) indicating the determined sequence.

65. The wireless communication system of claim 64, further comprising:

means for transmitting the ACM to each of the target access terminals within the populated list; and

means for receiving feedback from one or more of the target access terminals within the populated list based on the sequence indicated by the ACM.

66. The wireless communication system of claim 64, wherein the means for populating populates the list of target access terminals based on (i) group member reports received from the target access terminals requesting to be associated with multicast messages for a given multicast group or (ii) location update reports sent by the target access terminals subsequent to the group member reports updating a location of one or more of the target access terminals.

67. The wireless communication system of claim 64, wherein the means for selecting selects among the target access terminals of the populated list based on (i) group member reports received from the target access terminals requesting to be associated with multicast messages for a given multicast group or (ii) location update reports sent by the target access terminals subsequent to the group member reports updating a location of one or more of the target access terminals.

68. The wireless communication system of claim 64, wherein the means for determining determines the sequence based on a relative expectation of each of the selected target access terminals to respond to the interactive multicast message.

69. The wireless communication system of claim 64, wherein the ACM is generated such that the sequence is indicated by at least one unicast access terminal identifier (UATI) corresponding to one of the selected target access terminals.

70. The wireless communication system of claim 64, wherein the populated list of target access terminals includes each target access terminal for the interactive multicast message within one of a given sector and a given cluster of sectors.

71. The wireless communication system of claim 64, wherein the ACM is configured to instruct the unselected target access terminals from among the populated list to execute an APersistence function.

72. A computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon, comprising:

program code to receive an interactive multicast message designated for a multicast group including a plurality of multicast group members, the interactive multicast message requesting a response from the plurality of multicast group members;

program code to receive an access control message (ACM) for the multicast group, the access control message indicating feedback instructions for the multicast group; and

program code to respond to the interactive multicast message based on the feedback instructions for the plurality of access terminals indicated by the access control message.

73. The computer-readable medium of claim 72, wherein the feedback instructions include at least one of (i) an order of a given plurality of access terminals, the given plurality of access terminals belonging to the multicast group, or (ii) information from which the multicast group members may determine a probabilistic response protocol for responding to the interactive multicast message.

74. The computer-readable medium of claim 72, further comprising:

program code to transition from the feedback instructions included in the access control message to a previous set of feedback instructions after the responding step.

75. A computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon, comprising:

program code to generate an access control message, the access control message indicating feedback instructions for a plurality of access terminals belonging to a given multicast group, the feedback instructions designating a temporary manner in which the plurality of access terminals are to respond to an interactive multicast message.

76. The computer-readable medium of claim 75, further comprising:

program code to transmit the access control message to the plurality of access terminals; and

program code to transmit an interactive multicast message to the plurality of access terminals, the interactive multicast message designated for the given multicast group including the plurality of access terminals.

77. The computer-readable medium of claim 76, wherein the access control message includes at least one of (i) an order of a given plurality of access terminals, the given plurality of access terminals belonging to the multicast group, or (ii) information from which the multicast group members may determine a probabilistic response protocol for responding to the interactive multicast message.

78. The computer-readable medium of claim 76, wherein the access control message is addressed to a multicast access terminal identifier (MATI) for the multicast group.

79. The computer-readable medium of claim 76, wherein the access control message is transmitted within a StorageBLOBAssignment message.

80. A computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon, comprising:

program code to populate a list of target access terminals, the populated list of target access terminals corresponding to a multicast group for an interactive multicast message;

program code to select less than all of the access terminals within the populated list of target access terminals, the selected access terminals including a given number of access terminals that are expected to be more likely to respond to the interactive multicast message than one or more of the un-selected access terminals within the populated list of target access terminals;

program code to determine a sequence of the selected access terminals; and

program code to generate an access control message (ACM) indicating the determined sequence.