Method and System For Transmitting Content In A Wireless Communication Network

Abstract

The present invention provides methods and systems for transmitting content in a wireless communication network. The method includes caching a content in each base station of a set of base stations in the wireless communication network. The content includes a plurality of packets. In response to caching the content, a first base station belonging to the set of base stations transmits a first group of packets of the content to a mobile station. The method further includes handing over the mobile station to a second base station. The second base station belongs to the set of the base stations. The second base station resumes transmission of a second group of packets of the content to the mobile station.

1 . A method for transmitting content in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:
 in response to handing over a mobile station from a first base station to a second base station, the first base station and second base station belonging to a set of base stations, conveying a tag index to at least the second base station, the tag index corresponding to an index of a last packet of a group of packets transmitted to the mobile station, the group of packets carrying content; and   using the tag index, resuming transmission of the content, from the second base station to the mobile station, in a group of packets not previously transmitted to the mobile station.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising assigning a plurality of indices to the plurality of packets of the content, wherein an index of a packet corresponds to a sequence number of a packet in a plurality of packets used to carry the content. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising caching the content in at least a subset of the set of base stations and wherein caching the content includes identifying base stations of the set of base station to cache the content based on a set of criteria. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the set of criteria includes at least one of the following: estimated trajectory of the mobile station, historical date of the mobile station, popularity of the content, and predetermined broadcast times of the content. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein conveying the tag index includes sending the tag index to a central controller; and
 further comprises forwarding the tag index from the central controller to at least the second base station.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising identifying the group of packets not previously transmitted to the mobile station based on the tag index. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising retrieving the content from at least one of the first base station, a central controller, or a content server, in an event the content is absent at the second base station. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the content includes at least one of a media file, text file, binary file, ASCII file, HTML file, and web content. 
     
     
         9 . A system for transmitting a content in a wireless communication network, the system comprising:
 a handover module configured to handover the mobile station from a first base station to a second base station, the first and second base stations belonging to a set of base stations, and configured to convey a tag index to at least the second base station, the tag index corresponding to an index of a last packet of a group of packets transmitted to the mobile station, the group of packets carrying content; and   a transmitting module, using the tag index, configured to resume transmission of the content from the second base station to the mobile station, in a group of packets not previously transmitted to the mobile station.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising an index assignment module configured to assign an index of a packet corresponding to a sequence number of the packet in the plurality of packets. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 9  further comprising a caching module configured to cache the content in the set of base stations based on a set of criteria. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  wherein the set of criteria includes at least one of the following: estimated trajectory of the mobile station, historical date of the mobile station, popularity of the content, and predetermined broadcast times of the content. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the handover module is further configured to:
 convey the tag index to a central controller; and   forward the tag index from the central controller to at least the second base station.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the transmitting module is configured to identify the group of packets not previously transmitted to the mobile station based on the tag index. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising a retrieval module configured to retrieve the content from at least one of the following: first base station, a central controller, or a content server, in an event the content is absent at the second base station. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the system further comprises an identifying module, the identifying module configured to identify at least a subset of the set of base stations to cache the content based on at least one of an estimated trajectory of the mobile station and historical data of at least one of the mobile station, the first base station, or the second base station. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that provides instructions that, if executed by a computer, will cause the computer to perform operations comprising:
 in response to handing over a mobile station from a first base station to a second base station, the first base station and second base station belonging to a set of base stations, conveying a tag index to at least the second base station, the tag index corresponding to an index of a last packet of a group of packets transmitted to the mobile station, the group of packets carrying content; and   using the tag index, resuming transmission of the content, from the second base station to the mobile station, in a group of packets not previously transmitted to the mobile station.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , further providing instructions that, if executed by the computer, will cause the computer to perform further operations, comprising:
 assigning a plurality of indices to the plurality of packets of the content, wherein an index of a packet corresponds to a sequence number of a packet in a plurality of packets used to carry the content.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , further providing instructions that, if executed by the computer, will cause the computer to perform further operations, comprising:
 caching the content in at least a subset of the set of base stations and wherein caching the content includes identifying base stations of the set of base station to cache the content based on a set of criteria.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of  claim 17 , further providing instructions that, if executed by the computer, will cause the computer to perform further operations, comprising:
 identifying the group of packets not previously transmitted to the mobile station based on the tag index.