Method and apparatus of resource management for multimedia broadcast multicast services

Abstract

A method and apparatus of resource management for multimedia broadcast multicast services (MBMS) are disclosed. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) sends a measurement report and an MBMS reception performance report to a network. Single frequency network (SFN) area change may be made based on cell reselection information, WTRU macro-diversity MBMS reception performance, neighbor cell signal strength reported by a WTRU, interference level measured by the WTRU, a number of WTRUs in a cell, service priority, WTRU class, WTRU mobility trend, WTRU location to a cell center, WTRU MBMS reception interference level, etc. The MBMS service on/off decision and/or point-to-point (PTP) to point-to-multipoint (PTM) switching may be made based on a channel condition of a WTRU. The channel condition may be determined based on whether the WTRU is in in-sync or out-of-sync in MBMS reception, consecutive negative acknowledgements (NAKs) within a certain time window, measured pathloss from a reference channel, etc.

1 . A method of resource management for multimedia broadcast multicast services (MBMS), the method comprising:
 performing measurement of signals from neighbor cells;   performing MBMS reception performance evaluation based on MBMS macro-diversity reception from a plurality of cells; and   sending a measurement report and an MBMS reception performance report for single frequency network (SFN) area configuration.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 detecting that a current location is near an SFN area edge, wherein the measurement report and the MBMS reception performance report are sent whenever the SFN area edge is detected. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the measurement report and the MBMS reception performance report are sent if the MBMS reception performance is below a configured threshold for a configured period of time. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the measurement report is combined with one of a tracking area (TA) update message and a routing area (RA) update message. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 detecting an SFN identity (ID) change by reading broadcast channel information; and 
 reporting the SFN ID change. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 sending one of a cell update message and a radio resource control (RRC) connection request message along with an information element (IE) indicating cell identities (IDs) of all cells being used for macro-diversity MBMS reception if the cell update message and the RRC connection request message are sent for counting purpose. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 if point-to-point (PTP) MBMS transmission is configured, indicating whether MBMS service will be continuously received or suspended and if the MBMS service reception is planned to be suspended, whether the suspension is temporary or not. 
 
     
     
         8 . A method of resource management for multimedia broadcast multicast services (MBMS), the method comprising:
 receiving a measurement report and an MBMS reception performance report; and   configuring a single frequency network (SFN) area based on at least one of cell reselection information, wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) macro-diversity MBMS reception performance, neighbor cell signal strength reported by a WTRU, interference level measured by the WTRU, a number of WTRUs in a cell, service priority, WTRU class, WTRU mobility trend, WTRU location to a cell center, and WTRU MBMS reception interference level.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the SFN area configuration is subject to a hypothesis timer value. 
     
     
         10 . A method of resource management for multimedia broadcast multicast services (MBMS), the method comprising:
 configuring an MBMS service; and   turning the MBMS service on and off based on a channel condition of a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU).   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the channel condition is determined based on at least one of whether the WTRU is in in-sync or out-of-sync in MBMS reception, consecutive negative acknowledgements (NAKs) within a certain time window, and measured pathloss from a reference channel. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10  further comprising:
 if the MBMS service is turned off, releasing a radio bearer (RB) for the WTRU and allocating a radio resource to other services. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10  wherein, if the MBMS service is turned off, a radio bearer (RB) for the WTRU is maintained for a preconfigured period of time. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the MBMS service is turned off if a demand of other higher priority services exceeds a configured threshold. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising:
 resuming the MBMS service if enough downlink capacity becomes available for MBMS transmissions. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein several MBMS services are supported in a cell and the MBMS services are resumed based on a priority. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising:
 transferring the MBMS service to an MBMS dedicated carrier if duration of the higher priority unicast service request exceeds a configured threshold.