MBMS Bearer Binding for Communication Groups
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS) mechanisms in 3GPP compliant systems, such as LTE, face shortcomings in point-to-multipoint transport performance compared to legacy systems, necessitating enhancements to support more stringent media transport requirements.
Innovation Solution
The method involves an infrastructure device that allocates pre-established MBMS bearers to communication groups based on the location of group members within MBMS service areas, optimizing resource usage by assigning bearers only where group members are present, and managing these assignments through specific binding and unbinding messages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If MBMS bearers are allocated to communication groups based on group member locations in MBMS service areas, then resource usage efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases due to location tracking and dynamic binding management
Solution Approach 1:
MBMS bearers are pre-established in different MBMS service areas before actual media transmission. The system proactively allocates and binds these bearers to communication groups based on predicted or current group member locations, rather than establishing bearers on-demand. This preliminary allocation improves resource usage efficiency by ensuring bearers are ready when needed, while the complexity is managed through automated binding procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically binds and unbinds MBMS bearers to communication groups based on real-time location information of group members. When group members move between MBMS service areas, the system automatically updates bearer bindings to match current locations, optimizing resource allocation. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by making the system flexible enough to improve efficiency while managing complexity through automated procedures.
2Reliability
If pre-established MBMS bearers are allocated to communication groups, then media transport performance is improved, but resource consumption increases due to maintaining multiple pre-established bearers
Solution Approach 1:
MBMS bearers are pre-established in specific MBMS service areas based on local conditions and group member locations. Rather than maintaining a single global bearer or using on-demand bearers, the system creates localized bearers in service areas where communication groups are currently located or expected to move. This local quality approach improves media transport performance in specific areas while reducing overall resource consumption by not maintaining bearers in all possible service areas simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically binds pre-established MBMS bearers to communication groups when needed and unbinds them when groups leave service areas or when resources are needed elsewhere. This binding and unbinding mechanism allows the system to reuse the same pool of pre-established bearers for different groups at different times and locations, improving media transport performance while managing resource consumption through efficient reuse rather than permanent allocation.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A 3GPP compliant system includes a radio access network (RAN) partitioned into plurality MBMS services areas, wherein each MBMS service area has a plurality o MBMS bearers established a priori for transporting media streams. An infrastructure device: receives a request to transmit a media stream to a communication group, wherein the request to transmit is received after the MBMS bearers were established (202); determines a MBMS bearer in a MBMS service area to assign to transport the media stream; generates a MBMS connect message that binds the communication group to the assigned MBMS bearer, wherein the MBMS connect message includes an identifier for the communication group and an identifier for the assigned MBMS bearer; and sends the MBMS connect message to members of the communication group.