Base Station MBMS Scheduling Continuity for Service Interruption
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) technology experiences service interruption when a multi-cell/multicast coordination entity (MCE) suspends the MBMS service, as user equipment (UE) needs to establish a unicast bearer, leading to a significant delay in service continuity.
Innovation Solution
A method and device where a base station receives a notification from the MCE to stop scheduling the MBMS service, continues to schedule the service until a predetermined condition is met, and then stops, allowing UE to maintain service reception during the bearer establishment process by delaying the stop notification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the MCE stops scheduling the MBMS service immediately when the quantity of UEs is less than a threshold, then the network resource utilization is improved, but the service interruption time increases because UE needs to establish a unicast bearer
Solution Approach 1:
The base station receives a first notification to stop scheduling but continues to schedule the MBMS service proactively until a predetermined condition is met (second notification or time threshold). This preliminary continuation of scheduling allows UE to establish unicast bearers without service interruption, resolving the contradiction between resource utilization and service continuity.
2Speed
If the base station stops scheduling the MBMS service immediately upon receiving the stop notification, then the scheduling responsiveness is improved, but the service continuity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The base station performs preliminary scheduling continuation after receiving the stop notification, maintaining service delivery while UE establishes unicast bearers. The scheduling stops only when predetermined conditions are met, ensuring both responsive notification handling and reliable service continuity.
Solution Approach 2:
The base station provides a cushioning period by continuing to schedule the MBMS service after receiving the stop notification. This cushioning time allows UE to complete unicast bearer establishment without experiencing service interruption, balancing responsiveness with service reliability.
3Reliability
If the UE establishes a unicast bearer to continue receiving the MBMS service, then the service reception is maintained, but the service interruption time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The base station continues scheduling the MBMS service as a preliminary action before UE completes unicast bearer establishment. This ensures service reception is maintained without interruption during the bearer setup process, allowing UE to switch to unicast seamlessly.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention discloses a method and device for maintaining service continuity. The method for maintaining service continuity includes: receiving, by a base station, a first notification, which is sent by an MCE, for stopping scheduling of an MBMS service; and notifying, by the base station, user equipment of MBMS service scheduling stop information, and continuing to schedule the MBMS service. In this way, a service interruption time that is caused when UE receives a service after an MCE stops scheduling of the service can be effectively reduced.