Multimedia service providing method for radio mobile communication system

Abstract

A multimedia broadcast/multicast service (MBMS) in a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) includes a UTRAN that provides an MBMS service. The MBMS service-related information is exchanged between the UTRAN and a terminal or between nodes in the UTRAN by using an MBMS identification so that a user group receiving MBMS data or a data of a specific MBMS service can be identified.

Description

This application
wherein the value ‘K’ corresponds to the number of S-CCPCH with which FACH channel transmitting MBMS data in a corresponding cell is mapped and the number of S-CCPCH corresponds to a list order of S-CCPCH channels existing in system information of the corresponding cell.

The terminal can be aware of channel information corresponding to the number of S-CCPCH through the S-CCPCH channel list of the system information transferred through the BCH channel. Accordingly, the terminal calculates the number of S-CCPCH by substituting first assigned MBMS RNTI to equation (1) and obtains information of the calculated S-CCPCH channel from the system information, thereby receiving transmitted MBMS data.

FIG. 8 shows a process of allocating a physical channel through MTMS RNTI, in which a terminal selects a physical channel for receiving a data of a corresponding MBMS service through MBMS RNTI assignment.

UTRAN RRC sets up a lower layer for transmission of MBMS data (S23). That is, UTRAN RRC allows a physical layer, MAC, RLC and PDCP layer of UTRAN to set a parameter such as the number of the physical channel S-CCPCH provided for service in a corresponding cell, a channel code and a scrambling code of each physical channel, a size of a data to be transmitted, a time interval for data transmission, a channel coding and a type of transport channel and a logical channel mapped with a corresponding physical channel. Through this process, the physical S-CCPCH transmitting a MBMS data is set up.

UTRAN RRC transmits channel information to the RRC of a terminal through system information of BCH (S24). The channel information refers to the parameter such as the number of the physical channel provided for service in a corresponding cell, a channel code and a scrambling code of each physical channel, a size of a data to be transmitted, a time interval for data transmission, a channel coding and a type of transport channel and a logical channel mapped with a corresponding physical channel.

The terminal RRC stores the physical channel information (S25), and the UTRAN assigns MBMS RNTI to a corresponding terminal through the MBMS RNTI assignment process (S26).

The terminal RRC obtain information on the physical channel S-CCPCH indicated by the MBMS RNTI and a transport channel and a logical channel mapped with the channel form the physical channel information (S27). That is, the terminal RRC obtains the parameter such as a channel code and a scrambling code of the physical channel S-CCPCH transmitting a data of the specific MBMS service, a size of a data to be transmitted, a time interval for data transmission, a channel coding and a type of transport channel and a logical channel mapped with a corresponding physical channel.

The terminal RRC sets a lower layer of the terminal by using the obtained channel information (S28). That is, a physical layer, MAC, RLC and PDCP layer of the terminal are set by using the obtained channel information. Through this process, the physical S-CCPCH for receiving a data of the corresponding MBMS service is set. Then, the terminal can receive the data of the MBMS service through the transport channel FACH.

Transmission Control Information Using MBMS RNTI

The RRC layer of MBMS controls the transport channel and the physical channel with respect to set-up, re-set-up and release of RB to which MBMS RAB is mapped.

In order to control the set-up/re-set-up and termination, an RRC message is exchanged between RNC and UE. That is, MBMS RNTI is inserted into the RRC message for a specific MBMS service to identify a specific MBMS service.

For example, an RRC of a terminal which has received a data of a specific MBMS service transfers feedback information on an MBMS data to the RRC of UTRAN, MBMS RNTI for a corresponding MBMS service is included in the feedback information to identify the corresponding feedback information. That is, the specific MBMS RNTI is included in the RRC message transmitting the feedback information.

As so far described, the multimedia service providing method of universal mobile telecommunication system of the present invention has the following advantages.

That is, when UTRAN provides an MBMS service, MBMS RNTI is used to give and take MBMS service-related information between UTRAN and the terminal or between nodes in UTRAN. Therefore, not only does a user group receiving an MBMS data can be easily recognized but also a data of a specific MBMS service can be easily recognized.

In addition, when data is transmitted to a plurality of terminals, that is, to a terminal group, by using a point-to-multipoint radio service, specific groups receiving the data can be discernible. Thus, only MBMS data corresponding to a corresponding terminal can be transferred from the MAC layer to the upper layer.

Moreover, MBMS RNTI indicates plural terminals with one identification information, so that the length of a header can be reduced compared with the use of RNTI as in the conventional art.

Furthermore, the use of an identifier temporarily assigned in UTRAN obtains an effect of protecting information of MBMS data compared with the use of a fixed message identifier.

Also, because MBMS RNTI indicates a specific radio resource, a radio resource can be automatically assigned to plural terminals even without an assignment control message, and thus, complexity of scheduling of MBMS data transmission can be reduced.

There may be many different types of services and a Service ID (or MTCH: MBMS Traffic Channel) corresponds to a service type. Thus, if there are 20 services, then there may be 20 Service ID's, for example. In this instance, the format of the MAC PDU may be [TCTF][MBMS-ID][MAC SDU], where “TCTF” is the Target Channel Type Field, “MBMS-ID” is the MBMS Identification code and “MAC SDU” is the MAC service data unit. In this instance, for example, the header contains [TCTF] and [MBMS-ID]. Although the header may have an extra field for the MBMS-ID, the MBMS-ID allows the MAC in the user equipment to filter those information that is unusable by identifying whether the specific MBMS-ID is in the list of those services that the particular user equipment is capable of receiving.

The MBMS-ID may be allocated and deallocated by the UTRAN or the core network. For example, the UTRAN or the core network may have a list of existing services. If a new service is needed or desired (either because the URAN or core network adds a new service or a new user equipment(s) enters a network that has the capability of receiving a new service that is not currently provided), then the UTRAN or the core network may include a new MBMS-ID in the list of services. Those user equipments that have the capability of receiving the new service represented by the new MBMS-ID will have the new MBMS-ID in its list of services capable of receiving at the MAC layer. If a service is no longer needed or desired (either because the URAN or core network deletes or cancels an existing service or an existing user equipment(s) leaves a network and the remaining user equipments do not need a particular service), then the UTRAN or the core network may delete the MBMS-ID(s) that corresponds to the service(s) that is no longer needed. Here, the MBMS-ID may be either a temporary ID (RNTI, for example) or a permanent ID.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram showing a process of providing MBMS service in a mobile communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The communication system has a plurality of user equipments and a fixed station (such as the UTRAN and/or the core network), and it has a protocol including a physical layer and a plurality of upper layers above the physical layer.

Referring to FIG. 9, step 101 represents a fixed station sending a message (such as a broadcast or multicast message) to user equipments (UE) through the physical layer of the fixed station and the user equipments. The message is sent using a common channel or a dedicated logical channel, for example. The message contains an identification code corresponding to a specific MBMS service provided by the fixed station. This message may have a format including a header and data, and the identification code is contained in the header. The identification code may be a permanent code or temporary code. In a preferred embodiment, the fixed station may include multiple identification codes corresponding to multiple services available. In this case, for example, each identification code may correspond to a single specific MBMS service. In the present invention, a service corresponding to an identification code may be added or deleted by the fixed station. A service is added or deleted according to services required by the user equipment.

Then, in step 102, a first upper layer above the physical layer of the user equipment receives the message. The first upper layer may include a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, for example. In a preferred embodiment, the message has a MAC packet data unit format including a header having a message type and the identification code. The message type is a target channel type field (TCTF).

The first upper layer of the user equipment determines whether to pass the message to a second upper layer of the user equipment in step 103. The first upper layer uses the identification code to determine whether to pass the message to the second upper layer of the user equipment. A list of identification codes is received from an upper layer above the first layer.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram showing a process of providing MBMS service in a mobile communication system according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 10, step 111 represents a fixed station sending a message to user equipments (UE) through the physical layer of the fixed station and the user equipments. In step 112, a first upper layer above the physical layer of a user equipment receives the message transmitted from the fixed station. Then, the user equipment compares the received identification code included in the received message with the identification code stored in its memory, for example, in step 113. If the received identification code matches an identification code in the memory of the user equipment, then the user equipment passes the message to a second upper layer, as shown in step 114.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram showing a process of providing MBMS service in a mobile communication system according to still another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, step 121 represents a fixed station generating a message including an identification code field corresponding to a specific MBMS. In step 122, the fixed station transmits the message via the physical layer for receipt by the first upper layer of the user equipment. Then, the first upper layer of the user equipment determines whether to pass the received message to its second upper layer in step 123.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. In a wireless radio communication network that employs a radio network interface protocol, the protocol including a radio resource control (rrc) layer and a medium access control (mac) layer, a method of providing a point-to-multipoint service, the method comprising:

configuring, at the rrc layer, an identifier that identifies the point-to-multipoint service and distinguishes the point-to-multipoint service from other point-to-multipoint services;

at the mac layer, adding the identifier to a mac header of a data unit associated with the point-to-multipoint service, wherein the identifier in the mac header is used to distinguish between point-to-multipoint services; and

transmitting the data unit to a mobile terminal.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating the identifier for identifying the point-to-multipoint service at the rrc layer when a radio access bearer is established.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

discarding the identifier when the radio access bearer is released.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the point-to-multipoint service is a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifier is a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) radio network temporary identifier (RNTI).

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the data unit is a protocol data unit.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the data unit includes an indicator indicating identifier type.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifier is managed by a controlling radio network controller (CRNC).

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifier is transferred from the rrc layer to the mac layer.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the mac header includes a target channel type field (TCTF).

11. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the data unit to a mobile terminal comprises:

transmitting the data unit in a Forward access Channel (FACH) or a Downlink Shared Channel (DSCH).

12. In a wireless radio communication network that employs a radio network interface protocol, the protocol including a radio resource control (rrc) layer and a medium access control (mac) layer, a method of receiving a point-to-multipoint service, the method comprising:

receiving a data unit including an identifier which identifies the point-to -multipoint service, wherein the identifier is included in a mac header of the data unit;

at the mac layer, identifying the data unit as being associated with the point-to-multipoint service using the identifier; and

transferring the data in the data unit to an upper layer, wherein the identifier in the mac header is used to distinguish between point-to-multipoint services, and wherein the identifier was configured by an rrc layer of the network.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the point-to-multipoint service is a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS).

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the data unit is a protocol data unit.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the data unit includes an indicator indicating identifier type.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the mac header includes a target channel type field (TCTF).

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the identifier is a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) radio network temporary identifier (RNTI).

18. The method of claim 12, wherein receiving the data unit comprises:

receiving the data unit in a Forward access Channel (FACH) or a Downlink Shared Channel (DSCH).

19. In a wireless radio communication network that employs a radio network interface protocol, the protocol including a radio resource control (rrc) layer and a medium access control (mac) layer, an apparatus capable of receiving a point-to-multipoint service, the apparatus comprising:

a receiver adapted to receive a data unit that includes an identifier which identifies the point-to-multipoint service, wherein the identifier is included in a mac header of the data unit; and

at the mac layer, a mac entity adapted for identifying the data unit as being associated with the point-to-multipoint service using the identifier, and transferring the data in the data unit to an upper layer, wherein the identifier in the mac header is used to distinguish between point-to-multipoint services, and wherein the identifier was configured by an rrc layer in the network.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the point-to-multipoint service is a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS).

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the mac header includes a target channel type field (TCTF).

22. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the receiver is further adapted to receive the data unit in a Forward access Channel (FACH) or a Downlink Shared Channel (DSCH).

23. In a wireless radio communication network that employs a radio network interface protocol, the protocol including a radio resource control (rrc) layer and a medium access control (mac) layer, an apparatus capable of providing a point-to-multipoint service, the apparatus comprising:

a processor adapted to:

configure, at the rrc layer, an identifier that identifies the point-to-multipoint service and distinguishes the point-to-multipoint service from other point-to-multipoint services; and

add, at the mac layer, the identifier to a mac header of a data unit associated with the point-to-multipoint service, wherein the identifier in the mac header is used to distinguish between point-to-multipoint services; and

a transmitter adapted to transmit the data unit to a mobile terminal.