CN111512636A

CN111512636A - Video multicast method, device and readable storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN111512636A
Application number: CN201780096952.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 柴姝奇; 刘坚能; 刘安
Original assignee: Huizhou TCL Mobile Communication Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huizhou TCL Mobile Communication Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-10-31
Filing date: 2017-10-31
Publication date: 2020-08-07
Also published as: WO2019084764A1

Abstract

The invention discloses a video multicast method. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring information of one or more multicast groups through a cluster control server, wherein each multicast group in the one or more multicast groups comprises at least two User Equipment (UE), and all the UE in the same multicast group request the same video multicast service; receiving, by the cluster control server, channel statistics information and mobility state information of the UE; dividing the UE in each multicast group into at least two clusters through the cluster control server according to the channel statistical information and the mobile state information, wherein the channel statistical information and the mobile state information of all the UE in the same cluster are positioned in the same range; and sending the cluster result to other multicast Network Elements (NE) through the cluster control server, so that each cluster corresponds to a transmission channel for multicast transmission of video data. The invention also provides a video multicast device and a readable storage medium.

Description

Video multicast method, device and readable storage medium

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to communications, and in particular, to a video multicast method, apparatus, and readable storage medium.

Background

With the development of mobile communication, the throughput and transmission rate of mobile communication networks have increased significantly, and video streaming services based on mobile communication networks are realized. In order to achieve efficient use of bandwidth, an evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS) has been proposed, which simultaneously distributes the same Multimedia content to a plurality of mobile receiving terminals through a communication network.

In the related art, a multicast group (multicast group) is formed based on service contents, i.e., UEs requesting the same video service form a multicast group. To ensure successful transmission of video data, the actual transmission rate of video data in each multicast group is limited by, e.g., equal to, the transmission rate supported by the worst-case one of the UEs in the multicast group. Generally, the worst case UE refers to the UE having the worst radio environment, and accordingly, the transmission rate supported by the worst case UE is the lowest. For UEs in the multicast group that are otherwise good, the actual transmission rate of the video data is obviously lower than the transmission rate supported by these UEs, resulting in a waste of capabilities (capabilities) of these UEs, thereby affecting the throughput and quality of experience of the entire system.

Disclosure of Invention

Based on the above, the present invention provides a video multicast method, apparatus and readable storage medium, which can solve the problem of the degradation of the overall throughput and quality of experience of the system caused by the formation of a multicast group based on service content.

The invention provides a video multicast method, which comprises the following steps: acquiring information of one or more multicast groups through a cluster control server, wherein each multicast group in the one or more multicast groups comprises at least two User Equipment (UE), and all the UE in the same multicast group request the same video multicast service; receiving, by the cluster control server, channel statistics information and mobility state information of the UE; dividing the UE in each multicast group into at least two clusters through the cluster control server according to the channel statistical information and the mobile state information, wherein the channel statistical information and the mobile state information of all the UE in the same cluster are positioned in the same range; and sending the cluster result to other multicast Network Elements (NE) through the cluster control server, so that each cluster corresponds to a transmission channel for multicast transmission of video data.

The invention also provides a video multicast method, which comprises the following steps: receiving a cluster result from a cluster control server through a DANE, wherein the cluster result is obtained by the cluster control server dividing the UE in the same multicast group into at least two clusters according to the channel statistical information and the mobile state information of the UE, each multicast group comprises at least two UEs, all the UEs in the same multicast group request the same video multicast service, and the channel statistical information and the mobile state information of all the UEs in the same cluster are positioned in the same range; estimating the recommended transmission rate of each cluster through the DANE, wherein the recommended transmission rate of each cluster is positively correlated with the channel statistical information and the mobile state information of the UE with the worst condition in each cluster; and sending the recommended transmission rate of the cluster to which the UE belongs to the UE and sending the recommended transmission rates of all the clusters to the MCE through the DANE, so that the MCE controls at least one base station to establish a corresponding transmission channel for each cluster according to the recommended transmission rates, and the transmission channels are used for multicast transmission of video data.

The invention also provides a video multicast method, which comprises the following steps: receiving, by an MCE, a cluster result and receiving recommended transmission rates of all clusters from a DANE, where the cluster result is obtained by the cluster control server dividing UEs in the same multicast group into at least two clusters according to channel statistics information and mobility state information of the UEs, each multicast group includes at least two UEs, all UEs in the same multicast group request the same video multicast service, and the channel statistics information and mobility state information of all UEs in the same cluster are located in the same range, estimating, by the DANE, the recommended transmission rate for each cluster, and the recommended transmission rate of each cluster is positively correlated with the channel statistics information and mobility state information of the worst-case UE in the cluster; respectively allocating radio resources to each cluster through the MCE, wherein the amount of the radio resources allocated to each cluster is positively correlated with the recommended transmission rate of the cluster; sending, by the MCE, radio resource configuration to at least one base station, so that the base station establishes one or more corresponding transmission channels for one or more relevant clusters of the base station according to the radio resource configuration, where the transmission channels are used for multicast transmission of video data, and the radio resource configuration includes radio resource information allocated to the one or more relevant clusters of the base station, and the one or more relevant clusters of the base station are clusters into which UEs connected to the base station are divided.

The invention also provides a video multicast method, which comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a cluster result is obtained through a content server, the cluster result is obtained by dividing UE in the same multicast group into at least two clusters through a cluster control server according to channel statistical information and mobile state information of the UE, each multicast group comprises at least two UEs, all the UEs in the same multicast group request the same video multicast service, and the channel statistical information and the mobile state information of all the UEs in the same cluster are located in the same range; and sending the video data to each cluster by the content server in a multicast mode through a transmission channel of the cluster.

The invention also provides a video multicast method, which comprises the following steps: requesting, by a UE, a video multicast service; acquiring, by the UE, an ID of a multicast group to which the UE belongs, and an ID of a cluster to which the UE belongs in the multicast group, where a video multicast service requested by the UE is the same as video multicast services requested by all other UEs in the multicast group, and channel statistical information and mobility state information of the UE are located in the same range as channel statistical information and mobility information of all other UEs in the cluster; and receiving the video data sent by the content server by the UE in a multicast mode through a transmission channel corresponding to the cluster to which the UE belongs.

The invention also provides a video multicast method, which comprises the following steps: receiving, by a base station, from an MCE, radio resource configuration and information of one or more related clusters of the base station, the radio resource configuration including information of radio resources allocated to the one or more related clusters of the base station, the one or more related clusters of the base station being clusters to which UEs connected to the base station belong, the clusters being obtained by a cluster control server classifying UEs in the same multicast group according to channel statistics information and mobility state information of the UEs; each multicast group comprises at least two pieces of UE, all the UE in the same multicast group request the same video multicast service, and the channel statistical information and the mobile state information of all the UE in the same cluster are positioned in the same range; establishing, by the base station and according to the radio resource configuration, one or more corresponding transmission channels for one or more related clusters of the base station, where the transmission channels are used for multicast transmission of video data, and an amount of radio resources occupied by each transmission channel positively correlates with a recommended transmission rate of the cluster corresponding to the transmission channel.

The present invention also provides a video multicast apparatus comprising a processor and communication circuitry coupled to the processor, the instructions being loaded by the processor to perform the above method.

The invention also provides a readable storage medium for storing instructions which, when executed, implement the above-described method.

The invention has the beneficial effects that: according to the channel statistical information and the mobile state information of the UE in the multicast group, the multicast group formed based on the service content is further divided into at least two clusters, and each cluster corresponds to a transmission channel for multicast transmission of video data respectively, so that the respective transmission of the video data of different clusters in the same multicast group is realized. Although different clusters in the same multicast group request the same video content, the transmission rate of video data in each cluster is not limited to other clusters because the channel statistics and mobility state information for all UEs in each cluster are in the same range. That is, the transmission rates of video data in different clusters may be different, thereby reducing the waste of capability of UEs having better network environments and improving the throughput and quality of experience of the entire system.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a video multicast method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a second embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a video multicast method according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of a video multicast method according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of a fifth embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart of a sixth embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a seventh embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of an eighth embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart of a ninth embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart of a tenth embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart of an eleventh embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart of a twelfth embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart of a video multicast method according to a thirteenth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 14 is a flowchart of a fourteenth embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart of a fifteenth embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention.

Fig. 16 is a flowchart of a sixteenth embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention.

Fig. 17 is a flowchart of a seventeenth embodiment of a video multicast method according to the present invention.

Fig. 18 is a flowchart of an eighteenth embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention.

Fig. 19 is a flowchart of a nineteenth embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention.

Fig. 20 is an architecture diagram of a video multicast system applied to a video multicast method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 21 is a flowchart of the operation of the video multicast system of fig. 20 during a period.

Fig. 22 is a diagram showing simulation results of the video multicast system in fig. 20 for grouping multicast groups into two clusters (clusters).

Fig. 23 is a diagram illustrating simulation results of the video multicast system of fig. 20 dividing multicast groups into three clusters.

Fig. 24 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of a video multicast apparatus provided by the present invention.

Fig. 25 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of a video multicast apparatus provided by the present invention.

Fig. 26 is a block diagram of a video multicast apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 27 is a block diagram of a fourth embodiment of a video multicast apparatus provided by the present invention.

Fig. 28 is a block diagram of a fifth embodiment of a video multicast apparatus provided by the present invention.

Fig. 29 is a block diagram of a sixth embodiment of a video multicast apparatus provided by the present invention.

Fig. 30 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of a readable storage medium provided by the present invention.

The present invention includes references to "one embodiment," a specific embodiment, "" some embodiments, "" various embodiments, "or" an embodiment. The appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment," "in a particular embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in various embodiments," or "in an embodiment" are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. The particular features, structures, or characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner. Various modules, units, circuits, or other components may be described as, or referred to as being "configured to" perform one or more tasks. In this case, "configured to" is used to denote a structure, indicating that a module/unit/circuit/component includes a structure (e.g., a circuit) that performs these tasks during operation. Likewise, a module/unit/circuit/component may be configured to perform these tasks even if the specified module/unit/circuit/component is not currently operating. A module/unit/circuit/component used with "configured to" includes hardware-e.g., circuitry, stored program instructions executable to perform operations, etc. A module/unit/circuit/component is "configured to" perform these tasks, and is not intended to be construed as a reference to 35u.s.c. § 112 (f). Additionally, "configured to" may include a general-purpose structure (e.g., a general-purpose circuit) operated by software and/or hardware (e.g., an FPGA or a general-purpose processor executing software) to operate in a manner capable of performing the associated tasks. "configuring" may also include adjusting a manufacturing process (e.g., a semiconductor manufacturing facility) to manufacture a device (e.g., an integrated circuit) suitable for performing or carrying out one or more tasks. The term "based on" as used herein describes one or more factors that influence the determination (determination). This term does not exclude other factors that may influence the determination. That is, the determination may be based solely on these factors, or at least in part on these factors. Consider the phrase "determine a based on B". In this case, B is a factor that affects the determination of a, but this phrase does not exclude that the determination of a may also be based on C. In other cases, a may be determined based on B only. The Beam of a node (Beam of the node) or the Beam of a node (the node's Beam) may comprise one or more beams transmitted from the node. The beam of the first node or the beam of the first node may comprise one or more beams transmitted from the first node. The beam of the second node or the beam of the second node may comprise one or more beams transmitted from the second node.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings and examples. The portions (ones) that do not conflict with each other in the following embodiments may be combined with each other.

Referring to fig. 1, a first embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention may include the following blocks (blocks).

At S11: a cluster control server (cluster control server) may obtain information for one or more multicast groups.

The method can be implemented on a cluster control server. The cluster control server may belong to a multicast Network Element (NE), mainly functions as a cluster, and may be implemented by software and/or hardware.

Each multicast group may include at least two User Equipments (UEs), and all UEs in the same multicast group request the same video multicast service. The information of one or more multicast groups may generally include IDs of all multicast groups and IDs of all UEs in each multicast group. The cluster control server may obtain information for one or more Multicast groups from a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC), which is responsible for authenticating and grouping UEs.

At S12: the cluster control server may receive channel statistics and mobility state information for the UE.

The cluster control server may receive channel statistics and mobility state information of the UE directly from the UE through the base station, or receive channel statistics and mobility state information of the UE forwarded by other multicast NEs (e.g., Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) over HTTP) -aware network element (DANE)). The channel statistic information can reflect the wireless environment of the UE, and the transmission rate supported by the UE can be estimated to be more correct by combining the channel statistic information and the mobility state information.

In general, the channel statistics may refer not to a channel state currently measured by the UE but to statistics of channel states obtained by measuring the UE multiple times over a relatively long period of time. The channel state may be represented by at least one index (indices), such as a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), a Signal-to-interference-and-Noise Ratio (SINR), a Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP), a Reference Signal Receiving Quality (RSRQ), and/or a Reference Signal Receiving Quality (RSRQ).

The mobility state information may include a motion state of the UE (e.g., a motion direction, a motion speed, etc.), or the mobility state information may be used to infer information of the motion state of the UE, such as a cell handover reselection record, a positioning record, and so on.

At S13: the cluster control server may divide the UEs of each of the one or more multicast groups into at least two clusters according to the channel statistics and the mobility state information.

The channel statistics and mobility state information for all UEs in the same cluster are in the same range. The channel statistics and/or mobility state information for UEs in different clusters are located in different ranges.

At S14: the cluster control server may send the cluster result to other multicast Network Elements (NEs), so that each cluster corresponds to a transport channel for multicast transmission of video data.

The cluster result may include the IDs of all clusters in all multicast groups and the IDs of the UEs in each cluster. The other multicast NEs may include at least one of DANEs, multi-cell/Multicast Coordination Entities (MCEs), BM-SCs, and content servers. The cluster control server may be integrated with at least one other multicast NE. In addition, the cluster control server can also send the cluster result to the base station.

Some or all of the other multicast NEs may cooperate to map each cluster to a separate transmission channel for multicast transmission of video data. The transmission channels of different clusters in the same multicast group can be independent, and the video data transmitted by the transmission channels can be independent. Thus, the quality of video viewed by UEs of different clusters in the same multicast group may be different, while the content of the video is the same. The transmission rate of the video data in each cluster may be fixed or adjustable.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the amount of radio resources occupied by each transmission channel may be positively correlated with the channel statistics information and the mobility state information of the worst-case UE in the cluster corresponding to the transmission channel, thereby implementing dynamic adaptive adjustment of the transmission channel.

Since there may be joining/leaving of UEs in the multicast group and the channel statistics and mobility state information of UEs in the multicast group may also change, the cluster control server may need to repeat the blocks in the embodiments multiple times in the application. These blocks may be repeated periodically or aperiodically, for example, the repetition of these blocks may be triggered by an event. In case of repeating these blocks periodically, the content server repeats these blocks each time a Media Presentation Description (MPD) is transmitted to the UE, and the BM-SC creates/updates a multicast group. Since the Transmission period of the MPD is a longer Time unit with respect to a Transmission Time Interval (TTI), overhead introduced by updating the cluster result may be reduced. If the repetition of these blocks is triggered by an event, the triggering event may include a UE joining/leaving the multicast group and/or a change in channel statistics or mobility state information of the UEs in the multicast group exceeding a threshold.

In this embodiment, according to the channel statistics information and the mobility state information of the UEs in the multicast group, the multicast group formed based on the service content is further divided into at least two clusters, and each cluster corresponds to a transmission channel for multicast transmission of video data, so as to implement respective transmission of video data of different clusters in the same multicast group. Although different clusters in the same multicast group request the same video content, the transmission rate of video data in each cluster is not limited by other clusters because the channel statistics and mobility state information for all UEs in each cluster are within the same range. That is, the transmission rates of video data of different clusters may be different, thereby reducing the waste of capability of UEs having better wireless environment and improving the throughput and quality of experience of the entire system.

For example, the multicast group includes four fixed UEs a, B, C, and D, where UE a supports a transmission rate of 100kbps, UE B supports a transmission rate of 150kbps, UE C supports a transmission rate of 400kbps, and UE D supports a transmission rate of 450kbps, and these transmission rates supported by the UEs are estimated based on the channel statistics of the UEs. In the prior art, the video content server sends identical video data to four UEs at the same time, and in order to ensure successful sending of the video data, the transmission rate of the video data is only 100 kbps. This is fairly unfair for UEs C and D and severely impacts the quality of experience. However, the multicast group can be divided into cluster 1 and cluster 2 by employing the method provided by the present embodiment. The cluster 1 is composed of UE A and B, the cluster 2 is composed of UE C and D, the transmission rate of the video data in the cluster 1 is still 100kbps, and the transmission rate of the video data in the cluster 2 can reach 400kbps, so that the experience quality is improved.

Referring to fig. 2, based on the first embodiment of the video multicast method provided by the present invention, the present invention provides a second embodiment of the video multicast method, which further includes the following blocks.

At S15: the cluster control server can directly inform the UE of which the mobile state information is larger than the preset threshold value or through other multicast NE, discard the video multicast service and switch to the unicast service.

The moving state information is greater than a preset threshold, i.e., high mobility, may mean that a moving speed of the UE is greater than a preset threshold or the UE reciprocates (recipcates) at a boundary of a neighboring cell. The rate of change of high mobility UEs in a wireless environment is relatively fast and may even involve frequent cell handovers, which makes the UEs unsuitable for multicast data transmission. Accordingly, a high-mobility UE can be notified to switch to a unicast service, i.e., a point-to-point service (point-to-point service) between the UE and the content server.

Referring to fig. 3, based on the first embodiment of the video multicast method provided by the present invention, the present invention provides a third embodiment of the video multicast method, which further includes the following blocks.

At S16: the cluster control server may send the cluster result to the UE directly or through other multicast NEs.

The cluster result may include the IDs of all clusters in all multicast groups and the IDs of UEs in each cluster, which may result in unnecessary signaling overhead. To reduce signaling overhead, the cluster result may include only the ID of the cluster to which the target UE belongs and the IDs of all UEs in the cluster. Further, the cluster result may include only the ID of the target UE and the ID of the cluster to which the target UE belongs.

Referring to fig. 4, a fourth embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention may include the following blocks.

At S21: the DANE may receive the cluster result from the cluster control server.

The method may be implemented on DANEs belonging to multicast NEs. DANEs are mainly used for dynamically adjusting transport channels and may be implemented by software and/or hardware. The DANE may be integrated with at least one of the cluster control server, the MCE, the BM-SC, and the content server.

The cluster control server may divide the UEs of the same multicast group into at least two clusters according to the channel statistical information and the mobility state information of the UEs, to obtain a cluster result, where each multicast group may include at least two UEs, all the UEs of the same multicast group may request the same video multicast service, and the channel statistical information and the mobility state information of all the UEs in the same cluster may be located in the same range. Please refer to the first embodiment of the video multicast method provided by the present invention for more details.

At S22: the DANE may estimate a recommended transmission rate (recommended transmission rate) for each cluster.

The recommended transmission rate for each cluster may be positively correlated with the channel statistics and mobility state information for the worst case UE in the cluster. The DANE may estimate a transmission rate supported by each UE according to the channel statistics and the mobility state information of the UE. The worst case UE means that the worst channel statistics and mobility state information are provided in the cluster, and accordingly, the transmission rate supported by the worst case UE is the lowest. Typically, the recommended transmission rate for each cluster is less than or equal to the transmission rate supported by the worst case UE in the cluster.

The DANE may receive, directly or indirectly (through other multicast NEs), the channel statistics and mobility state information for the worst case UE.

S23: the DANE may send the recommended transmission rate of the cluster to which the UE belongs to the UE, and send the recommended transmission rates of all clusters to the MCE, so that the MCE may control at least one base station to create a corresponding transmission channel for each cluster according to the recommended transmission rate.

Since UEs in the same cluster may connect to different base stations, the MCE may need to perform overall control. The MCE may be used to handle radio resource allocation and transmission parameter allocation across cells/base stations. The transmission channel is used for multicast transmission of video data. The amount of radio resources occupied by each transport channel may satisfy the requirements for transmitting video data at the recommended transmission rate for the cluster to which the transport channel corresponds. The amount of radio resources occupied by each transport channel may positively correlate to the recommended transmission rate of the cluster to which the transport channel corresponds. For example, the amount of radio resources occupied by each transmission channel may completely satisfy the requirement for transmitting video data at the recommended transmission rate of the cluster corresponding to the transmission channel, thereby implementing dynamic adaptive adjustment of the transmission channel and improving the utilization rate of the radio resources.

The recommended transmission rate may be directly as the actual transmission rate of the video data, or the actual transmission rate may be determined with reference to the recommended transmission rate, in which case the actual transmission rate may be less than or equal to the recommended transmission rate.

Similarly, DANEs may need to duplicate blocks in an embodiment multiple times in an application. These blocks may be repeated periodically or aperiodically, for example, the repetition of these blocks may be triggered by an event. Whether the cluster control server creates/updates the cluster results periodically or aperiodically, the DANE may independently determine whether to estimate and send the recommended transmission rate periodically or aperiodically. If the block in the present embodiment is periodically executed by DANE, the execution period of the block S21 may be the same as or different from the execution period of the subsequent block. The operating period of the cluster control server is typically greater than or equal to the operating period of the DANE if the cluster control server is also periodically operating. If the performance of the DANE on this embodiment is event triggered, the triggering event may include a change in the cluster result and/or a change in the channel statistics and/or mobility state information of the worst case UE in at least one cluster exceeding a threshold.

Referring to fig. 5, the fifth embodiment of the video multicast method according to the present invention based on the fourth embodiment of the video multicast method according to the present invention further includes the following blocks before the block S21.

At S24: the DANE may receive channel statistics and mobility state information from the UE.

The channel statistics and mobility state information may be carried by Server and network Assisted DASH (Server and network Assisted) status messages. The SAND status message is sent from the UE to the DANE. The UE may inform the DANE of the requested quality, expected DASH segments (segments), acceptable alternative content using status messages, so that intelligent real-time media processing can be implemented on the content server. The channel statistics and mobility state information of the UE may be incorporated into the SAND state message along with other network assistance information.

At S25: the DANE may send the channel statistics and mobility state information to the cluster control server.

In this embodiment, the DANE may be used to forward data between the cluster control server and the UE.

Similarly, DANEs may need to duplicate blocks in an embodiment multiple times in an application. These blocks may be repeated periodically or aperiodically. In the case where these blocks are periodically repeated, the execution periods of steps S24 and S25 may be the same as or different from each other.

Referring to fig. 6, the present invention provides a sixth embodiment of a video multicast method based on the fourth embodiment of the video multicast method provided by the present invention, which further includes the following blocks after the block S21.

At S26: the DANE may send to each UE the ID of the cluster to which the UE belongs.

In addition to the ID of the cluster to which the UE belongs, the DANE may also send the ID of the UE to the UE for verification. In addition, the DANE may also send the complete cluster result to the UE.

The ID and recommended transmission rate of the cluster to which the UE belongs may be carried by a SAND Parameter Enhanced Reception (PER) message. The SAND PER message is sent from the DANE to the UE. DANE will support the UE with PER message by video segment representation recommendation and network throughput, which may result in intelligent UE adaptation behavior (adaptive behavior). The ID of the cluster to which the UE belongs may be incorporated into the SAND PER message along with other network assisted recommendation information.

In this embodiment, the ID of the cluster to which the UE belongs and the recommended transmission rate are both carried by the SAND PER message. In other embodiments, the ID and the recommended transmission rate may also be transmitted separately.

Referring to fig. 7, the present invention provides a seventh embodiment of a video multicast method based on the fourth embodiment of the video multicast method provided by the present invention, which further includes the following blocks after the block S21.

At S27: the DANE may send the cluster results to the content server and/or the MCE.

Referring to fig. 8, based on the fourth embodiment of the video multicast method provided by the present invention, the present invention provides an eighth embodiment of the video multicast method, which further includes the following blocks after the block S21.

At S28: the DANE may inform the worst case UE in each cluster to select the serving bit rate.

The worst case UE may be mobile and the radio environment when reporting channel statistics and mobility state information may be different from the radio environment when the video data is actually transmitted. Furthermore, the Content Server (Content Server) may not support the recommended transmission rate. Therefore, the worst case UE may select a service bit rate with reference to the recommended transmission rate, and the selected service bit rate may be used as an actual transmission rate of video data.

Referring to fig. 9, a ninth embodiment of a video multicast method provided by the present invention may include the following blocks.

At S31: the MCE may receive the cluster results and receive the recommended transmission rates for all clusters from the DANE.

The method can be implemented on MCEs belonging to multicast NEs. The MCE is mainly used for overall allocation of radio resources and transmission parameters, and may be implemented by software and/or hardware. The MCE may be integrated with at least one of the cluster control server, DANE, BM-SC, and the content server.

The MCE may receive the cluster results directly or indirectly (via other multicast NEs, e.g. DANEs) from the cluster control server.

The cluster control server may divide the UEs of the same multicast group into at least two clusters according to the channel statistical information and the mobility state information of the UEs, to obtain a cluster result, each multicast group may include at least two UEs, all the UEs of the same multicast group may request the same video multicast service, the channel statistical information and the mobility state information of all the UEs in the same cluster may be located in the same range, the DANE may estimate a recommended transmission rate for each cluster, and the recommended transmission rate of each cluster may be positively correlated with the channel statistical information and the mobility state information of the worst-case UE in the cluster. Please refer to the first embodiment to the fourth embodiment of the video multicast method provided by the present invention for more details.

At S32: the MCE may allocate radio resources for each cluster separately.

Radio resources refer to radio time-frequency resources. Since UEs in the same cluster may be connected to different base stations and UEs connected to the same base station may belong to different clusters, the MCE may need to take into account the situation of all clusters in all multicast groups to control the allocation of radio resources as a whole. The amount of radio resources allocated to each cluster may satisfy the requirement for transmitting video data at the recommended transmission rate for that cluster. The amount of radio resources allocated to each cluster may be positively correlated to the recommended transmission rate for that cluster.

The radio resources allocated by different clusters in the same multicast group may be time or frequency multiplexed, e.g. different clusters are mapped with different portions of the system bandwidth in the frequency domain.

At S33: the MCE may transmit the radio resource configuration to at least one base station to cause the base station to create one or more corresponding transport channels for one or more associated clusters of base stations according to the radio resource configuration.

In general, a base station in the present invention refers to a concerned base station, i.e., a base station connected to UEs belonging to a cluster. The radio resource configuration includes information allocating radio resources to one or more related clusters of the base station, which are clusters into which the UEs connected to the base station are divided. In other embodiments, the MCE may send the complete result of the radio resource allocation to the base station, possibly resulting in additional signaling overhead.

The transmission channel may be used for multicast transmission of video data. A transport channel corresponding to each cluster is established according to the radio resources allocated to the cluster. That is, the amount of radio resources occupied by each transport channel is equal to the amount of radio resources allocated to the cluster corresponding to the transport channel, so that the amount of radio resources occupied by each transport channel positively correlates with the recommended transmission rate of the cluster corresponding to the transport channel.

Similarly, the MCE may need to repeat blocks in an embodiment multiple times in an application. These blocks may be repeated periodically or aperiodically, for example, the repetition of these blocks may be triggered by an event. If the cluster results and recommended transmission rate of all clusters received by the MCE are the same as the last received, the MCE may choose to send the last radio resource configuration directly to the base station without further allocation of radio resources and/or without further sending of radio resource configurations to the base station to reduce signaling overhead.

Referring to fig. 10, based on the ninth embodiment of the video multicast method provided by the present invention, the present invention provides a tenth embodiment of the video multicast method, which further includes the following blocks.

At S34: the MCE may send information to the base station regarding one or more clusters of the base station.

In other embodiments, the MCE may also send the complete cluster result to the base station, which may result in additional signaling overhead.

Referring to fig. 11, based on the ninth embodiment of the video multicast method provided by the present invention, the present invention provides an eleventh embodiment of the video multicast method, which further includes the following blocks.

At S35: the MCE may send the cluster result to the content server.

Referring to fig. 12, a twelfth embodiment of a video multicasting method provided by the present invention may include the following blocks.

At S41: the content server may obtain the cluster results.

The method may be implemented on a content server belonging to a multicast NE. The content server is mainly used for providing video stream data, and may be implemented by software and/or hardware. The content server may obtain the cluster result directly or indirectly from the cluster control server (e.g. via other multicast NEs, such as MCEs). The MCE may be integrated with at least one of the cluster control server, DANE, MCE, and BM-SC.

At S42: the content server may send the video data to each cluster in a multicast manner through a transmission channel corresponding to the cluster.

The actual transmission rate of the video data for each cluster may be less than or equal to the transmission rate supported by the transmission channel corresponding to the cluster. Since the transmission channels of different clusters in the same multicast group are independent, the video data transmitted by the transmission channels can also be independent. Thus, the quality of video viewed by UEs of different clusters in the same multicast group may be different, while the video content is the same. The transmission rate of the video data for each cluster may be fixed or adjustable. A content server may also be referred to as a DASH server if the content server supports DASH functionality to dynamically adjust the transmission rate of video data.

For video streams with the same content, different transmission rates may correspond to different encoding rates, and different encoding rates correspond to different video qualities, and compression algorithms adopted by different video qualities are the same. Packets of video streams of the same content, different coding rates, may be completely different.

Similarly, a content server may need to repeat blocks in an embodiment multiple times in an application.

Referring to fig. 13, the present invention provides a thirteenth embodiment of a video multicast method based on the twelfth embodiment of the video multicast method provided by the present invention, wherein S41 includes the following blocks.

At S411: the content server may periodically transmit the MPD to the UE.

The content server in this embodiment may support DASH functionality.

The content server may use multiple sessions (sessions) to transmit the video stream, and each session transmits one segment of the video stream. The content server may first transmit the MPD to the UE each time a session is started, so as to periodically transmit the MPD to the UE. The MPD may include a plurality of candidate bit rates available for the current session, i.e., transmission rates available for the current segment of the video stream to be transmitted.

At S412: the content server may receive the cluster results from other multicast NEs after each transmission of the MPD.

The other multicast NEs may comprise at least one of a cluster control server, DANE, MCE and BM-SC.

The current block may also be periodically executed, and the execution period may be equal to a transmission period of the MPD.

Referring to fig. 14, based on the thirteenth embodiment of the video multicast method provided by the present invention, the present invention provides a fourteenth embodiment of the video multicast method, which further includes the following blocks before block S42.

At S43: the content server may receive the service bit rate reported by the worst case UE in each cluster.

Since the worst case UE may be mobile in each cluster, the radio environment when reporting channel statistics and mobility state information may be different from the radio environment when video data is actually transmitted. Furthermore, the recommended transmission rate supported by the transmission channel corresponding to each cluster may not be included in the MPD, i.e., may not be supported by the content server. Therefore, the worst case UE in each cluster may select a serving bit rate from the candidate bit rates provided by the MPD as the actual transmission rate of the video data for that cluster. In general, the serving bit rate may be less than or equal to the maximum transmission rate supported by the transmission channel to which the cluster corresponds.

Referring to fig. 15, a flowchart of a fifteenth embodiment of the video multicast method according to the present invention is shown. The method may be implemented on a UE. UEs may be fixed or mobile and include mobile phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), wireless modems, tablets, laptops, cordless phones, and the like. The method may include the following blocks.

At S51: the UE may request a video multicast service.

The UE may join the multicast group after the request is accepted.

At S52: the UE may obtain an ID of a multicast group to which the UE belongs and an ID of a cluster to which the UE belongs in the multicast group.

The UE may acquire the ID of the multicast group to which the UE belongs and the ID of the cluster to which the UE belongs from the multicast NE through the base station connected to the UE. In general, a UE can acquire the ID of a multicast group from a BM-SC and the ID of a cluster from a cluster control server directly (without other groups, multicast NEs) or indirectly (with other multicast NEs) through a base station connected to the UE.

The video multicast service requested by the UE may be the same as the video multicast service requested by all other UEs in the multicast group to which the UE belongs, and the channel statistics information and the mobility state information of the UE may be in the same range as the channel statistics information and the mobility state information of all other UEs in the cluster to which the UE belongs. Before the current block, the UE may need to acquire its channel statistics and mobility state information and then send the acquired channel statistics and mobility state information to the cluster control server. For more details, refer to the related description of the above embodiments.

At S53: and the UE receives the video data sent by the content server in a multicast mode through a transmission channel corresponding to the cluster to which the UE belongs.

The multicast NE (cluster control server, MCE, etc.) cooperatively controls the base stations connected to the UEs to establish corresponding transport channels.

Referring to fig. 16, the present invention provides a sixteenth embodiment of a video multicast method based on the fifteenth embodiment of the video multicast method provided by the present invention, wherein the block S52 includes the following blocks.

At S521: the UE may periodically receive the MPD from the content server.

The MPD may include a plurality of candidate bit rates available for the current session, i.e., transmission rates available for the current segment of the video stream to be transmitted.

At S522: the UE may send the channel statistics and the mobility state information to the cluster control server or DANE after receiving the MPD each time.

At S523: the UE may receive the cluster ID from the cluster control server or DANE.

If the UE interacts with the DANE in steps S522 and S523, the channel statistics information and the mobility state information may be carried by the SAND Status message, and the ID of the cluster to which the UE belongs may be carried by the SAND PER message.

In this embodiment, the UE may periodically acquire the ID of the cluster to which the UE belongs. For more details, refer to the related description of the above embodiments.

Referring to fig. 17, based on the fifteenth embodiment of the video multicast method provided by the present invention, the present invention provides a seventeenth embodiment of the video multicast method, further comprising the following blocks before block S53.

At S54: the UE may obtain a recommended transmission rate for the cluster to which the UE belongs.

The recommended transmission rate of the cluster to which the UE belongs may be transmitted together with the ID of the cluster to which the UE belongs, and both the recommended transmission rate and the ID may be carried by the SAND PER message.

At S55: the UE may select a serving bit rate from the candidate bit rates contained in the MPD.

In general, in order to improve system throughput and quality of experience as much as possible, the UE may select a candidate bit rate that is less than or equal to the recommended transmission rate and has a difference from the recommended transmission rate closest to 0 as the serving bit rate.

At S56: the UE may send the serving bit rate to the content server.

The service bit rate may be used as a transmission rate of video data, which is transmitted by the content server to the cluster to which the UE belongs.

The UE in this embodiment may be the worst case UE in the cluster to which the UE belongs. For more details, refer to the related description of the above embodiments.

Referring to fig. 18, based on the fifteenth embodiment of the video multicast method provided by the present invention, the present invention provides an eighteenth embodiment of the video multicast method, which further includes the following blocks after the block S51.

At S57: the UE may receive a notification of switching to a unicast service when the mobility state information of the UE is greater than a preset threshold.

The moving state information being greater than the preset threshold, i.e., high mobility, may mean that the moving speed of the UE is greater than the preset threshold or the UE reciprocates at the boundary of the neighboring cell. The rate of change of UEs with high mobility in a wireless environment is relatively fast and may even involve frequent cell handovers, which makes the UEs unsuitable for multicast data transmission. Accordingly, a high mobility UE can be notified to switch to a unicast service. In this case, the blocks following the block S52 and the block S52 are not performed.

Referring to fig. 19, it is a flowchart of a nineteenth embodiment of the video multicast method provided in the present invention. The method may be implemented at a base station. The base station may be connected to a core network and may perform wireless communication with the UE to provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic area. The base station may be a macro base station (macro base station), a micro base station (micro base station), a pico base station (pico base station), or a femtocell (femtocell). In some embodiments, a base station may also be referred to as a radio base station, access point, node B, evolved node B (eNodeB, eNB), gNB, or other suitable terminology. For ease of illustration, the method is described sequentially. However, portions of the method may be performed in other orders or in parallel (e.g., simultaneously). The method may include the following blocks.

At S61: the base station may receive information from the MCE of radio resource configurations and one or more associated clusters of base stations.

The radio resource configuration may include information of radio resources allocated to a base station-related cluster, the base station-related cluster is a cluster to which UEs connected to the base station belong, the cluster control server classifies the UEs in the same multicast group according to channel statistics information and mobility state information of the UEs to obtain clusters, each multicast group may include at least two UEs, all the UEs in the same multicast group may request the same video multicast service, and the channel statistics information and the mobility state information of all the UEs in the same cluster may be located in the same range. For more details, refer to the related description of the above embodiments.

At S62: the base station may establish one or more corresponding transport channels for one or more associated clusters of base stations according to the radio resource configuration.

The base station may schedule the radio resources allocated to each relevant cluster in the radio resource configuration to the UEs in the relevant cluster in resource scheduling to establish a corresponding transport channel, i.e. a Multicast Channel (MCH). The transmission channel is used for multicast transmission of video data. During the subsequent video data transmission, the base station may transmit the received video data of each relevant cluster to the UEs in the relevant cluster through the corresponding transmission channel by using a transparent transmission (transparent transmission).

The amount of radio resources occupied by each transport channel may positively correlate to the recommended transmission rate for the cluster to which the transport channel corresponds. The recommended transmission rate for each relevant cluster may positively correlate with the channel statistics and mobility state information for the worst case UE in the relevant cluster. For more details, refer to the related description of the above embodiments.

The following refers to the drawings and exemplifies a specific application scenario of the method in video multicast.

Referring to fig. 20, in an embodiment of the present invention, a video multicast system to which the video multicast method is applied includes a UE101, a base station 102, a BM-SC 103, a cluster control server 104, a DANE105, an MCE 106, and a content server 107. For ease of illustration, only one UE101 and one base station 102 are shown, and the actual number of UEs and base stations may be greater than one. The BM-SC 103, cluster control server 104, DANE105, MCE 106 and content server 107 may be collectively referred to as a multicast NE.

The UE101 is connected with a base station 102, the base station is further connected with a BM-SC 103, a DANE105, an MCE 106 and a content server 107, the BM-SC 103 is further connected with a cluster control server 104 and a content server 107, the cluster control server 104 is further connected with the DANE105 and the MCE 106, and the MCE 106 is further connected with the content server 107.

In this embodiment, the video multicast system operates periodically. Referring to fig. 21, the specific operation of the video multicast system in one period includes the following blocks. The arrows through the base station 102 indicate that the base station 102 transmits between the UE101 and the multicast NE in a transparent transmission.

At S101: the content server 107 may transmit the MPD to the UE 101.

The common contents of this embodiment and the above embodiments are not described again.

For convenience of illustration, only one UE101 and one base station 102 are shown in the figure, but the actual number of UEs and base stations may be more than one.

At S102: the BM-SC 103 may create/update information for one or more multicast groups.

The transmission period of MPD may be a longer period relative to TTI, but short relative to the time the user controls the joining/leaving of UEs in the multicast group. Therefore, the creation/update of the information of the multicast group in the present embodiment may be performed periodically after each transmission of the MPD, rather than in real time.

At S103: the BM-SC 103 may send the latest information of the multicast group to the cluster control server 104 and the content server 107.

The execution order of block S103 and blocks S104 to S106 is not limited as long as block S103 is executed before block S107.

At S104: the UE101 may obtain its channel statistics and mobility state information.

At S105: the UE101 may send its channel statistics and mobility state information to the DANE 105.

The channel statistics and mobility state information are carried by the SAND state message.

At S106: the DANE105 may send the channel statistics and mobility state information of the UE101 to the cluster control server 104.

At S107: cluster control server 104 may perform clustering operations.

At S108: the cluster control server 104 may send the cluster results to the DANE105 and MCE 106.

At S109: the DANE105 may estimate the recommended transmission rate for each cluster separately.

At S110: the DANE105 may send the recommended transmission rates for all clusters to the MCE 106.

At S111: MCE 106 may send the cluster results to content server 107.

The execution order of block S111 and other blocks is not limited as long as block S111 is executed after block S108 and before block S119.

At S112: the MCE 106 may allocate radio resources for each cluster.

At S113: MCE 106 may send information to base station 102 of the radio resource configuration and associated cluster of base stations 102.

At S114: the base station 102 may establish a corresponding transport channel for the relevant cluster according to the radio resource configuration.

At S115: the DANE105 may send the recommended transmission rate and ID of the cluster to which the UE101 belongs to the UE 101.

The recommended transmission rate and ID for the cluster to which the UE101 belongs may be carried by the SAND PER message.

The execution order of the block S115 and other blocks is not limited as long as the block S115 is executed after the block S109 and before the block S117.

At S116: the DANE105 may inform the UE101 to select a serving bit rate.

The UE101 may be the worst case UE in the cluster to which the UE belongs.

At S117: the UE101 may select a serving bit rate from the candidate bit rates contained in the MPD.

At S118: the UE101 may send the serving bit rate to the content server 107.

At S119: the content server 107 may send the video data to the cluster to which the UE101 belongs through a transmission channel in a multicast manner.

The service bit rate is the actual transmission rate of the video data.

The video multicast method and the video multicast system in this embodiment are simulated, and the simulation configuration is shown in table 1.

Table 1: simulation configuration

Video files	Clip of‘Good Dinosaur’
		Format	MPEG-4
Coding and decoding device	H.264Joint Test Model
		Channel mode	TR 36.873
Number of users	40
		Buffer size	1000kb
Transmission power	36dBm
		Position range (Site range)	1.5km
Number of base station antennas	1
		Number of UE antennas	1
Bandwidth of	1MHz

There is provided a video stream of only one content, the video stream having three different qualities, the transmission rates being 900kbps, 500kbps and 100kbps, respectively. The simulation results of grouping the multicast group into two clusters are shown in fig. 22, and the simulation results of grouping the multicast group into three clusters are shown in fig. 23.

Referring to fig. 24, a block diagram of a video multicast apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown. The video multicasting apparatus can include a processor 110 and a communication circuit 120 coupled to the processor 110.

The communication circuit 120 may be configured to transmit and receive data as an interface for the video multicast apparatus to communicate with other communication apparatuses.

Processor 110 may control the operation of a video multicast apparatus, which may also be referred to as a Central Processing Unit (CPU). The processor 110 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capability, or a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

The processor 110 may be configured to execute instructions to implement the methods provided by any of the first through third embodiments of the video multicast method of the present invention in combination with the conflict-free embodiment.

The video multicast apparatus in this embodiment may be a cluster control server.

Referring to fig. 25, a block diagram of a video multicast apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention is shown. The video multicast apparatus may include a processor 210 and a communication circuit 220 coupled to the processor 210.

The communication circuit 220 may be configured to transmit and receive data as an interface for the video multicast apparatus to communicate with other communication devices.

Processor 210 may control the operation of a video multicast apparatus, which may also be referred to as a Central Processing Unit (CPU). The processor 210 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities, or a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

The processor 210 may be configured to execute the instructions to implement the methods provided by any one of the fourth to eighth embodiments of the video multicast method in the present invention in combination with the conflict-free embodiment.

The video multicast apparatus in this embodiment may be a DANE.

Referring to fig. 26, a block diagram of a video multicast apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention is shown. The video multicast apparatus may include a processor 310 and a communication circuit 320 coupled to the processor 310.

The communication circuit 320 may be configured to transmit and receive data as an interface for the video multicast apparatus to communicate with other communication devices.

Processor 310 may control the operation of a video multicast apparatus, which may also be referred to as a Central Processing Unit (CPU). The processor 310 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities, or a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

The processor 310 may be configured to execute the instructions to implement the methods provided by any one of the ninth to eleventh embodiments of the video multicast method in the present invention in combination with the conflict-free embodiment.

The video multicast apparatus in this embodiment may be an MCE.

Fig. 27 is a block diagram of a video multicast apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The video multicast apparatus may include a processor 410 and a communication circuit 420 coupled to the processor 410.

The communication circuit 420 may be configured to transmit and receive data as an interface for the video multicast apparatus to communicate with other communication devices.

Processor 410 may control the operation of a video multicast apparatus, which may also be referred to as a Central Processing Unit (CPU). The processor 410 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities, or a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

The processor 410 may be configured to execute the instructions to implement the methods provided by any of the twelfth to fourteenth embodiments of the video multicast method in the present invention in combination with the conflict-free embodiment.

The video multicast apparatus in this embodiment may be a content server.

Referring to fig. 28, a block diagram of a fifth embodiment of a video multicast apparatus according to the present invention is shown. The video multicast apparatus may include a processor 510 and a communication circuit 520 coupled to the processor 510.

The communication circuit 520 may be configured to transmit and receive data as an interface for the video multicast apparatus to communicate with other communication devices.

Processor 510 may control the operation of a video multicast apparatus, which may also be referred to as a Central Processing Unit (CPU). The processor 510 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities, or a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

The processor 510 may be configured to execute the instructions to implement the methods provided by any of the fifteenth to eighteenth embodiments of the video multicast method in the present invention in combination with the conflict-free embodiment.

The video multicast apparatus in this embodiment may be a user equipment, or may be a component integrated in the user equipment and operating independently, for example, a baseband chip.

Referring to fig. 29, a block diagram of a video multicast apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention is shown. The video multicast apparatus may include a processor 610 and a communication circuit 620 coupled to the processor 610.

The communication circuit 620 may be configured to transmit and receive data as an interface for the video multicast apparatus to communicate with other communication devices.

Processor 610 may control the operation of a video multicast apparatus, which may also be referred to as a Central Processing Unit (CPU). The processor 610 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities or a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

The processor 610 may be configured to execute instructions to implement the method provided by the nineteenth of the video multicast method in the present invention.

The video multicast apparatus in this embodiment may be a base station, or may be a component integrated in the base station and operating independently, such as a baseband board.

Referring to fig. 30, a block diagram of a first embodiment of a readable storage medium provided by the present invention is shown. The readable storage medium may include a memory 710. The memory 710 may store instructions that may implement the methods provided by any of the first through seventh embodiments of the present invention in combination with the conflict-free embodiments.

The memory 710 may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a flash memory, a hard disk or an optical disk, etc.

The functions of each part of the communication state conversion apparatus provided by the present invention and the feasible extensions of each embodiment can refer to the descriptions in the corresponding embodiments of the communication state conversion method provided by the present invention, and are not described in detail herein.

It is to be understood that the apparatus and methods provided by the present invention may be embodied in other forms. And the depicted apparatus is illustrative only. For example, the partitioning of modules or units is performed based on logical functions only, and thus other partitioning methods may exist for actual implementation, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated on another system, or some functions may be omitted or not performed at all. Further, the mutual coupling, direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be realized through some interfaces, devices or units, and may also be realized through electrical connection, mechanical connection or other forms.

The described separate units may or may not be physically separate. Components that are shown as units may or may not be physical units, may reside at one location, or may be distributed across multiple networked units. According to actual needs, part or all of the units can be selectively adopted to achieve the purpose of the invention.

In addition, various functional units described herein may be integrated into one processing unit, or may exist as multiple physically separate units, and two or more units may be integrated into one. The integrated unit may be implemented by hardware or as a software functional unit.

If the integrated unit is a software functional unit and is sold or used as a separate product, it may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. On the basis of this understanding, the basic technical solution or all or part of the technical solution of the invention may be embodied as a software product. A computer software product may be stored in a storage medium and may include a plurality of instructions that enable a computing device (e.g., a personal computer, server, network appliance, etc.) or processor to perform all or a portion of the methods of the present invention. The storage medium may include various media capable of storing program code, such as a U disk, a removable hard disk, a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description merely illustrates some exemplary embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to these particular embodiments. Any equivalent modifications or variations of the structure or process of the invention, or any direct or indirect application of the invention in any other relevant field, shall be included within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for video multicasting, comprising:

acquiring information of one or more multicast groups through a cluster control server, wherein each multicast group in the one or more multicast groups comprises at least two User Equipment (UE), and all the UE in the same multicast group request the same video multicast service;

receiving, by the cluster control server, channel statistics information and mobility state information of the UE;

dividing the UE in each multicast group into at least two clusters through the cluster control server according to the channel statistical information and the mobile state information, wherein the channel statistical information and the mobile state information of all the UE in the same cluster are positioned in the same range;

and sending the cluster result to other multicast Network Elements (NE) through the cluster control server, so that each cluster corresponds to a transmission channel for multicast transmission of video data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the other multicast elements comprise dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP, DASH-aware elements DANEs.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the other multicast NEs further comprise at least one of a multi-cell/multicast coordination entity, MCE, a broadcast multicast service center, BM-SC, and a content server.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the channel statistics and the mobility state information of the UE comprises:

and receiving the channel statistical information and the mobile state information of the UE forwarded by the DANE through the cluster control server.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining information for one or more multicast groups comprises:

receiving, by the cluster control server, information of one or more multicast groups from a broadcast multicast service center, BM-SC.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the BM-SC sends the information for the one or more multicast groups to the UE each time a content server sends a media representation description (MPD).

7. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:

and through the cluster control server, directly or through other multicast NEs, notifying the UE of which the mobile state information is greater than a preset threshold value, discarding the video multicast service, and switching to the unicast service.

8. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:

and sending the cluster result to the UE directly or through other multicast network elements by the cluster control server.

9. The method according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the cluster control server is integrated with at least one other multicast NE.

10. The method according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the amount of radio resources occupied by each transport channel positively correlates with the channel statistics and mobility status information of the worst case UE in the cluster to which the transport channel corresponds.

11. A method for video multicasting, comprising:

receiving a cluster result from a cluster control server through a DANE, wherein the cluster result is obtained by the cluster control server dividing the UE in the same multicast group into at least two clusters according to the channel statistical information and the mobile state information of the UE, each multicast group comprises at least two UEs, all the UEs in the same multicast group request the same video multicast service, and the channel statistical information and the mobile state information of all the UEs in the same cluster are positioned in the same range;

estimating the recommended transmission rate of each cluster through the DANE, wherein the recommended transmission rate of each cluster is positively correlated with the channel statistical information and the mobile state information of the UE with the worst condition in each cluster;

and sending the recommended transmission rate of the cluster to which the UE belongs to the UE and sending the recommended transmission rates of all the clusters to the MCE through the DANE, so that the MCE controls at least one base station to establish a corresponding transmission channel for each cluster according to the recommended transmission rates, and the transmission channels are used for multicast transmission of video data.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising, prior to said receiving cluster results from the cluster control server:

receiving, by the DANE, channel statistics information and mobility state information of the UE;

and sending the channel statistical information and the mobile state information to a cluster control server through the DANE.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the channel statistics and the mobility state information are carried by server and network assisted dash (sand) status messages.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising, after receiving the cluster result from the cluster control server:

and sending the ID of the cluster to which the UE belongs to each UE through the DANE.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the ID and recommended transmission rate of the cluster to which the UE belongs are carried by a SAND parameter enhanced reception PER message.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising, after receiving the cluster result from the cluster control server:

and sending the cluster result to a content server or the MCE through the DANE.

17. The method according to any of claims 11 to 16, further comprising, after said receiving a cluster result from a cluster control server:

informing, by the DANE, the worst case UE in each cluster to select a serving bit rate.

18. The method of any of claims 11 to 16, wherein the DANE is integrated with at least one of a cluster control server, MCE, BM-SC and a content server.

19. The method according to any of claims 11 to 16, characterized in that the amount of radio resources occupied by each transmission channel positively correlates with the recommended transmission rate of the cluster corresponding to the transmission channel.

20. A method for video multicasting, comprising:

receiving, by an MCE, a cluster result and receiving recommended transmission rates of all clusters from a DANE, where the cluster result is obtained by the cluster control server dividing UEs in the same multicast group into at least two clusters according to channel statistics information and mobility state information of the UEs, each multicast group includes at least two UEs, all UEs in the same multicast group request the same video multicast service, and the channel statistics information and mobility state information of all UEs in the same cluster are located in the same range, estimating, by the DANE, the recommended transmission rate for each cluster, and the recommended transmission rate of each cluster is positively correlated with the channel statistics information and mobility state information of the worst-case UE in the cluster;

respectively allocating radio resources to each cluster through the MCE, wherein the amount of the radio resources allocated to each cluster is positively correlated with the recommended transmission rate of the cluster;

sending, by the MCE, radio resource configuration to at least one base station, so that the base station establishes one or more corresponding transmission channels for one or more relevant clusters of the base station according to the radio resource configuration, where the transmission channels are used for multicast transmission of video data, and the radio resource configuration includes radio resource information allocated to the one or more relevant clusters of the base station, and the one or more relevant clusters of the base station are clusters into which UEs connected to the base station are divided.

21. The method of claim 20, after receiving, by the MCE, the cluster result, further comprising:

sending, by the MCE, information of one or more related clusters of the base station to the base station.

22. The method of claim 20, after receiving, by the MCE, the cluster result, further comprising:

and sending the cluster result to a content server through the MCE.

23. The method of any of claims 20 to 22, wherein the MCE is integrated with at least one of a cluster control server, a DANE, a BM-SC, and a content server.

24. The method according to any of claims 20 to 22, wherein the amount of radio resources occupied by each transmission channel positively correlates with the recommended transmission rate of the cluster to which the transmission channel corresponds.

25. A method for video multicasting, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a cluster result is obtained through a content server, the cluster result is obtained by dividing UE in the same multicast group into at least two clusters through a cluster control server according to channel statistical information and mobile state information of the UE, each multicast group comprises at least two UEs, all the UEs in the same multicast group request the same video multicast service, and the channel statistical information and the mobile state information of all the UEs in the same cluster are located in the same range;

and sending the video data to each cluster by the content server in a multicast mode through a transmission channel of the cluster.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein obtaining cluster results comprises:

periodically transmitting, by the content server, an MPD to the UE;

receiving, by the content server, the cluster result sent by other multicast NEs after each transmission of the MPD, where the other multicast NEs include at least one of a cluster control server, a DANE, an MCE, and a BM-SC.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein prior to sending video data to each cluster in a multicast manner via a transport channel of the cluster, further comprising:

and receiving, by the content server, a service bit rate reported by the worst-case UE in each cluster, where the service bit rate is selected from candidate bit rates included in the MPD by the worst-case UE and is used as a transmission rate of video data transmitted to the cluster by the content server.

28. The method of any of claims 25 to 27, wherein the content server is integrated with at least one of a cluster control server, DANE, MCE and BM-SC.

29. The method according to any of claims 25 to 27, wherein the amount of radio resources occupied by each transport channel positively correlates with the channel statistics and mobility status information of the worst case UE in the cluster to which the transport channel corresponds.

30. A method for video multicasting, comprising:

requesting, by a UE, a video multicast service;

acquiring, by the UE, an ID of a multicast group to which the UE belongs, and an ID of a cluster to which the UE belongs in the multicast group, where a video multicast service requested by the UE is the same as video multicast services requested by all other UEs in the multicast group, and channel statistical information and mobility state information of the UE are located in the same range as channel statistical information and mobility information of all other UEs in the cluster;

and receiving the video data sent by the content server by the UE in a multicast mode through a transmission channel corresponding to the cluster to which the UE belongs.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the obtaining the ID of the cluster to which the UE belongs in the multicast group comprises:

periodically receiving, by the UE, an MPD from the content server;

through the UE, after MPD is received each time, channel statistical information and mobile state information are sent to a cluster control server or a DANE;

receiving, by the UE, an ID of the cluster from a cluster control server or a DANE.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the channel statistics and mobility state information are carried in a SAND status message and the cluster ID is carried in a SAND parameter enhanced reception, PER, message.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein an amount of radio resources occupied by each transport channel positively correlates with channel statistics and mobility state information for a worst case UE in the cluster to which the transport channel corresponds.

34. The method according to any of claims 30 to 33, further comprising, before said receiving, in a multicast manner and via a transmission channel corresponding to a cluster to which the UE belongs, video data sent by a content server:

acquiring, by the UE, a recommended transmission rate of a cluster to which the UE belongs;

selecting, by the UE, a serving bit rate from candidate bit rates included in the MPD, the serving bit rate being less than or equal to the recommended transmission rate;

sending, by the UE, the serving bit rate to the content server, the serving bit rate being a transmission rate of video data sent by the content server to a cluster to which the UE belongs.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the recommended transmission rate is carried by a SAND PER message.

36. The method of any one of claims 30 to 33, further comprising:

and when the mobile state information of the UE is larger than a preset threshold value, receiving a notification of switching to the unicast service through the UE.

37. A method for video multicasting, comprising:

receiving, by a base station, from an MCE, radio resource configuration and information of one or more related clusters of the base station, the radio resource configuration including information of radio resources allocated to the one or more related clusters of the base station, the one or more related clusters of the base station being clusters to which UEs connected to the base station belong, the clusters being obtained by a cluster control server classifying UEs in the same multicast group according to channel statistics information and mobility state information of the UEs; each multicast group comprises at least two pieces of UE, all the UE in the same multicast group request the same video multicast service, and the channel statistical information and the mobile state information of all the UE in the same cluster are positioned in the same range;

establishing, by the base station and according to the radio resource configuration, one or more corresponding transmission channels for one or more related clusters of the base station, where the transmission channels are used for multicast transmission of video data, and an amount of radio resources occupied by each transmission channel positively correlates with a recommended transmission rate of the cluster corresponding to the transmission channel.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the recommended transmission rate for each of the one or more relevant clusters positively correlates to channel statistics and mobility state information for a worst case UE among the relevant clusters.

39. A video multicasting apparatus comprising a processor and communications circuitry coupled to the processor, the instructions being loaded by the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 38.

40. A readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, implement the method of any one of claims 1-38.