KR101521969B1 - Split appatatus and method for providing mbms - Google Patents

Abstract

A Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BMSC) device includes a first BMSC device for transmitting Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) data to a user device, and a second BMSC device for performing a network session connection between the user device and the first BMSC device And a second BMSC device, wherein the first BMSC device comprises a first interface module for communication with the second BMSC device.

Description

[0001] SPLIT APPATATUS AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING MBMS [0002]

To a separate apparatus and method for providing a broadcast multicast service.

The mobile broadcasting service based on the communication network exists from the time of providing the second generation mobile communication service by the provider and the customer needs, and is composed of 2G CDMA Ev-Do based Broadcast Multicast Service (BCMCS), 3G IEEE Mobile WiMAX based Multicast Broadcast Service (MBS) Has been named with the development of technology from WCDMA based Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) to 4G LTE based evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS). However, it has not been commercialized due to lack of frequency resources, technical limitations, network resource economics, and lack of business models in providing broadcast services using expensive communication frequencies and equipment.

On the other hand, 4G LTE Advanced guarantees download speed of up to 1Gbps through frequency broadband up to 100MHz, so network resources to provide real-time broadcasting and media contents transmission service with eMBMS are getting richer, And it is changing to an environment where broadcasting service based on communication network can be easily applied. However, in implementing a mobile broadcasting service based on a communication network, it is necessary to embrace both media content providers and platform providers, and an open platform (Walled Garden) capable of accommodating network operators, media content services, Based convergence service should be implemented. Korean Patent Publication No. 2011-0052609 discloses a method of transmitting an eMBMS in connection with a method of providing a mobile broadcasting service.

In order to provide mobile IPTV service as eMBMS, we want to reduce network dependency and accept various business models independently of service. The BMSC, which is defined as a component of the MBMS in the 3GPP standard, is to be managed physically according to functions. It is to be understood, however, that the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described technical problems, and there may be other technical problems.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile communication system including a first BMSC device for transmitting MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service) data to a user device, And a second BMSC device for performing a network session connection, wherein the first BMSC device is a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BMSC) device comprising a first interface module for communication with a second BMSC device, Can be provided.

Further, in another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method comprising: performing communication between a first BMSC device and a second BMSC device; performing a network session connection between a user device and a first BMSC device via a second BMSC device; And transmitting the MBMS data to the user device through the BMSC device.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a mobile communication system including a request reception unit for receiving a MBMS data request of a user device received from a second BMSC device, a content reception unit for receiving MBMS data from a content provider based on a request of the received MBMS data, And transmitting the MBMS data to the second BMSC device, and the MBMS data is transmitted to the user device through the second BMSC device.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a mobile communication system including a session control unit for controlling a session between a user device and a first BMSC device, a data transmission unit for transmitting MBMS data received from a first BMSC device to a user device, And a service area manager for managing an MBSFN (MBMS Single Frequency Network) service area.

According to any one of the above-described tasks, the network operator in the eMBMS communication network service has the service control right and the ease of service expansion, and transmits the third-party media content service through the open platform to the eMBMS bearer . The network can be independently developed without restriction by the mobile IPTV service, and the efficiency of operation can be guaranteed. In providing mobile IPTV service as eMBMS, network dependency can be reduced and various services can be accommodated independently. it can be independently developed in the eMBMS network service without restriction by the mobile IPTV service through the network operator or the separated network, and the efficiency of operation can be guaranteed.

1 is a block diagram of an eMBMS system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram of a first BMSC apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram of a second BMSC apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram illustrating a process of providing an eMBMS service according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a diagram illustrating a management area of an eMBMS service according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a flowchart illustrating a service providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are denoted by like reference characters throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is referred to as being "connected" to another part, it includes not only "directly connected" but also "electrically connected" with another part in between . Also, when an element is referred to as "comprising ", it means that it can include other elements as well, without departing from the other elements unless specifically stated otherwise.

The following examples are intended to further illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the same scope of the invention performing the same function as the present invention will also fall within the scope of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram of an eMBMS system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1, an eMBMS system includes a network signal and data transmission device 40 including a content provider 30, a first BMSC device 10, a second BMSC device 20, an MBMS gateway and a node, (50).

Each of the configurations of the eMBMS system of FIG. 1 can generally be connected to each other via a network. The network refers to a connection structure in which information can be exchanged between each node such as terminals and servers. One example of such a network is a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) , A WAN (Wide Area Network), a PAN (Personal Area Network), a Bluetooth (Bluetooth), a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) Networks, satellite broadcast networks, analog broadcast networks, Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) networks, and the like.

It may be referred to as a BMSC device including both the first BMSC device 10 and the second BMSC device 20. [ The BMSC device is present between the content provider 30 and the user device 50 and may provide the function of supplying or delivering the service to the user device. In other words, the BMSC device can be an access point of content providers who want to provide contents, and a content provider can perform data transmission through the BMSC device. Alternatively, the BMSC device may receive the media content from the mobile IPTV platform and provide the live streaming and file download service to the terminal supporting the eMBMS.

The first BMSC device 10 may transmit Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) data to the user device and the second BMSC device 20 may perform a network session connection between the user device and the first BMSC device. For example, the first BMSC device 10 may perform functions such as eMBMS service announcement, content reception, live streaming and file transmission, file download acknowledgment and file recovery, May perform MBSFN (MBMS Single Frequency Network) service area management, MBSFN synchronization, eMBMS session control, and MBMS data transmission.

The first BMSC device 10 and the second BMSC device 20 may include an interface module for mutual data interlocking, and other functions may perform the functions of the BMSC device defined in 3GPP standards. That is, the first BMSC device 10 and the second BMSC device 20 may have a form in which the BMSC device defined in the 3GPP standard is physically divided according to functions, and thus can be independently managed.

The operation of the first BMSC device 10 and the second BMSC device 20 will be described in detail in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 below.

The content providing unit 30 may transmit the MBMS data to the first BMSC apparatus 10 based on the request of the first BMSC apparatus 10. [ The content providing unit 30 may include a head end platform for performing real-time broadcast and VOD (Video on Demand) services, and may include a RTP (Real Time Transport Protocol), DASH Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) to the first BMSC device 10.

The network signaling and data transmission device 40 may include devices such as an MBMS gateway, an eNB (Evolution Node B), a UTRAN, an E-UTRAN, an MME, an SGSN, and an MCE as components of an LTE network for providing an eMBMS service have.

The user device 50 may be implemented as a portable terminal capable of connecting to a remote server via a network. Here, the portable terminal is a mobile communication device that is guaranteed to be portable and mobility. For example, a portable communication terminal such as a PCS (Personal Communication System), a GSM (Global System for Mobile communication), a PDC (Personal Digital Cellular), a PHS (Personal Digital Assistant), IMT (International Mobile Telecommunication) -2000, CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) -2000, W-CDMA (W-CDMA), Wibro (Wireless Broadband Internet) ) Handheld based wireless communication devices such as mobile phones, handsets, smartphones, smart pads, tablet PCs, and the like. However, the type of the user device 50 disclosed in FIG. 1 is merely illustrated for convenience of explanation, and therefore the type and the type of the user device 50 discussed herein are not limited to those shown in FIG. Generally, the user device 50 described herein may refer to a device capable of receiving an eMBMS service.

2 is a configuration diagram of a first BMSC apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the first BMSC device 10 includes a request accepting unit 101, a content receiving unit 102, a content transmitting unit 102, and a content transmitting unit 104. The first BMSC device 10 may transmit MBMS data to the user device 50, A data recovery unit 104, a database 105 and a first interface module 106 for data interworking with the second BMSC device 20. [

The request accepting unit 101 accepts an MBMS data request of the user device 50 received from the second BMSC device 20. [ For example, the user device 50 may request the second BMSC device 20 to provide the eMBMS service, and the request reception unit 101 may receive the MBMS data of the user device 50 from the second BMSC device 20 Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > a < / RTI >

The content receiver 102 receives the MBMS data from the content provider 30 based on the request of the received MBMS data. For example, the content receiver 102 may receive MBMS data for real-time broadcast or VOD from the content provider 30 from the content provider 30 corresponding to the received MBMS data.

The content transmission unit 103 transmits the received MBMS data to the second BMSC device 20. [ The MBMS data transmitted to the second BMSC device 20 may be transmitted to the user device 50 through the second BMSC device 20. [ The provided MBMS data may be data for real-time broadcasting or VOD, and the transmitted MBMS data may be provided to the user device 50 through an EPG (Electric Program Guide) according to the schedule of the MBMS service. How the MBMS data is transmitted to the user device 50 via the second BMSC device 20 is described in detail in the description of the second BMSC device 20 in Fig.

The data recovery unit 104 recovers the error if an error occurs during the transmission of the MBMS data. For example, when there is a request for recovery of MBMS data from a plurality of MBMS clients on the network, the data restoring unit 104 may be configured to recover the MBMS data when there is a request for transmission of the recovered file due to downlink congestion of the network, When an error occurs in the data of the MBMS due to the server being overloaded due to network traffic or the like, the MBMS data can be recovered. In this case, the data recovery unit 104 may select a file server having the corresponding MBMS data and receive the recovered MBMS data from the selected file server based on the identifier of the error generated in the course of transmitting the MBMS data .

The database 105 stores repair symbols of MBMS data, MBMS data requests from the user device, and MBMS data received from the content provider 30. [ The database 105 may further store a reception completion response of the MBMS data indicating that the reception of the MBMS data transmitted from the user device 50 is completed. For example, when the first BMSC device 10 successfully transmits the MBMS data to the user device 50 through the network signal and data transmission device 40, the first BMSC device 10 receives the MBMS data reception completion response And the database 105 may store it.

The first interface module 106 communicates with the second BMSC device 20. The first interface module 106 physically divides the BMSC device defined in the 3GPP into the first BMSC device 10 and the second BMSC device 20 while the first BMSC device 10 and the second BMSC device 20 To perform the operation for interlocking the data.

The first interface module 106 may be a separate device that can interoperate with the second BMSC device 20 and can transmit data to and receive data from the second BMSC device 20 via the request reception part 101 ), A content transmission unit 103, and a service announcement unit (not shown), but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Although not shown in the figure, the first BMSC device 10 further includes a service announcement unit (not shown) that requests the second BMSC device 20 to announce the service announcement for the MBMS service to the user device 50 can do. The service announcement unit (not shown) can transmit information on the MBMS service to the user device 50, and can transmit information on services currently being performed or services to be started to users. In this case, the transmitted information may include information about the ID of the corresponding service or the QoS (Quality of Service) of the corresponding service.

The first BMSC device 10 may provide an end-to-end service with the user device 50 and further perform functions corresponding to the service part of the BMSC device defined in the 3GPP standard .

In another embodiment of the present invention, the first BMSC device 10 may perform authentication of the user device 50 and charge the broadcast data provided to the authenticated user device 50 no.

3 is a configuration diagram of a second BMSC device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The second BMSC device 20 can perform a network session connection between the user device 50 and the first BMSC device. Referring to FIG. 3, the session control unit 201, the data transfer unit 202, (203) and a second interface module (204).

The session control unit 201 controls a session between the user device 50 and the first BMSC device 10. [ For example, the session control unit 201 transmits a message indicating that the MBMS data is ready for transmission to a network signal of an MBMS gateway, an SGSN, a UTRAN, and the like, and the data transmission apparatus 40 to notify that the transmission of the MBMS data is imminent, The network signal and data transmission apparatus 40 to start setting necessary for transmission.

When the transmission of the MBMS data is interrupted for a certain period of time or longer, the session control unit 201 transmits a message to stop the connection of the session to the network signal and data transmission device 40 for efficient use of resources, )can do. Each of the components included in the network signaling and data transmission device 40 may release resources for the corresponding MBMS service and use it for another service when receiving a message to interrupt session connection, The session control unit 201 may transmit a network signal and a message informing the data transmission apparatus 40 that the MBMS data is ready for transmission so as to reallocate necessary resources.

When receiving a request to end the reception of the MBMS service from the user device 50, the session control unit 201 transmits a message for deactivating the corresponding service to the network signal and data transmission apparatus 40, It can be completely stopped.

The data transfer unit 202 transfers the MBMS data received from the first BMSC device 10 to the user device 50. The method by which the data transmission unit 202 transmits the MBMS data to the user device 50 may be a multicast scheme or a broadcast scheme, but is not limited thereto.

Regarding the MBMS data transmission method, generally, the multicast method is similar to the broadcast method, but unlike the broadcast method, the multicast method targets registered users. Therefore, compared with the broadcast method, Receiving a service request from the user device 50 and receiving a service interruption request from the user device 50,

The first BMSC apparatus 10 may apply forward error correction (FEC) to the MBMS data, convert the data into a file delivery over unidirectional transport (FLUTE) format, transmit the MBMS data to the second BMSC apparatus 20, Unit 202 may transmit the MBMS data to the network signal and data transmission apparatus 40 by adding a SYNC header.

The service area management unit 203 manages an MBSFN (MBMS Single Frequency Network) service area in which MBMS data is transmitted. The service area management unit 203 may synchronize a plurality of MBSFN service areas with each other. For example, the 3GPP standard may have 256 or fewer MBSFN regions in the MBSFN synchronization region, and the service area management unit 203 may use the same radio resource region for MBSFN transmission of cells belonging to this region And can have the same broadcast channel information.

The second interface module 204 communicates with the first BMSC device 10. The second interface module 204 divides the BMSC device defined in the 3GPP into the first BMSC device 10 and the second BMSC device 20 physically while the second BMSC device 20 and the first BMSC device 20 ) Can be performed. For example, the MBMS service request received from the user device 50 may be transmitted to the first BMSC device 10 and the MBMS data may be received from the first BMSC device 10. [

The second BMSC device 20 provides an end-to-end eMBMS bearer control and a user traffic path up to an eNB (Evolution Node B) which is an end of the network signal and the configuration of the data transmission apparatus 40 And can further perform functions corresponding to the network portion of the functions of the BMSC device defined in 3GPP standards.

4 is a diagram illustrating a process of providing an eMBMS service according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 shows a process of providing the MBMS data to the user device 50 by a service schedule for providing MBMS data capable of simultaneously providing a mobile broadcasting service to a plurality of fixed resources provided from the content provider 30. [

4, the first BMSC device 10 requests the second BMSC device 20 to connect a session (S401), and the second BMSC device 20 requests a connection of the network signal and the data transmission device 40 And requests the connection of the session to the MBMS gateway that is a component (S402). The second BMSC apparatus 20 receives a response to the session connection from the MBMS gateway in step S403 and the first BMSC apparatus 10 receives the response to the session connection from the second BMSC apparatus 20 in step S404 .

The EUTRAN establishes a RAN resource with the user device 50 (S409), and transmits the session connection request and the response to the IP multicast to the user device 50 (S409) (S410).

The first BMSC apparatus 10 applies FEC to the MBMS data, converts the format into the FLUTE format, and transmits the second BMSC data (S411). The second BMSC apparatus 20 adds a SYNC header to the received MBMS data And transmits it to the network signal and data transmission apparatus 40 (S412). Then, the MBMS data is transmitted to the user device 50 through the network signal and data transmission device 40 (S413).

In other words, the BMSC apparatus including the first BMSC apparatus 10 and the second BMSC apparatus 20 transmits a session connection message to the network signal and data transmission apparatus 40 to notify that data transmission is imminent, To start the necessary settings. Then, the BMSC device notifies the user device 50 of the session connection to know the location of the cell where the user device 50 to receive the service is located, receives a response to the session connection if necessary, So that they can be allocated. One-to-one channels may be allocated or one-to-many channels may be allocated according to the number of user devices 50 of a cell to receive the service, and the resource information may be transmitted to the user device 50.

5 is a diagram illustrating a management area of an eMBMS service according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, the first BMSC device 10 manages the MBMS service, and the second BMSC device 20 manages the MBSFN area information and the MBSFN synchronization area. have. In this case, as defined in the 3GPP standard, the MBSFN synchronization region may have 256 or fewer MBSFN regions, and the cells belonging to the MBSFN synchronization region may be assigned the same radio resource region for MBSFN for MBSFN transmission, Information.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a service providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The service providing method according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 includes the steps of time-series processing in the first BMSC device 10 and the second BMSC device 20 in the eMBMS system shown in FIG. Therefore, the contents described above with respect to the first BMSC device 10 and the second BMSC device 20 shown in Figs. 1 to 3 are not limited to the service according to the embodiment shown in Fig. 6 It also applies to the delivery method. In other words, the matters not described with respect to the service providing method of FIG. 6 are the same as those described for the first BMSC device 10 and the second BMSC device 20 through FIGS. 1 through 3 Will be omitted because they are readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

Referring to FIG. 6, first, communication is performed using the interface module between the first BMSC device 10 and the second BMSC device 20 (S601), and the user device 50 ) And the first BMSC device 10 (S602), and then transmits the MBMS data to the user device 50 through the first BMSC device 10. [

In one embodiment of the present invention, the three functions of a head end platform, a service, and a network, which are functions of a BMSC device defined as one component in the 3GPP standard among 3GPP standard service eMBMS, The service function and the network function are classified into the first BMSC device 10 and the second BMSC device 20 except for the headend platform so as to reduce the network dependency in providing and accommodate various operators in a service independent manner Lt; / RTI >

The service providing method according to the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 6 can also be implemented in the form of a recording medium including instructions executable by a computer such as a program module executed by a computer. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. In addition, the computer-readable medium may include both computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes both volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Communication media typically includes any information delivery media, including computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave, or other transport mechanism.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only and that those of ordinary skill in the art can readily understand that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the present invention. will be. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single entity may be distributed and implemented, and components described as being distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention

10: First BMSC device
20: second BMSC device
30: Content provider
40: network signal and data transmission device
50: User device

Claims (17)

A Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BMSC)
A first BMSC device for transmitting Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) data to a user device; And
And a second BMSC device for performing a network session connection between the user device and the first BMSC device,
Wherein the first BMSC device comprises a first interface module for communication with the second BMSC device,
Wherein the first BMSC device provides an end-to-end service with the user device.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first BMSC device and the second BMSC device are physically separated.
The method according to claim 1,
The first BMSC apparatus comprises:
A request reception unit for receiving a MBMS data request of the user device received from the second BMSC;
A contents receiving unit for receiving the MBMS data from a contents provider based on a request of the received MBMS data; And
And a content transmitter for transmitting the received MBMS data to the second BMSC device,
Wherein the MBMS data is transmitted to the user device via the second BMSC device.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the first BMSC apparatus further comprises a data recovery unit for recovering the error if an error occurs in the transmission of the MBMS data.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the first BMSC device further comprises a database for storing a repair symbol of the MBMS broadcast data, a MBMS data request from the user device and the MBMS data received from the content provider, Cast service center device.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the first BMSC apparatus further comprises a service announcement unit for requesting the second BMSC apparatus to announce a service announcement for the MBMS service to the user device.
The method according to claim 1,
The second BMSC device
A session controller for controlling a session between the user device and the first BMSC device;
A data transmission unit for transmitting the MBMS data received from the first BMSC device to the user device; And
And a service area manager for managing an MBSFN (MBMS Single Frequency Network) service area in which the MBMS data is transmitted.
8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the service area manager synchronizes a plurality of MBSFN service areas with each other.
A Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BMSC)
A first BMSC device for transmitting Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) data to a user device; And
And a second BMSC device for performing a network session connection between the user device and the first BMSC device,
Wherein the first BMSC device comprises a first interface module for communication with the second BMSC device,
Wherein the MBMS data is provided to the user device via an EPG (Electric Program Guide) according to a schedule of a broadcast service.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first BMSC device performs authentication of the user device and performs accounting for broadcast data provided to the authenticated user device.
delete A Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BMSC)
A first BMSC device for transmitting Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) data to a user device; And
And a second BMSC device for performing a network session connection between the user device and the first BMSC device,
Wherein the first BMSC device comprises a first interface module for communication with the second BMSC device,
Wherein the second BMSC device provides a traffic path for a network signal.
A method for providing a broadcast multicast service,
Performing communication between the first BMSC device and the second BMSC device;
Performing a network session connection between the user device and the first BMSC device through the second BMSC device; And
Transmitting Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) data to a user device via a first BMSC device,
Wherein the performing the network session connection comprises:
Controlling a session between the user device and the first BMSC device;
Transmitting MBMS data received from the first BMSC device to the user device; And
And managing an MBMS Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) service area in which the MBMS data is transmitted.
14. The method of claim 13,
Wherein the step of transmitting MBMS data through the first BMSC comprises:
Receiving an MBMS data request of a user device received from the second BMSC device;
Receiving the MBMS data from a content provider based on a request of the received MBMS data; And
And transmitting the received MBMS data to the second BMSC device,
And the MBMS data is transmitted to the user device through the second BMSC device.
delete In the first BMSC apparatus,
A request reception unit for receiving a MBMS data request of the user device received from the second BMSC device;
A contents receiving unit for receiving the MBMS data from a contents provider based on a request of the received MBMS data; And
And a content transmitter for transmitting the received MBMS data to the second BMSC device,
The MBMS data is transmitted to the user device through the second BMSC device,
Wherein the first BMSC device provides an end-to-end service with the user device.
In the second BMSC apparatus,
A session control unit for controlling a session between the user device and the first BMSC device;
A data transmission unit for transmitting the MBMS data received from the first BMSC device to the user device; And
And a service area manager for managing an MBMS Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) service area in which the MBMS data is transmitted.

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