TWI450519B - Method and apparatus for service identification in a wireless communication system - Google Patents

Description

Method and device for service identification in wireless communication system Cross-references to related applications

This application claims the following related applications: US Provisional Patent Application No. 60/912,661, No. 60/912, 661, entitled “Synchronization of Base Stations for Single Frequency Networks”, dated April 18, 2007 The title "Synchronization of Base Station for Single Frequency Network", titled "Wireless Communication System by Broadcasting", No. 60/913,172, issued on April 20, 2007 No. 60/953, 452, and No. 60/971,837, entitled "Synchronization of Base Stations for Single-Frequency Networks", dated September 12, 2007. These applications are incorporated by reference. In this article.

The present invention is generally directed to a wireless communication system, and more particularly to a wireless broadcast communication system.

A wireless communication network is typically a base station having a plurality of services that receive and transmit signals to devices of users in the service areas of individual base stations. The communication between the user and his or her individual base stations is maintained by the user moving from one base station to the other as the user moves to the network service area.

Many innovative services are available to customers of wireless communication carriers. One such service provides multimedia content to customers via a wireless communication network. For example, it is desirable to provide audio/video content as a customer moves over the network.

Providing multimedia content via a wireless communication network presents several challenges. For example, multimedia content is typically broadcast to users who want the content. The user desires to receive the broadcast content, decode the broadcast content, and verify the available content to determine if there is content that is of interest to the user.

In order to determine whether the broadcast content includes content of interest to the user, the user of the current system needs to decode the broadcast content and check it to determine if it contains content that the user is interested in. Decoding the broadcast content consumes resources of the user device. These resources may be used inefficiently, if the result is that there is no interest in the content of the broadcast.

Accordingly, there is a need for improved systems, apparatus, and techniques for receiving broadcast content, such as multimedia content, by a user of a wireless communication network.

The present invention includes methods, apparatuses, and systems as set forth in the written specification and claims. In one embodiment, a method for broadcasting content data to a plurality of client stations includes: receiving information about a macro-diversity region, wherein at least one packet including content data is allocated in the macro-diversity region; generating a management message Identifying the content data assigned to the macro-diversity area; and transmitting a data frame including the macro-diversity area and a data area, wherein the management information is included in the data area of the data frame area.

The management message may include a broadcast channel identifier (CID) that identifies the content material as one of the broadcast services. The management message can include a broadcast service field. Generating a management message may also include generating a management message in which information relating to the code used to encode the content material is included in the broadcast service field. At least one packet including content data for each of a plurality of different content channels may be allocated to the macro-diversity region, and generating a management message system further includes: generating a management message for identifying the different content channels The information of each person can be included in the broadcast service field. The data frame can be an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame.

In one embodiment, the data area of the data frame and the macro diversity area may be transmitted using different modulation and coding schemes. A mapping message may be generated for transmission of a macro-diversity region of the data frame, wherein the mapping message includes a broadcast channel identifier of the identification content material. In another embodiment, the plurality of client stations can be included in a single frequency network, and wherein the management information sent to a data area of the data frame includes: by using a base station of the single frequency network Transmitting a data frame including a macro diversity area and a data area, the data area including management information, wherein the transmission system of the macro-diversity area of the base station is synchronized with at least one other base station by the single frequency network The transmission of a huge diversity area.

In one embodiment, a method for identifying content data in a macro-diversity region of a data frame includes: receiving the data frame, the data The frame system includes at least one data area and a macro diversity area; the management message is decoded in one of the data areas, wherein the management message includes information to identify content data that can be used in the macro diversity area of the data frame; Information of the content data of the management message, determining whether to decode at least a portion of the macro-diversity region of the data frame; if it is determined to decode at least a portion of the macro-division region, decoding at least a portion of the macro-diversity region to obtain content data; and providing The decoded content material is presented to a user.

The information identified in the content material of the management message may include: a broadcast channel identifier (CID) that identifies the content material as one of the broadcast services. The management message can include a broadcast service field. Further, the information identified in the content material of the management message may include information about the code used to encode one of the content materials stored in the broadcast service field. The content data of the macro-diversity area may include content data for each of a plurality of different content channels, wherein the information recognized by the content information of the management message includes the information stored in the broadcast service field to identify the difference. Information about each of the content channels. Receiving the data frame can include receiving an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame. The data area and the macro-diversity area of the data frame can be coded using different modulation and coding schemes. The macro-diversity region of the received data frame can include a mapping that includes a field to store a broadcast channel identifier that identifies the content material.

An embodiment of a broadcast system using a data frame to broadcast content data to a plurality of client stations, the data frame comprising at least one data area and a giant diversity area, the system comprising: a first interface, Forming information about a huge diversity area, the macro-diversity area contains its package Contain at least one packet of content material. The system also has a controller that is configured to generate a management message that includes information to identify content data that is assigned to the macro-diversity region, wherein the management message is for transmission to the data region of the data frame. The system also includes a sender configured to transmit the management message and the content material, wherein the management message is sent to the data area of the data frame and the content data is sent to the macro diversity area of the data frame.

The management message may include a broadcast channel identifier (CID) that identifies the content material as one of the broadcast services belonging to it. The management message may also include a broadcast service field. The controller can be constructed to incorporate information about the code used to encode the content of the content in the broadcast service field. The controller may also be constructed to include information identifying each of the plurality of different content channels assigned to the macro-diversity region in the broadcast service field. The data frame can be an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame. The macro-diversity area of the data frame may include a mapping message including a broadcast channel identifier for identifying the content material.

In an embodiment of a client station, the client station receives a service broadcasted by a data frame, the data frame includes at least one data area and a giant diversity area, and the client system includes: a receiver, The composition receives the data frame. The client system also includes a decoder that constructs a management message that is decoded in the data area of the data frame, wherein the management message identifies the content material that is included in the macro-division area of the data frame. The client system is incorporated into a processor, and the constructing is determined to determine whether to decode at least a part of the giant diversity region based on information identifying the content data, and based on The determination provides an instruction to decode the one of the macrodiversity regions to the decoder, wherein the decoder is configured to decode at least a portion of the macrodiversity region based on receipt of instructions from the processor.

The management message may include a broadcast channel identifier (CID) that identifies the content material as one of the broadcast services belonging to it. The management message may also include a broadcast service field. The decoder can be constructed to obtain information about the encoding of one of the content materials from the broadcast service field. In addition, the decoder can be constructed to obtain information from the broadcast service field identifying each of a plurality of different content channels transmitted by the macro diversity area. The data frame can be an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) frame.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.

Certain embodiments as disclosed herein provide methods and systems for communicating through a broadband wireless air interface. After reading this description, how to implement the invention in various alternative embodiments and alternative applications will become apparent. However, the various embodiments of the present invention are described herein, and it is understood that the embodiments are presented by way of example only and not limitation. As such, the detailed description of the various embodiments of the invention should not be construed as limiting the scope or scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

According to one embodiment, a plurality of base station transceivers (BTS) broadcast content data to a plurality of client stations of a network. This network can be, for example, a single frequency network (SFN, single frequency). Network). As used herein, an SFN refers to a network that can simultaneously broadcast the same signal (ie, the same content) from multiple transmitters (eg, BTS) to one of the same channels. Furthermore, as used herein, the term "content material" means any material relating to any information that may be of interest to the user, such as, for example, audio (eg, music, speech, etc.), visual (eg, Pictures, videos, movies, television, etc.), text (eg, paperwork documents, spreadsheets, etc.), or other types of material that may be of interest to the user. Furthermore, as used herein, the term "broadcast service" refers to a collection of broadcast content material. For example, in one embodiment, a client station may subscribe to a specific broadcast service including one or more channels of audio/video content, such as, for example, a plurality of news channels (eg, CNN, Foss ( Fox) news, etc.), a plurality of TV channels (eg, WABC, WNBC, etc.) for a specific place, a plurality of sports channels (eg, ESPN), and the like. The channel of this collection may be provided by, for example, an application service provider (ASP) or other content provider, and the content data for each channel is encoded using a common type (eg, MPEG). Coding with resolution (eg, low resolution for displays for mobile phones, high resolution for high quality TVs, etc.).

In one embodiment, the BTS system constructs a broadcast content data to a client station, and utilizes a macro-diversity (or broadcast) area of a downlink frame of one of the communication signals transmitted by the BTS. As used herein, the term "macro-diversity region" refers to a portion of a data frame that can be applied to broadcast information. An exemplary macrodiversity region includes, for example, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA, One of the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (MBS) multicast broadcast service (MBS) areas, such as, for example, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX). The standard (ie, the 802.16 operational group of the IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) is an OFDMA data frame. A further description of the sample macrodiversity region of one of the data frames is presented below. Moreover, as used herein, the terms "macro-division area" and "broadcast area" are interchangeable.

According to one embodiment, each BTS of the broadcast content material broadcasts a management message, such as, for example, a media access control (MAC) message, which includes: identifying information of the broadcast content material. For example, the management message may include a broadcast channel identifier (CID) to identify that a particular BTS broadcasts specific content material that is recognized by the broadcast CID. For example, a BTS system can broadcast a MAC management message including one of the broadcast CIDs, and the broadcast CID system recognizes that a specific broadcast service (ie, content material associated with a specific broadcast service) is included in the broadcast by the BTS. A huge diversity area. In one embodiment, the MAC management message is broadcast over an area of the data frame that is typically used to transmit other types of MAC messages, relative to the macro-diversity area of the data frame. Moreover, in one embodiment, the MAC message may include additional information such as, for example, identifying the encoding type that is applied to the encoded content material, the resolution of the content material, and the specific channel for broadcasting to the macro diversity region. Content material (for example: Information on the identifiers of ESPN, CNN, etc.). A further description of an example MAC message is presented below, and an example location for transmitting a data frame of a MAC message and information that can be included in the example message is presented. Moreover, in still another embodiment, the management information of the broadcast data identified in the data frame may be provided by other institutions, such as, for example, using a separate additional channel to provide the management message, for example, the use is different from for sending One of the different frames of the data frame.

This MAC message can then be received by the client station and checked to determine if the BTS is content material that is interested in broadcasting the client station. If not, the client station can ignore the signals broadcast by the BTS. However, if the MAC message identifies that the BTS is broadcasting the content material desired by the client station, the client station can then decode the macro-diversity region of the data frame and extract the content material of interest.

1 is a block diagram of an example network 100 for broadcasting data to a plurality of client stations 132, in accordance with one embodiment. For exemplary purposes, network 100 will be described as being related to a network 100 in which data is broadcast to client station 132 using a macro-diversity region of a data frame such as, for example, one of the WiMAX OFDMA frames MBS regions. .

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the network 100 includes at least one client station 132, an access service network (ASN) 105, a broadcast service network 115, and an application service provider (ASP, Application service provider) 160. In this example, ASP 160 provides one or more IP packet streams that contain content material for broadcast to client station 132. As shown, the broadcast service network 115 receives IP packet strings. The received content material is streamed and processed for broadcast to the client station 132. The ASN 105 is capable of providing an access service between the broadcast service network 115 and the client station 132 to transmit content material to the client station 132.

As noted above, the ASP 160 provides one or more IP streams that contain content material for broadcast to the client station 132. Such IP streams may be provided to the broadcast service network 115 directly or, for example, via a network (not shown), such as a local area network (LAN) (eg, an Ethernet network) Network), a metro area network (MAN), or a wide area network (WAN) (eg, the Internet), or a combination thereof.

As described above, the content data may include, for example, audio (eg, music, voice, etc.), visual (eg, pictures, images, movies, television, etc.), text (eg, document processing documents, spreadsheets) , etc.), or other types of information about the content that the user is interested in. For the purpose of explanation, the content information provided will be described as audio/visual material. Moreover, in one embodiment, each of the provided IP streaming systems may include content material for a particular audio/visual channel, such as, for example, one or more IP streaming systems may include content material to provide television news programs. (eg, CNN, Flowserve News, etc.), one or more IP streaming systems may be provided to broadcast movies, one or more IP streaming systems may be provided to transmit sports programs, and the like.

In one embodiment, one of the broadcast services provided by a particular ASP 160 is identified by a single broadcast channel identifier (CID). As mentioned above, a broadcast service refers to a collection of content material that can be encoded at a particular resolution using a common coding scheme (such as, for example, MPEG) (eg, a pin) For low resolution such as small screens for mobile phones, high resolution for high definition television (HDTV), etc.). The broadcast CID system can then be used by the client station 132 to determine whether the broadcast content material contains content material that the client station desires to receive (e.g., the broadcast content data is for one of the subscription services subscribed to by the client station). For example, in one embodiment, there may be multiple ASPs 160 each providing a different broadcast service, wherein a client station 132 may only be able to receive and provide content that belongs to a particular broadcast service. Information (for example, the client station can only subscribe to the broadcast service provided by a specific ASP).

As shown, the broadcast service network 115 can include an encapsulator module 116 and a giant diversity area control module 150. The broadcast service network 115 can be operated by a single network service provider (NSP). Moreover, although for simplicity, only a single broadcast service network is illustrated, it should be understood that at the time of application, there may be multiple broadcast service networks 115 that are operated by a different NSP. These other broadcast service networks can be connected to different ASNs 105 and ASPs 160, or for example, multiple broadcast service networks can be connected to a particular ASN and/or ASP.

The encapsulator module 116 is capable of receiving an IP stream from the ASP 160 and time cutting the received IP packets. The encapsulator module 116 can then package the time-cut IP packet into a transport packet for wireless transmission of the content material. As used herein, a transport packet refers to any type of data packet that it can use to transmit data, and any type of format or agreement can be used to transmit the data. For example, in one embodiment, wherein the content data system includes The audio/visual content, the encapsulator module 116 is capable of time cutting the received IP packets and encapsulating the time-cut IP packets in a transport packet, such as, for example, an animation expert group 2 (MPEG-2, Motion Picture Expert) Group 2) Transmit packets. Moreover, in one embodiment, the encapsulator module 116 can be implemented according to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) for DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld). Standard time-cutting operations, along with the implementation of multi-protocol encapsulation with forward error correction (MPE-FEC). Moreover, in one embodiment, the encapsulator module 116 can wrap the packets (eg, transport packets) with an IP header prior to outputting the package of the package.

The encapsulator module 116 can then provide a transfer packet to the macro-division area control module 150. The macro-diversity region control module 150 can then packetize the transport frames for broadcast to the client station 132. Moreover, in one embodiment, the macro-diversity region control module 150 can further insert a stamping information into the received transport packet. The timestamp information attached to the transport packet (e.g., MPEG-2 transport packet) can be utilized by the BTS to enable individual BTSs 130 to time synchronize the transmission of the content material to the client station 132 such that each BTS 130 is simultaneously Send content material. Moreover, in one embodiment, the macro-diversity region control module 150 can further combine the plurality of receive transport packets into a larger frame (referred to herein as a "mega-frame") for use by the BTS 130. Transmission.

In one embodiment, the giant diversity regional control module 150 defines a giant The diversity area is included in a data box for transmitting content material to the client station 132. For example, the defined macrodiversity region may be a Multicast Broadcast Service (MBS) region of an OFDMA data frame such as, for example, an OFDMA data frame according to one of IEEE 802.16e. Further description of the macrodiversity region is presented below.

As shown, the ASN 105 includes a plurality of BTSs 130 and an ASN gateway 120. In one embodiment, the BTS 130 can include an antenna system that is segmented into one or more segments and each segment transmits and receives signals within a corresponding coverage area, wherein the segments are covered. The area can be the same or less than the total coverage area of the BTS. The ASN gateway 120 can provide an access gateway function between the BTS 130 and the broadcast service network 115, and can be, for example, a commercially available ASN gateway such as, for example, a Cisco ASN gateway. It should be further noted that although an ASN gateway is used in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, in other embodiments, an ASN gateway system is not required.

The defined macro-diversity zone can then be communicated to the BTS 130. The BTS 130 system can include hardware (eg, processor, memory, one or more bus bars, etc.) and software, using information received from the macro-diversity region control module 150 to establish its definition including the giant The data box for the diversity area. Such data frames may for example be an OFDMA data frame according to IEEE 802.16e. The BTS 130 system can then broadcast its OFDMA data frame including the macro diversity region. Moreover, the BTSs 130 can be synchronized such that the macro-diversity regions transmitted by the BTS 130 are identical and synchronized. It should be noted that although in this embodiment, each BTS 130 simultaneously broadcasts a common macro-diversity region, the remainder of the data frames transmitted by each BTS 130 need not include a common data of. Further explanation of the example data frame containing a large diversity region is presented below.

Client station 132 can be a mobile, roaming, or stationary unit. Client station 132 is often referred to as, for example, a mobile station, a mobile unit, a subscriber station, a wireless terminal, or the like. The client station 132 can be, for example, a wireless handheld device, a carrier mounted device, a portable device, a client room device, a fixed location device, a wireless plug-in accessory, or the like. In some cases, client station 132 can take the form of a handheld computer, a notebook computer, a wireless telephone, a personal digital assistant, a wireless email device, a personal media player, or the like. Further, client station 132 can include a receiver that receives signals broadcast by ASN 105. The client station 132 can also include one or more displays (eg, liquid crystal displays, etc.) and speakers for presenting content (eg, audio and/or visual) to a user of the client station. . Alternatively, the client station 132 can also include a storage device (eg, electrical or non-electrical) to record the received data.

It should be noted that although FIG. 1 illustrates a module for using the macro-diversity region to process incoming content material for transmitting the content material to the client station 132, in other embodiments, the alternative module system may Using, or for example, the functions performed by the modules can be combined or segmented into different modules. For example, although FIG. 1 illustrates a macro-diversity control module 150 for time-stamping such incoming data and defining a macro-diversity region, in other embodiments, the functions can be split into separate modules. . For example, in one embodiment, a single frequency network (SFN) module can utilize a time stamp to enter the content data and encapsulate the transport packets. Become a jumbo box, which in turn communicates to the giant diversity control module through a network such as an Ethernet network. The giant diversity control module of the example can then define the macrodiversity region using information received from the timestamp of the SFN module.

It should also be noted that, although for simplicity, the presently described embodiments are described with respect to a system in which the BTS 130 broadcasts content material that is only recognized by a single broadcast CID; in other embodiments, the BTS 130 It is possible to broadcast content that belongs to multiple broadcast CIDs. For example, in one embodiment, a broadcast CID system can be utilized to identify audio/visual content material of a particular ASP encoded by a coding scheme (eg, for display on a small screen such as a cell phone) Resolution of MPEG data); a different broadcast CID system can be used to identify audio/visual content data encoded by a different encoding scheme (eg for high resolution video (HDTV)) MPEG data); another different broadcast CID system can be used to identify only audio data (eg radio program planning); and so on.

2 is an illustration of an example data frame structure that can be utilized to transmit data between a BTS 130 and a client station 132. As noted above, in one embodiment, this data frame can be established by BTS 130. As shown, the structure of the data frame 202 can be divided into a plurality of sub-channels 204 (along the vertical axis of FIG. 2), each sub-channel employing a carrier frequency that is orthogonal to the carrier frequencies of the other sub-channels. . Block 202 is also divided into symbol periods 206 (along the horizontal axis of Figure 2) over time. As shown in FIG. 2, in the data frame 202, the data is available in individual symbol periods. 206 is simultaneously the carrier frequency carried in subchannel 204. Furthermore, a group of consecutive symbols can be regarded as a symbol group, and the frame 202 is divided into a fixed number of symbol groups, each of which is composed of a specific number (for example, 2, 4, etc. And so on) consist of consecutive symbols.

In the example of FIG. 2, the data frame 202 is included in the preamble 208 of one of the symbol periods 0. In symbol periods 1 and 2, the data frame 202 includes: a frame control header (FCH) 210, a downlink mapping (DL-MAP) 212, and an uplink mapping (UL-MAP) 214. . In summary, FCH 210 may include information about its configuration with respect to block 202, such as: coding scheme, message length, available subchannels, and the like. The FCH 210 may also include an overhead message including information broadcasted from a BTS 130 to at least one client station 132. Alternatively, the additional message may be included in other portions of the data box 202.

Downlink map 212 and uplink map 214 include information regarding the location of the downlink and uplink content of data frame 202. The data block 202 includes its downlink area 230 and an uplink area 232 defined by the downlink and uplink mappings. A downlink data area 236 and a macro diversity area 240 are incorporated in the downlink area 230. Although FIG. 2 illustrates one example of a macro diversity region 240 being located at the end of the downlink region 230, in other embodiments, the macro diversity region 240 may be located at other locations of the downlink region 230. In addition, the macro-diversity region 240 does not need to be continuous, but can be separated into a plurality of regions within the downlink region 230.

Downlink area 230 is available to send information from the BTS to the customer The uplink area 232 is available to send information in the opposite direction (ie, from the client station to the BTS). Again, as shown, the management message 238 can be sent from the BTS to the client station in the downlink data area 236 below the downlink area 230. Such management messages may for example be MAC management messages. Moreover, in one embodiment, the MAC management message broadcasted to the client station can be included in the initial (ie, leftmost) portion of the downlink data area 236, carrying traffic data (eg, Internet Protocol traffic). Voice over IP traffic (VOIP), World Wide Web (WWW, World Wide Web), and other types of data (eg, unicast MAC management messages) follow the downlink The MAC management message of the broadcast of the road data area 236. Similarly, the MAC management message sent from the client station to the BTS can utilize the uplink area 232 of the data frame 202. As will be discussed in further detail below, in one embodiment, one of the MAC management messages that identify the content material that is broadcast in the macro-diversity region can use the downlink data region 236 to broadcast to the client station and manage the message with other MACs. Broadcast for the same or similar method broadcast to the client station.

As described above, the macro-diversity area 240 of the downlink area 230 can be utilized by the BTS to broadcast content material to the client station, wherein the content material belonging to a particular broadcast service is identified by a broadcast CID. For simplicity, in the presently described embodiments, the broadcast content data will all belong to a single broadcast service identified by a single broadcast CID. However, in other embodiments, the macro diversity area 240 may carry multiple broadcast services. Each of them is identified by a unique broadcast CID. Furthermore, as described above, each particular broadcast service system may contain content material of a plurality of different streams, such as For example: for transmitting one or more streams of news program planning (eg: CNN, Flowserve News, etc.), for transmitting a sports program plan (eg, ESPN), and the like.

As shown, the macro-diversity region 240 can include a macro-diversity region map 242 that defines the size and content of the macro-diversity region 240. In one embodiment, the macro-diversity region map 242 is not a macro-diversity region 240 that defines a data frame 202 for which the map 242 is located. The macro-diversity region map 242 is defined by one of the subsequent data frames 202. The size and content of the diversity area 240. For example, the macrodiversity region map 242 can be defined in the next data frame of time (ie, the data frame sent immediately after the mapping 242 is the data frame located there), or the second following the current frame. The size and content of the macro-division area of one of the data frames 202, or one of the other subsequent data frames of the material. The mapping 242 may further include an information element (IE), which includes: identifying a broadcast CID of the broadcast service included in the macro diversity area 240, or including content data belonging to different broadcast services in the macro diversity area 240. Multiple broadcast CIDs of an embodiment.

In one embodiment, the BTS 130 can transmit different regions of the block 202 using different modulation schemes. For example, in one embodiment, the BTS system may use a simple modulation (eg, BPSK) to transmit the preamble 208, apply a different modulation scheme (eg, QPSK) to transmit the downlink region, and apply another tone. A variant (e.g., QAM) is used to transmit the macro diversity area 240, and another modulation scheme (e.g., QPSK) is used to transmit the uplink area 232.

3 is an illustration of an illustration of a layering module that performs its processing in accordance with various protocol modules to implement an embodiment of the present invention. One or more instances of each illustrated protocol module may exist on each side (transmitting and receiving side) of a wireless air interfacing link. That is, for example, the layered module can be implemented by software stored in the memory and included in each of the BTS 130 and the macro-diversity area control module 150 and one or more of the individual client stations 132. Executed by the device.

These protocol module groups are two unique types: a bearer agreement module 302 and a non-carrier protocol module 304. A carrier agreement module includes an agreement for transmission/reception of content (payload) data across empty intermediaries, and a non-carriage agreement module includes a cross-intermediate interface An agreement for the transmission/reception of control messages or overhead messages. These layers are also referred to as carrier and non-carrier layers, depending on the type of protocol module associated with the individual layers. The carrier and non-carrier protocol modules can be implemented on the receiving side and the transmitting side of the broadcast system.

As shown in FIG. 3, the layered module 300 can include a dialog control layer module 310, a convergence layer module 312, a MAC layer module 314, a MAC control layer module 318, and an entity (PHY). ) Layer 316. In one embodiment, the dialog control layer module 310 provides system configuration and state maintenance. Typically, the dialog control layer module 310 includes non-delivery agreements and therefore does not carry payloads representing other agreements. Although illustrated in FIG. 3, in the presently described embodiments, there may be no agreement defined for the dialog control layer module 310, as the presently described embodiments are described with respect to a broadcast system, and thus It does not need to be maintained at one of the client station 132 and the BTS 130 Mutual state.

In one embodiment, the convergence layer module 312 provides its pipeline for one of the upper layer protocols/applications, and transmits its data through a media access control (MAC) layer module 314 as discussed further below. In summary, the convergence layer module 312 defines protocols, interfaces, encapsulations, and mappings to conform and interface to the upper layers. In one embodiment, the convergence layer module 312 implements a Handheld Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB-H) Animation Expert Group 2 (MPEG-2) Transport Stream Convergence Protocol (TSCP) to be efficient. The DVB-H MPEG-2 transport stream packet is mapped for transmission as a MAC service data unit (SDU).

The MAC layer module 314 on the transmitting side (e.g., in the macro-diversity area control module 150) includes a scheduler that can receive MACs from its upper layer regarding the physical layer (PHY) configuration of the data-filled layer (PHY). Service Data Unit (SDU). The MAC layer module 314 can also define a burst configuration that determines the size of the data bursts (including: OFDMA size) that are placed in the macro-diversity region of an OFDMA frame given the size of the macro-diversity region of a data frame. With location.

The MAC layer module 314 can also include a carrier protocol for processing the MAC protocol data unit (PDU) that it applies to a physical layer 316. In one embodiment, the MAC layer module 314 includes a shared messaging MAC protocol that transmits (at a BTS) or receives (at a client station) a shared signaling control PDU. In a BTS, the shared messaging MAC protocol maps the shared messaging control PDU (such as the macro diversity area MAP, and the MAC management PDU) to the physical layer 316 channel. The MAC layer module 314 also includes a traffic (traffic) Channel MAC protocol, which places and fetches MAC PDUs to and from the physical layer 316 channel. In one embodiment of its use of WiMAX, the MAC layer module 314 can include a MAC Common Part Sublayer (MCPS) according to one of the IEEE 802.16 specifications.

The layered model of FIG. 3 includes a MAC Control Layer module 318. The MAC Control Layer Module 318 is an air link established between a BTS and a client station. The MAC Control Layer Module 318 can in turn manage an overall state machine that determines one of the states of the macro-diversity area airlink. The MAC Control Layer Module 318 also manages network initialization. Moreover, the MAC Control Layer module 318 can be responsible for establishing and transmitting management messages, such as, for example, identifying one of the MAC data of the content material that is included in the macro-diversity region of a data frame. A further description of the example management message for the content data of the macrodiversity region of the content material identified in the macrodiversity region is set forth below.

In FIG. 3, the physical layer 316 provides physical layer transmissions for airlink messages, such as, for example, waveforms formed on the transmitting side to transmit content material or waveforms received from one of the receiving sides to reconstruct the PDU.

As described above, in one embodiment, the BTS can broadcast a MAC management message to the client station to identify the content material that it incorporates into the macro-diversity region. In one embodiment, the MAC management message may be a Service Identity Information-Advertise (SII-ADV) MAC management message, such as described in IEEE 802.16e. Furthermore, in one embodiment, a type/length/value element can be incorporated into the SII-ADV message, which can be used to carry a broadcast link for content material that is included in the macro-diversity (or broadcast) area of the data frame. Line identifier (CID) information. In addition, The TLV system may include information about the services available to the macrodiversity region, as will be discussed in more detail below. This MAC management message can be a periodic broadcast without a request, or, for example, a client station can request that the message be sent.

Table 1 below shows an example of its SII-ADV message according to one of IEEE 802.16e, which can be used as a MAC management message to identify content material to a client station.

As shown in the example of Table 1, the SII-ADV management message includes multiple fields. The first field called "Management Message Pattern" is used to A MAC management message identifying the type of the message, and in this example, the value is set to 68 to identify the message as a SII-ADV message, in accordance with IEEE 802.16e.

The second field of the SII-ADV message for this example is referred to as the "Network Service Provider (NSP) List TLV" and this example is an option. If present, this field series is related to the NSP associated with the ASP providing the content material. For example, as described above, in one embodiment, a particular ASP system can be connected to a plurality of broadcast service networks, each operated by a different NSP for broadcasting content material via one or more ASNs. Customer desk. In this example, the NSP table column TLV field includes a 24-bit NSP identification for identifying each NSP associated with each ASP. As such, the size of this field depends on the number of associated NSPs (ie, this field size is the length of three bytes for the number of NSPs). Furthermore, in the case where the ASP and NSP functions are combined in a single service provider, this field may be unincorporated.

The third field of the SH-ADV message for this example is referred to as the "NSP Change Count TLV." This field is optional and may not always be present in some embodiments. This field is only the number of changes counted in the NSP table column TLV and is incremented by 1 each time the NSP table column TLV is changed. In one embodiment, if present, the NSP change count TLV system length is one byte and is incremented by one (modulo 256) each time the NSP table is changed.

The fourth field of the SII-ADV message is called the "Broadcast Service Release TLV". In this example, this TLV series provides a broadcast service that can be used in a large diversity area of a box. In this example, a broadcast service release TLV system can be The SII-ADV message is included for each broadcast service that can be used in the macro-diversity area. In this embodiment, each broadcast service release TLV system includes a 2-bit long broadcast CID and a 2-byte broadcast service type identifier for multi-byte multiplication by the total length of available services.

4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a broadcast service release TLV (also referred to herein as a broadcast service tag). As shown in FIG. 4, a broadcast service tag 402 can include fields 404 and 406, for example, two sixteen (16) bits. The first field 404 is a broadcast service CID field that includes a broadcast CID for the associated broadcast service. The second field 406 is a broadcast service type field. In one embodiment, the broadcast service type field 406 includes two sub-fields, namely an encoding profile field 408 and a service profile field 410. The coded profile field 408 includes information about its encoded material characteristics for the service. For example, the encoding profile may include information about its associated broadcast service, such as: the encoded version of the application (MPEG, WMAV, etc.), the encoding rate, the frame rate, and the encoding for its broadcast service. The resolution of the content data. In one embodiment, the resolution may be a type of client device that is utilized by a client station to identify that it has access to the service. For example, some client devices, such as cell phones, or PDAs, may be services that are not accessible to a particular resolution, while another client device, such as a laptop, may be capable of accessing that particular resolution. Service.

The service profile field 410 includes information identifying the channels available for the broadcast service of the macro-diversity area, such as, for example, a television broadcast station (such as ABC, or NBC) included in the macro-division area. For example, service The profile field 410 can include an identifier that identifies each of the available content channels (eg, an encoded text item). In yet another embodiment, the service profile field 410 includes information that identifies individual pieces of content (such as, for example, ABC's evening news) that are identified in the macro-diversity area. In other embodiments, combinations of information identifying such services are available.

In yet another embodiment, the broadcast service type field 406 is operable to store its profile number corresponding to a particular broadcast service type. For example, a particular profile number can be used to identify its type of channel coding for the broadcast service (eg, MPEG at a particular resolution), and the channel it is included in the broadcast service (eg, CNN, Fox news, ESPN, etc.). That is, for example, a profile number can be used to identify a group of channels that are encoded using MPEG and have low resolution for display on a cell phone. A different profile number can be used to identify the same group. The group's channels are encoded as having a higher resolution for display on the television, and a different numbering can be used to identify channels having a different group of one particular resolution, and so on. Or, for example, in one embodiment of applying an encoded profile field and a service profile field, one or both of the fields may utilize a profile field to identify a broadcast service The nature of a particular subset (eg, coding style, and available content channels, respectively).

A client station can decode a received SII-ADV message and determine whether the macro-diversity area is content material of interest based on the information of the message. If there is content material of interest, the client station can decode the macro diversity area and apply the included macro diversity map to receive from the giant diversity area. Expected content material. If it is determined that there is no broadcast service of interest or that there is no broadcast service that can be decoded by the client station, the client station can ignore and not decode the macro diversity area. In this way, the client station can save resources.

In one embodiment, the client station determines whether there is interest content in the macro-diversity area by checking the broadcast CID of the broadcast service tag that is included in the received SII-ADV message. If the broadcast CID matches a broadcast CID stored by the client station (eg, the client station subscribes to the broadcast service identified by the stored broadcast CID), the client station can decode the macro diversity area and extract Content of interest to the client station.

In another embodiment, even if the broadcast CID system does not correspond to one of the subscription services subscribed to by the client station, the client station can check the broadcast service type field 406 to determine whether the macro-diversity region includes content materials of interest to the client station. It is coded using a coding scheme and resolution supported by the client station. For example, if the client station desires to receive the CNN and the client station does not receive one of the messages including the broadcast CID for one of the broadcast services subscribed to the client station, the client station can verify the broadcast service. The pattern field 406 is to see if the CNN is included in the macro diversity area and to see if the client station supports its encoding scheme for encoding the CNN channel. If the desired content is present and encoded using a supported encoding scheme, the client station can then decode and derive from the macro-diversity region to extract the content material of interest to the client station. Moreover, in this embodiment, before extracting the content material from the macro-diversity area, the client station can display a question to ask the user whether to receive the content material of the self-broadcast service and if the user The cost to the user (if present) selected to extract the content material. In this embodiment, if the user selects to extract content data, a MAC management message can be sent from the client station and includes information about the client station, which can be forwarded to the ASP for billing purposes. It should be noted that these are merely examples of how the client station applies information to the broadcast service tag 402 to determine whether to decode and extract content material from the macro-diversity region.

5 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of establishing a management message to identify content material available for use in one of the macro-diversity regions of a data frame. For purposes of illustration, FIG. 5 is described with respect to a management message that is a SII-ADV message including a broadcast service tag, such as shown in FIG. Figure 5 will be described in further detail with respect to Figure 1 above. The flow begins at block 502 where a BTS 130 receives a service profile of a broadcast service that is a macro-diversity region provided to a data frame transmitted by the BTS 130. For example, the service profile of the broadcast service may include a broadcast CID for the broadcast service, a coding pattern and resolution for encoding the content material, a service type (such as a broadcast television service, or a pay-view service), And information identifying specific services, such as: providing a particular television broadcast station for one of the broadcast services. In yet another embodiment, the service profile may include information identifying the individual pieces of content in the macro-division area, such as: broadcasting a particular television show.

Furthermore, as described above, in one embodiment, the broadcast service type can be identified by the client station at a service profile number that can be found in a table to identify the content of the channels and to encode the content data. Information about the coding scheme and resolution. So, in this example, BTS 130 The received service profile can include the broadcast CID and a service profile number for the broadcast service. The service profile can be provided, for example, by the ASP 160. For example, the ASP 160 can utilize a management message plan to communicate its management information including one of the service profiles to, for example, the ASN gateway 120, which is then assigned. The service profile is to the BTS 130. In one embodiment, the management message may be provided by the ASP 160 to an element manager (not shown) that is included in the ASN 105, which in turn provides the management message to the ASN gateway 120, or for example, directly to the BTS 130. Or, for example, where only one broadcast service is included in the macro-diversity region defined by the macro-division regional control module 150, the service profile may be stored by the ASN gateway 120 or the BTS 130. For example, during installation and supply of the ASN gateway 120 or the BTS 130, respectively.

Flow then continues to block 504 where a MAC Control Layer module executing at BTS 130 establishes a broadcast service tag, such as the one described above with respect to FIG. At block 510, the MAC Control Layer module is followed by the Giant Diversity Region Control Module 150 to determine if there are more broadcast services included in the giant diversity region provided to the BTS 130. If there is an additional broadcast service, the flow continues to block 502 and the service profile is extracted or obtained for a broadcast service that is included under the macro-diversity region, as described above. Next, a new broadcast service tag 402 is determined for this broadcast service. At block 510, if it is determined that there are no additional services to publish for inclusion in the macro-diversity region, then flow continues to block 512. At block 512, the BTS 130 combines the broadcast service to issue the TLV to a SII-ADV message, such as the one described above with respect to Table 1. As mentioned above, In one embodiment, the macro-diversity region control module 150 defines a macro-diversity region that includes the content material and provides the defined macro-diversity region to the BTS 130 for inclusion in the data frame established by the BTS 130. This establishment of the macrodiversity region and the provision of the macrodiversity region to the BTS 130 can be performed simultaneously with the BTS 130 for establishing the SII-ADV message.

Next at block 516, the BTS 130 can combine the data frames sent by the BTS 130 to the client station 132, such as the data frame 202 of FIG. As described above, in one embodiment, the SII-ADV message is a MAC management message. Thus, in one embodiment, the SII-ADV message is sent by the BTS 130 to the downlink data area 236 under the data frame 202 and the content data. It is included in the macro-diversity area 240 of the data frame 202. Again, as described above, the BTS 130 can utilize different modulation and coding schemes to transmit different regions of the block 202. For example, in one embodiment, BTS 130 can utilize QPSK to transmit downlink region 236 and BTS 130 can utilize 64 QAM to transmit macro diversity region 240. Moreover, in one embodiment, each of the BTSs 130 utilizes the same modulation and coding scheme to simultaneously transmit the macrodiversity region. However, the BTS 130 can each utilize different modulation and coding schemes to transmit the individual downlink regions 236 that are included in the frames sent by the various BTSs 130.

As noted above, in one embodiment, the BTS 130 is capable of periodically broadcasting SII-ADV messages. For example, the BTS 130 can periodically broadcast SII-ADV messages to the client station 132, such as for example, in each box, every other box, every fourth box, etc., for broadcast by the BTS 130. Furthermore, if the SII-ADV message is established and transmitted, the BTS 130 is tied to block 542. Upon receiving a new or modified service profile, the process may return to block 502 and establish a new broadcast service release TLV or modify an existing broadcast service release TLV.

At block S18, the data frame broadcast by the BTS 130 is then received by a client station 132, which decodes the downlink data region 236 and extracts the SII-ADV message. At block 520, the client station 132 then determines if the SII-ADV message indicates that the macro-diversity area 240 of the block 202 is content that includes interest to the client station 132. The client station 132 can determine this by extracting the broadcast service tag 402 from the SII-ADV message and checking it to see if there is a broadcast service tag 402 that includes one of the broadcast CIDs, the broadcast CID identifying that it includes the client station 132 one of the interested content broadcast services. Moreover, client station 132 can also verify the broadcast service type field 406 to determine if the content of interest is available for macro-diversity area 240 and is encoded in a manner supported by client station 132.

For example, if a client station 132 subscribes to a broadcast service that is recognized by a particular broadcast CID, and the user of the client station 132 wants to view a particular channel (eg, CNN), the client station 132 can The broadcast CID of the SII-ADV message is first checked to see if it includes a broadcast CID for the broadcast service subscribed to by the client station. If so, the client station can then verify the broadcast service type field 406 to determine if the broadcast content includes the desired channel and whether the desired channel is encoded in a manner supported by the client station. For example, if the client's mobile phone is a mobile phone, it may only be able to decode and display content data that is encoded by MPEG and has low resolution.

Or, for example, in another embodiment, a broadcast CID system can It is used by systems that identify the broadcast service as well as the specific broadcast content and the code used. Alternatively, in yet another embodiment, the client station 132 may first look for one of the SH-ADV messages to broadcast a CID that corresponds to one of the subscription services subscribed to by the client station. However, if the client station 132 is not found in any of the received SII-ADV messages and the broadcast CID is not found, the client station 132 can then view the broadcast service type field 406 to determine if a macro-diversity region includes the client station. 132 Interested content and determining whether the content material is encoded in a manner supported by client station 132. If so, the client station 132 can extract, decode, and provide the desired content material to the user. Moreover, in this example, the client station 132 can first query the client station 132 whether to extract and decode the content material and the cost to the user (if any) before decoding the content material. . Moreover, if the user decides to receive the content material, the client station 132 can send a billing message indicating the decision to the BTS 130, so that the information for the client station 132 can be forwarded to the ASP 160 for the user. Billing.

If the client station 132 determines that the macro-diversity area 240 is to include content of interest to the user, the client station can then decode the macro-diversity area 240 and provide the content material to the user, at block 522. As described above, the macro-diversity region 240 can employ a different modulation and coding scheme than one of the downlinks 236. However, if the client station 132 determines that the macro-diversity area 240 does not include content of interest to the client station 132, the client station 132 returns to block 518 and continues to verify the received SII-ADV message to find that the transmission contains the client station. A BTS 130 of one of the content macroblock regions 240 is desired.

Although Figure 5 is about establishing a broadcast service tag and SII-ADV message. As discussed in the BTS 130, in other embodiments, such real systems may be established by different elements. For example, in one embodiment, the macro-diversity region control module 150 or the ASP 160 may be responsible for establishing such entities and providing them to the BTS 130 for transmission by the BTS 130 to the downlink region of the data frame.

Figure 6 is a block diagram showing a simplified embodiment of a BTS. For illustrative purposes, Figure 6 will be discussed with respect to Figure 1 above. As shown, the BTS 130 can include a first interface 602, a controller 604, a storage device 606, a transceiver 608, and an antenna 610. The interface 602 can include hardware and/or software for receiving content material such as, for example, a macro-diversity region defined by the macro-diversity region control module 150 and a service profile provided by the ASP 160. The transceiver 608 can include hardware and/or software for transmitting and/or receiving data such as, for example, MAC management messages, content material, and the like. For example, as described above, in one embodiment utilizing an OFDMA frame in accordance with IEEE 802.16e, the transceiver 608 can be utilized to transmit the frame downlink area and the macro diversity area and receive the uplink area. Antenna 610 can be, for example, any type of antenna such as those commercially available.

For example, the controller 604 can include one or more processors configured to generate a MAC management message, such as, for example, the SII-ADV message described above that includes a broadcast service field label 402, such as: FIG. The above. Controller 604 can then be constructed to create a data frame that includes a downlink area and a macro diversity area, such as: it is a macro diversity area 240 and mapping 242 discussed above with respect to FIG. The generated MAC management message (including: the above SII-ADV message) may be by the controller 604. It is placed in the downlink area for transmission to the client station 132. The controller 604 can be configured to manage the synchronous transmission of the macro-diversity region of the BTS 130, such that the macro-diversity region transmitted by the BTS 130 of the network 100 utilizes a common modulation and coding scheme by the BTS 130. Synchronized transmission, as described above. Furthermore, as described above, the downlink areas transmitted by the various BTSs 130 of the network 100 can be transmitted using different modulation and coding schemes.

The storage 606 can include a volatile and/or non-electrical storage. For example, in one embodiment, the storage 606 can include: one or more non-electrical storage devices, such as, for example, read only memory (ROM), non-electrical random storage. NVRAM (non-volatile random access memory), etc.; and one or more power-based storage devices such as, for example, random access memory (RAM). The storage 606 can be used to store information such as used by the controller 604 to create a data frame. For example, in one embodiment, where the macro-diversity region control module 150 is only used to transmit content material belonging to one broadcast service, the storage 606 can store its broadcast CID for the broadcast service, and for example Identify the information that is used to encode the encoded version of the content material and to identify the information that is part of the specific content channel of the broadcast service. As described above, in one example, the information identifying the encoded code can be a client station can look up a profile number in a table to determine the encoding protocol being used and other information about how the content material is encoded (eg, : Resolution of content data). Similarly, the information stored by the storage device can include a client station that can be found by the customer. The content profile number of one of the tables stored by the station determines, for example, a particular content channel that is carried in the macro-diversity area of the received data frame.

Furthermore, in one example, wherein the macro-diversity region is utilized to carry content material belonging to a plurality of broadcast services, the controller 604 can be further adapted to receive and process the data received from, for example, an ASP (which provides a broadcast service). Management information. For example, referring back to FIG. 1, the ASP 160 can provide its management information including the broadcast CID for the provided content material and the encoded information of the identification content data and its identification provided by the ASP 160 to the broadcast service network. 115 specific content information. Controller 604 can then store this information in storage 606 and utilize the received information to generate management messages that are identified by the content material that is included in the macro-diversity area.

Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a portion of a client station. As shown in the example of FIG. 7, the subscriber station 700 includes a receiver 702, a processor 705, a user interface 710, and an output device 708. Presentation device 708 can be, for example, any device capable of presenting content material to a user, such as, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a high definition television (HDTV), a speaker, and the like. The user interface 710 can include any device that can allow the client station 700 to receive information from the user, such as, for example, a keypad, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen, a microphone, and the like.

The storage 712 can include any combination of electrical/non-electrical storage (eg, RAM, ROM, etc.). The storage 712 can be used to store content that is of interest to the client station 700, such as, for example, a broadcast CID of a broadcast service subscribed to by the client station, and specific content material that the user desires to receive (eg, CNN, ESPN, etc.) Etc.), with the customer station 700 The current capabilities (eg, which encoding format the client station 700 can decode, and the resolution or other parameters of the presentation device 708).

In one embodiment, the user can use the user interface 710 to input information about the content that the user is interested in, which is then stored in the storage 712 by the controller 706. For example, in one embodiment, wherein the presentation device 708 is a display, the presentation device 708 can present to the display information about the available broadcast service and its associated content material to the user. The user system can then select the particular content that the user is interested in using the user interface 710, and the controller 706 then stores it in the storage 712. For example, the user can enter information via the user interface 710 indicating that the user wants to receive a particular sports channel. Controller 706 can then store this information in storage 712. Or, for example, in one embodiment, wherein: the client station 700 includes a transmitter to allow two-way communication, and one of the user interfaces 710 can be accessed via a network (such as a WiMAX network). The communication is in an ASP to subscribe to the broadcast service provided by ASP. The ASP system can then send a broadcast CID for the broadcast service, along with any decryption information, for example, if the broadcast content material is encrypted by the ASP to the client station 700. Controller 706 can then store the received information in storage 712.

The receiver 702 can include, for example, an antenna and hardware and/or software for receiving data transmitted from a BTS and communicating the received data to a processor 705. The processor 705 can include, for example, a decoder module 704 that is responsible for decoding the signals it receives from a BTS and forwarding the decoded signals. (e.g., content material) to a presentation device 708. The processor system may further include a controller that is responsible for the management of the client station 700, such as, for example, providing MAC management, and the like.

In operation, when the client station 700 receives a data frame from a BTS, the decoder module 704 recognizes and locates the beginning of the data frame. The decoder module 704 is then to decode at least a portion of the received data. For example, referring back to the data frame of the example of FIG. 2, the decoder module 704 can decode the preamble 208, the FCH 210, the DL map 212, the UL map 214, and the downlink data region 236.

Controller 706 can then analyze the decoded data and identify any MAC management messages for client station 700 in downlink data region 236. As described above, and with reference back to Table 1 and FIG. 4, in one embodiment, an SH-ADV message (having a value of 68 for one of the management message type fields) can be utilized by the system to send its identification to Information on the content data of the macro-diversity area 240 of the data frame 202. The controller 706 (when analyzing the received MAC management message) can determine by analyzing the management message type field that the received message is for one of the client stations 700 SII-ADV messages.

Controller 706 can then extract the broadcast service tag 402 from the SII-ADV message and verify the information it contains to determine if the macro-diversity area 240 is content that is of interest to the client station 700. For example, the controller 706 can extract its stored information about the content of interest from the storage 712 and compare the information with the information it receives from the broadcast service tag 402. As described above, in one embodiment, the storage 712 can store its broadcast CID for content of interest to the client station. In this instance, control The controller 706 may only analyze the broadcast CID it receives on the broadcast service tag 402 to determine if there is one that matches one of the stored broadcast CIDs. Or for example, the client station may extract information from the storage 712 about its presentation capabilities of the client station 700 and content material (eg, sports programs) that are of particular interest or interest to the user. The controller 706 can then compare the extracted information with the information of the received broadcast service tag 402 to determine if there is a match (ie, the macro diversity zone contains the content channel of interest and is encoded by the client station. One way). If so, the controller 706 can determine that the macro-diversity region contains content that is of interest to the client station. Furthermore, as discussed above with respect to block 520 of FIG. 5, if it is determined that the macro-diversity region contains content of interest to the user and the user has not subscribed to the particular broadcast service it receives, the client The user of station 700 may be asked if he or she would like to receive the content material and its fees.

If the controller 706 determines that there is content material of interest, the processor 706 can direct the decoder module 704 to decode the macro-diversity region of the received data and provide content for decoding of the desired content. The data is presented to presentation device 708 for presentation to a user. However, if there is no content material of interest, or the characteristics of the service indicate that the service cannot be decoded by the client station, the processor 706 can direct the decoder module 704 without decoding the received data. The diversity area, thus the resources stored in the client station, such as: electricity.

Although the processor 705 is illustrated as a single device that includes a separate software module, it should be noted that in other embodiments, the processor 705 can include a plurality of hard disks that are constructed to operate in a manner such as that described above. body Devices (eg ASIC, DSP, etc.) and/or software modules. For example, in one embodiment, the decoder 704 of the processor 705 and the controller 706 may be implemented by a separate piece of hardware, or may be a combination of hardware.

Various implementations of the invention are implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of such techniques. Some implementations include one or more computer programs executed by one or more computing devices. In summary, each computer system includes one or more processors, one or more data storage components (eg, a volatile or non-electrical memory module and a continuous optical and magnetic storage device) , such as: hard disk and floppy disk drives, CD-ROM drives and tape drives), one or more input devices (eg interface, mouse, and keyboard), and one or more output devices (eg display control) Taiwan and printing machine).

The computer program includes executable code that is typically stored on a persistent storage medium and then copied to memory upon execution. At least one processor executes the code by extracting program instructions from the memory in a predetermined order. When the code is executed, the computer receives the data from the input and/or storage device, performs the work on the data, and then transmits the resulting data to the output and/or storage device.

Various illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that additional embodiments are possible and are within the scope of the invention.

Therefore, the present invention is not limited to only the implementations described above. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the various illustrative modules and method steps described in connection with the above-described figures and embodiments disclosed herein can be practiced frequently. It is an electronic hardware, a soft body, a firmware or a combination of the foregoing. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative modules and method steps are summarized as being described above in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as a hardware or soft system depends on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. A person skilled in the art can implement the described functional changes in a manner that is specific to the particular application, and such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the invention. In addition, clusters of functions within a module or step are for ease of illustration. Particular functions may be moved from one module or step to another without departing from the invention.

In addition, the illustrative modules and method steps described in connection with the implementations disclosed herein may be through a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Application specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or designed to implement the methods described herein Implemented or implemented in any combination of functions. A general purpose processor can be a microprocessor, and in the alternative, the processor can be any processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in a DSP core, or any other such Architecture.

Furthermore, the steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the implementations disclosed herein may be directly implemented in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module can be resident In RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, scratchpad, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium, including Network storage media. An exemplary storage medium can be coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from the storage medium or write information to the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may also be resident in an ASIC.

The above description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable a person skilled in the art to make or use the invention. The various modifications of the implementations will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles described herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that the description and drawings herein are representative of the embodiments of the invention It is further understood that the scope of the invention is to be construed as being limited by the scope of the invention, and the scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

100‧‧‧Network

105‧‧‧Access Service Network (ASN)

115‧‧‧Broadcast service network

116‧‧‧encapsulator module

120‧‧‧ASN gateway

130‧‧‧Base Station Transceiver (BTS)

132‧‧‧Customer Desk

150‧‧‧ Giant Diversity Regional Control Module

160‧‧‧Application Service Provider (ASP)

202‧‧‧Information Box

204‧‧‧Subchannel

206‧‧‧ symbol period

208‧‧‧Previous

210‧‧‧Box Control Header (FCH)

212‧‧‧Downlink Mapping (DL-MAP)

214‧‧‧Uplink Mapping (UL-MAP)

230‧‧‧Downlink area

232‧‧‧Uplink area

236‧‧‧Downlink data area

238‧‧‧Management Message

240‧‧‧ Giant Diversity Area

242‧‧‧ Giant Diversity Region Mapping

304‧‧‧Non-delivery agreement module

305‧‧‧ Carrying the agreement module

310‧‧‧Dialog Control Layer Module

312‧‧‧Convergence layer module

314‧‧‧MAC layer module

316‧‧‧ physical layer

318‧‧‧MAC Control Layer Module

402‧‧‧Broadcast Service Label

404‧‧‧Broadcast Service CID Field

406‧‧‧Broadcast service type field

408‧‧‧Coded profile field

410‧‧‧Service Profile Field

602‧‧‧ first interface

604‧‧‧ Controller

606‧‧‧Storage device (storage)

608‧‧‧ transceiver

610‧‧‧Antenna

700‧‧‧User Desk

702‧‧‧ Receiver

704‧‧‧Decoder

705‧‧‧ processor

706‧‧‧ Controller

708‧‧‧ Display device

710‧‧‧User interface

712‧‧‧Storage

The above and other aspects, advantages and details of the present invention are set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, but rather to illustrate the principles of the invention.

1 is a block diagram of an example network in accordance with one embodiment in which a data frame containing a macro-diversity region can be utilized to broadcast data to a plurality of client stations.

2 is an illustration of an example data frame structure that can be utilized to transmit data between a BTS and a client station, in accordance with one embodiment.

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a layered module that performs processing in accordance with various protocol modules in accordance with one embodiment.

4 is a diagram illustrating an example broadcast service tag release in accordance with one embodiment.

5 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method for establishing a broadcast service publishing TLV for inclusion in an SII-ADV message, in accordance with one embodiment.

6 is a simplified block diagram illustrating an example giant diversity region control module in accordance with one embodiment.

Figure 7 is a simplified block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a client station portion in accordance with one embodiment.

100‧‧‧Network

105‧‧‧Access Service Network (ASN)

116‧‧‧encapsulator module

120‧‧‧Single Frequency Network (SFN) Adapter Module

130‧‧‧Base Station Transceiver (BTS)

132‧‧‧Customer Desk

150‧‧‧ Giant Diversity Regional Control Module

Claims (22)

A method for broadcasting content data to a plurality of client stations, the method comprising: receiving information about a macro-diversity region, wherein at least one packet including content data is allocated in the macro-diversity region; generating a management message to identify Allocating content data to the macro-diversity region; and transmitting a data frame including the macro-division region and a data region, the data frame being an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data frame, the identification being included in the giant The management information of the content material of the diversity area is included in the data area of the data frame, and the management message includes a broadcast channel identifier (CID), which identifies the content material as one of the broadcast services. The method of claim 1, wherein the management message comprises a broadcast service field. The method of claim 2, wherein generating a management message further comprises: generating a management message, wherein the information about the code used to encode the content material is included in the broadcast service field. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one packet including content data for each of the plurality of different content channels is included in the macro-diversity region, and generating a management message system further comprises: generating a management message , in which information for identifying each of the different content channels is included in the broadcast service field. For example, the method of claim 1 of the patent scope further includes: using different modulation and coding schemes to send the data area of the data frame Domain and giant diversity area. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating a mapping message for transmission of the macro-diversity region of the data frame, wherein the mapping message includes a broadcast channel identifier that identifies the content material. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of client stations are included in a single frequency network, and wherein the management information sent in the data area of the data frame comprises: using the single frequency network a base station for transmitting a data frame including the macro diversity area and the data area, the data area including the management message, wherein the transmission system of the macro-diversity area of the base station is synchronized with the single frequency The transmission of a macro-diversity area of one of the at least one other base station of the network. A method for identifying content data of a macro-diversity region of a data frame, the data frame comprising at least one data region and a macro-diversity region, the method comprising: receiving the data frame, the data frame is an orthogonal segment Frequency Multiple Access (OFDMA) data frame; decoding a management message in the data area, the management message including information to identify content data available for the macro-diversity area of the data frame, the management message including a broadcast channel identifier (CID), which identifies the content material as one of the broadcast services; determines whether to decode at least a part of the macro-diversity region of the data frame based on the information of the content data identified by the management message, the management message identification is available for The content of the giant diversity area of the data frame; If it is determined to decode at least a portion of the macrodiversity region, decoding at least a portion of the macrodiversity region to obtain content material; and providing the decoded content material for presentation to a user. The method of claim 8, wherein the management message comprises a broadcast service field. The method of claim 9, wherein the information identified in the content information of the management message comprises: information about the code used to encode one of the content materials stored in the broadcast service field. The method of claim 9, wherein the content data in the macro-diversity region includes content data for each of a plurality of different content channels; and the information that is identified in the content of the management message is stored in The broadcast service field identifies information about each of the different content channels. For example, the method of claim 8 wherein the data area of the data frame and the macro diversity area are coded using different modulation and coding schemes. The method of claim 8, wherein the macro-diversity region of the received data frame comprises a mapping, the mapping comprising a field for storing a broadcast channel identifier for identifying the content material. A broadcast system uses a data frame to broadcast content data to a plurality of client stations, the data frame comprising at least one data area and a giant diversity area, the system comprising: a first interface, Information of a macro-diversity area containing at least one packet containing content data; a controller constructed to generate a management message including information for identification The content information is allocated to the macro-diversity area, wherein the management information is used for transmission to the data area of the data frame, the management message includes a broadcast channel identifier (CID), which identifies the content material as belonging thereto a broadcast service; and a transmitter configured to transmit the management message and the content data, the management message including information that can identify the content data included in the macro diversity area is sent to the data area of the data frame and the content data system The data is sent to the macro-division area of the data frame, and the data frame is an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data frame. A broadcast system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the management message comprises a broadcast service field. A broadcast system as claimed in claim 15 wherein the controller is constructed to incorporate information about the code used to encode the content of the content in the broadcast service field. The broadcast system of claim 14, wherein the controller is further configured to include information identifying each of a plurality of different content channels included in the macro diversity area in the broadcast service field. The broadcast system of claim 14, wherein the macro-diversity area of the data frame includes a mapping message, and the mapping message includes a broadcast channel identifier for identifying the content data. A client station, which receives a service broadcasted to a data frame, the data frame includes at least one data area and a giant diversity area, the client station includes: a receiver configured to receive the data frame, the data frame An orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) data frame; a decoder constructing a management message decoded in a data area of the data frame, the management message identifying content data included in a macro diversity area of the data frame, the management message including a broadcast channel identifier (CID) And identifying a content service as one of the broadcast services; and a processor configured to determine whether to decode at least a portion of the macro-diversity region based on the information identifying the content data, the management message being recognized in the data frame The content data of the macro-diversity region, and based on the determination, provides an instruction for decoding one of the macro-diversity regions to the decoder; the decoder is further configured to decode the giant based on the reception of instructions from the processor At least a portion of the diversity area. For example, the client station of claim 19, wherein the management message includes a broadcast service field. For example, the client station of claim 20, wherein the decoder is further configured to obtain information about the code used to encode the content material from the broadcast service field. For example, the client station of claim 20, wherein the decoder is further configured to obtain information obtained from the broadcast service field for each of a plurality of different content channels transmitted in the macro diversity area.