WO2008134968A1

WO2008134968A1 - System, method and apparatus for providing multimedia broadcast multicast service

Info

Publication number: WO2008134968A1
Application number: PCT/CN2008/070824
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yungui Wang; Xiaolong Guo; Boya Lv; Ming Li; Jinyi Zhou; Lan Liu
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2007-04-30
Filing date: 2008-04-28
Publication date: 2008-11-13
Also published as: CN101299828B; CN101299828A

Abstract

A system, method and apparatus for providing MBMS are provided. The system includes BM-SC, MBMS control plane entity and ENB. The method comprises following steps: MBMS control plane entity maintaining MBMS bearer context according to received session management control signaling and sends session management control signaling to ENB; MBMS gateway maintaining MBMS bearer context according to received session management control signaling; ENB maintains wireless resource and MBMS services bearer. The apparatus is MBMS control plane entity, including a management module and a sending module.

Description

System, method and device for providing multimedia broadcast multicast service

The present invention relates to Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) technology, and more particularly to a system, method and apparatus for providing MBMS services. Background technique

In the Long Term Evolution (LTE) or System Architecture Evolved (SAE) system, the MBMS service is provided by using the network architecture shown in FIG. As shown in Figure 1, the architecture includes: Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC), MBMS Gateway (GW, gateway), Multicast Coordination Center (MCE), and evolved base station (MCE). EB, Evolved NodeB).

During the establishment of the MBMS session, the BM-SC is configured to send a Session Start Request to the MBMS GW; after receiving the session start request, the MBMS GW may resume the session start to the BM-SC if the MBMS service can be accepted. The BM-SC can send the downlink tunnel information of the MBMS GW, such as the user plane IP address of the MBMS GW and the tunnel endpoint identifier (TEID, Tunnel Endpoint Identifier) of the user, after the response (Session Start Response) The user plane IP address and TEID send data. The MBMS GW can also provide tunnel information of its control plane, such as the control plane IP address and the control plane TEID, for subsequent signaling operations with the BM-SC, such as session modification and session suspension. Wait.

The MBMS GW also generates an IP multicast address provided for this MBMS service, and sends a session start request message to

MCE. After receiving the session start request message from the MBMS gateway, the MCE determines which EBs in the MBMS service area can form a single frequency network (SFN) area, and sends the received session start request message to the EBs, and The EB allocates radio resources; after receiving the session start request message sent by the MCE, the ENB establishes an MBMS service bearer at the transport layer by using the IP multicast address allocated by the MBMS gateway carried therein.

When the data starts to be transmitted, the BM-SC sends the MBMS data to the MBMS GW according to the tunnel information provided by the MBMS GW, and the MBMS GW sends the MBMS data to the EB of the established MBMS service bearer, and the ENB allocates the radio resource according to the MCE to itself and the UE. The radio resource configuration is performed, and the received MBMS data is sent to the user equipment (UE, User Equipment).

It can be seen from the above description that in the network architecture shown in FIG. 1, the MCE not only needs to allocate radio resources to the EB, but also needs to The received session start request message from the MBMS GW is forwarded to each ENB of the connection, so that the service capability of the network is necessarily limited by the MCE function. If the capacity of the MCE is limited, for example, the number of ENBs that the MCE can connect to is limited, the number of EBs that can be included in the MBMS service in the network must be less than or equal to the number of ENBs that the MCE can access. Summary of the invention

In view of this, an embodiment of the present invention provides a system for providing a MBMS service of a multimedia broadcast multicast service, and a method for providing a MBMS service for a multimedia broadcast multicast service, and a method for providing a MBMS service for a multimedia broadcast multicast service.

The MBMS control plane entity avoids the network service capability from being limited by the MCE function.

A system for providing MBMS services for multimedia broadcast multicast services, including: Broadcast Multicast Service Center BM-SC,

MBMS control plane entity, and evolved base station E B,

The BM-SC is configured to provide an MBMS service, and send an MBMS session management control signaling;

The MBMS control plane entity is configured to perform session management on the MBMS service provided by the BM-SC, perform MBMS bearer context maintenance according to the received session management control signaling, and distribute session management control signaling to the EB; The EB is configured to perform maintenance of the radio resource and the MBMS service bearer according to the received session management control signaling.

A method for providing a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS service, comprising:

The MBMS control plane entity performs MBMS bearer context maintenance according to the received session management control signaling, and sends session management control signaling to the E B;

The MBMS gateway performs MBMS bearer context maintenance according to the received session management control signaling;

The E B performs maintenance of the radio resource and the MBMS service bearer according to the received session management control signaling. An MBMS control plane entity, including:

a management module, configured to perform session management on the MBMS service provided by the BM-SC, and perform MBMS bearer context maintenance according to the received session management control signaling;

And a sending module, configured to distribute session management control signaling received by the management module.

The embodiment of the present invention adds an MBMS control plane entity to the system that provides the MBMS service, and the BM-SC sends session management control signaling to the EB through the MBMS control plane entity; after receiving the session management control signaling from the MBMS control plane entity, the EB receives the session management control signaling from the MBMS control plane entity, Maintain radio resources and MBMS service bearers. In this way, the BM-SC in the system may not send the session management control signaling to the EB through the wireless side entity MCE, and in the session establishment process, the EB outside the MCE area in the system may directly configure the radio resource without waiting for the MCE. It allocates radio resources, so this book is used. The system and method provided by the embodiments of the invention avoid the problem that the network service capability in the prior art may be limited by the MCE function. DRAWINGS

1 is a network architecture diagram of an MBMS service implemented in an LTE/SAE network in the prior art;

2 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 1 of a system for providing an MBMS service according to the present invention;

3 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 2 of a system for providing an MBMS service according to the present invention;

4 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 3 of a system for providing an MBMS service according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 4 of a system for providing an MBMS service according to the present invention;

6 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 5 of a system for providing an MBMS service according to the present invention;

7 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 6 of a system for providing an MBMS service according to the present invention;

8 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 7 of a system for providing an MBMS service according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of an MBMS control plane entity according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of implementing MBMS service session establishment by using the system shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of implementing MBMS service session establishment by using the system shown in FIG. 4;

12 is a flowchart of implementing MBMS service session establishment by using the system shown in FIG. 5;

Figure 13 is a flow chart for implementing MBMS service session establishment using the system shown in Figure 6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantageous effects of the embodiments of the present invention more clearly, the embodiments of the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the embodiments and drawings.

Referring to FIG. 2, a system for providing an MBMS service according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention includes: a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC), an MBMS Control Plane entity (ie, a control plane entity supporting MBMS), and an evolved base station (E B).

The BM-SC is configured to provide an MBMS service, and send an MBMS session management control signaling.

The MBMS control plane entity is configured to perform session management on the MBMS service provided by the BM-SC, perform MBMS bearer context maintenance according to the received session management control signaling, and distribute session management control signaling to the E B;

The EB is configured to perform maintenance of the radio resource and the MBMS service bearer according to the received session management control signaling. Here, in the MBMS session establishment process, the session management control signaling may be a session start request message, and when the EB receives the session start request message, configure the radio resource, establish an MBMS service bearer between itself and the MBMS gateway; modify the MBMS session. In the process, the session management control signaling may be a session modification request message, and the EB receives When the session modification message is performed, the modification of the radio resource or/and the MBMS service bearer is performed; during the MBMS session stop, the session management control signaling may be a session stop request message, and when the EB receives the session stop request message, the configured wireless is released. Resources and established MBMS service bearers.

In different session management processes, the MBMS control plane entity and the MBMS perform different MBMS bearer context maintenance operations according to the received session management control signaling, including: MBMS bearer context establishment, modification, and deletion to maintain its relationship with the BM-SC. Synchronize. When the MBMS service is provided to the radio access network, the MBMS control plane entity distributes the control signaling of the MBMS service to the ENB to establish a data transmission bearer between the E B, the MBMS gateway and the BM-SC.

The MBMS Control Plane entity is a logical entity for handling session management control signaling of the MBMS service, and may be located in the core network or in the radio access network. When the MBMS control plane entity is located in the radio access network, it can be combined with the MCE or it can exist separately.

In the first embodiment of the present invention, the MBMS control plane entity is added to the system that provides the MBMS service, and the BM-SC can perform signaling interaction with the ENB outside the MCE area through the MBMS control plane entity, and the EB does not need the MCE to allocate radio resources to it. Therefore, the limitation of the network service capability of the MCE function in the prior art is avoided.

The system may further include an MBMS gateway, a first connection relationship between the BM-SC and the MBMS gateway and the MBMS control plane entity: the MBMS gateway is connected to the BM-SC, and is configured to receive the session management control signal from the BM-SC. The MBMS bearer context maintenance is performed, and the session management control signaling from the BM-SC is forwarded to the MBMS control plane entity.

The second connection relationship is: The MBMS control plane entity is connected to the BM-SC, and distributes the received session management control signaling to the E B and MBMS gateways.

The MBMS gateway is configured to receive session management control signaling from the MBMS control plane entity for MBMS bearer context maintenance.

The MBMS gateway can also be used to send MBMS data from the BM-SC to the E B, and further to assign an IP multicast address to the E B and distribute it to the E B through the MBMS control plane entity.

In the system, the BM-SC can directly connect with the MBMS control plane entity through the Gmb' reference point, and the Gmb' reference point carries the BM-SC for MBMS service session control signaling transmission, for MBMS bearer context synchronization, QoS configuration, etc. . In different system architectures that provide MBMS services, the Gmb' reference point location may vary if there is a direct interface between the BM-SC and the MBMS Control Plane entity or the signaling between the BM-SC and the MBMS Control Plane entity If a packet data network (PDN, Packet Data Network) gateway or/and a service gateway or/and an MBMS gateway are transparently transmitted, the Gmb' reference point is between the BM-SC and the MBMS control plane entity; if the BM-SC is There is a direct interface between the MBMS gateways, or the signaling between the BM-SC and the MBMS gateway through the PDN gateway or/and the service gateway When the network node transparently transmits, the Gmb' reference point is between the BM-SC and the MBMS gateway.

The BM-SC connects to the MBMS gateway through the SGi reference point for MBMS data transmission on the user plane. In the evolved packet core network, there may be one or more MBMS gateways connected to the BM-SC, which are responsible for distributing the user plane MBMS data from the BM-SC route to the E B.

The concept of an MCE area is introduced in the embodiment of the present invention, and the area covered by all E Bs to which the MCE is connected may be a single frequency network (SFN) or multiple SFN areas. In the MCE area, the MCE allocates radio resources to the E B in its own area, including the multi-cell MC mode and the single-cell SC mode. At the same time, MCE also determines whether these E Bs support content synchronization in these modes.

The ENB in the MCE area is connected to the MCE, and is further configured to perform radio resource configuration according to the radio resource allocated by the MCE; the EB or/and the ENB outside the MCE area that are not allocated by the MCE receive the session start request message, directly Configure the radio resources by itself.

The system further includes an MCE, and the E B in the system includes: E B in the MCE area and E B in the area, and the MCE is used to allocate radio resources to the ENB in the own area.

A connection relationship is: the MBMS control plane entity is connected to the MCE and the E B outside the MCE area, and directly sends the received session management control signaling to the MCE and the E B outside the MCE area;

The MCE is further configured to forward the received session management control signaling to the E B in the local area.

Another connection is: The MBMS control plane entity is connected to all E B and MCE in the system at the same time. In this case, after receiving the session management control signaling from the MBMS control plane entity, the MCE sends the allocated radio resource to the ENB in its own area.

In order to be compatible with 2G/3G networks, the system further includes a service GPRS support node (SGSN, Serving GPRS).

Support Node),

The SGSN is connected to the MBMS gateway or the MBMS control plane entity, and is configured to perform MBMS service bearer maintenance according to the received session management control signaling.

The system also includes: a radio network controller (RNC, Radio Network Controller) or a base station (B, NodeB) in a 2G/3G network coverage area,

The SGSN is further configured to receive MBMS data from the MBMS gateway and forward it to the RNC or NB; or the MBMS gateway further connects to the RNC or NB to send the MBMS data from the BM-SC to the RNC or the lake.

The MBMS gateway in the embodiment of the present invention is composed of an MBMS dedicated gateway and an MBMS service gateway. The MBMS dedicated gateway is connected to the ENB in the MCE area for MBMS data forwarding, and the BM-SC and/or MBMS control plane. The entity connection performs session management control signaling transmission;

The MBMS service gateway connects to the ENB outside the MCE area for data forwarding, and performs session management control signaling transmission with the BM-SC or MBMS control plane entity.

The MBMS Serving Gateway can further be connected to an RNC or NB in a 2G/3G network for forwarding MBMS data from the BM-SC to the RNC or B.

The above system adds signaling to the MBMS control plane entity in the system providing the MBMS service. The BM-SC can perform signaling interaction with the ENB outside the MCE area through the MBMS control plane entity, and these E Bs do not need the MCE to allocate radio resources for them. The MCE only needs to allocate radio resources to the E B in its own area, or further forward the session management control signaling, such as the session start request message, to the E B in its own area, thus avoiding the limitation of the MCE function on the network service capability in the prior art. By adding the service GPRS support node and the radio network controller, the above system is not only suitable for implementing the MBMS service in the LTE/SAE, but also compatible with the MBMS service in the 2G/3G.

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 2 of a system for providing an MBMS service according to the present invention. In the figure, the dotted line with an arrow indicates the direction of signaling transmission, and the solid line with an arrow indicates the direction of data transmission. The system includes: BM-SC, MBMS gateway, MBMS control plane entity, MCE, E B in LTE MCE area, ENB in LTE non-MCE area, SGSN, and RNC or base station (B) in 2G/3G coverage area.

The BM-SC is connected to the MBMS gateway for transmitting session management control signaling and MBMS data to the MBMS gateway, wherein the BM-SC transmits the MBMS data to the MBMS gateway through the SGi reference point.

The MBMS gateway is configured to receive session management control signaling from the BM-SC, maintain its own MBMS bearer context, and send session management control signaling to the connected MBMS control plane entity and the SGSN; receive the MBMS from the BM-SC The data is sent to the EB and the connected SGSN, or directly to the RNC or NB of the 2G/3G coverage area.

During the MBMS session establishment process, the MBMS gateway sends a session start request message from the BM-SC to the MBMS control plane entity, and receives a session start response message returned by the MBMS control plane entity. The MBMS gateway is also used to assign an IP multicast address to E B, and can send an IP multicast address assigned to E B to E B through a session start request message sent to the MBMS control plane entity.

The MBMS control plane entity is configured to perform session management on the MBMS service provided by the BM-SC, receive session management control signaling from the MBMS gateway, and distribute the same to the connected MCE and the E B outside the MCE area.

For example, in the MBMS service session establishment process, the MBMS control plane entity is configured to receive a session start request message sent by the MBMS gateway, and send a session start request message to the E B and the MCE in the connected non-MCE area.

In this embodiment, the MCE is connected to the MBMS control plane entity and is connected to the EB in its own area. The signaling interaction with the MBMS control plane entity and the ENB in the own area includes: sending session management control signaling from the MBMS control plane entity to the EB in the own area, and allocating radio resources to the EB in the own area.

For example, during the MBMS service session establishment process, the MCE is configured to receive an MBMS control plane entity to send a session start request message, forward it to the connected E B, and allocate radio resources to the ENBs. The MCE may carry the radio resource allocated for the E B to the E B in the session start request message forwarded to the E B, or may send it to the E B in other manners.

The E B in this embodiment is used to perform maintenance of the radio resource and the MBMS service bearer according to the received session management control signaling.

Specifically, in the session establishment process, the EB in the MCE area is configured to receive a session start request message from the MCE and a radio resource allocated by the MCE, and perform radio resource configuration according to the radio resource allocated by the MCE, and establish an MBMS service bearer. Sending the MBMS data forwarded by the MBMS gateway to the user equipment.

The EB of the non-MCE area is directly connected to the MBMS control plane entity. After receiving the session start request message from the MBMS control plane entity, it directly configures the radio resource for itself, establishes an MBMS service bearer, and sends the MBMS data forwarded by the MBMS gateway to the MBMS gateway. User equipment.

The SGSN in the system is configured to receive session management control signaling from the MBMS gateway, perform subsequent MBMS service operations according to the signaling, receive MBMS data forwarded by the MBMS gateway, and forward the received MBMS data to the connected 2G/ RNC or NB within the 3G coverage area. During the session establishment process, the SGSN is configured to receive a session start request message from the MBMS gateway to establish an MBMS service bearer. During the session modification process, the SGSN is configured to receive a session modification request message from the MBMS gateway, and release the MBMS service to be established. Hosted.

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 3 of a system for providing an MBMS service according to the present invention. In the figure, the dotted line with an arrow indicates the direction of signaling transmission, and the solid line with an arrow indicates the direction of data transmission. The system is identical in composition to Figure 3, except that the functions and connections of the entities are different. Specifically, the MBMS control plane entity is directly connected to all E Bs in the MBMS service area, and the connection relationship between the MBMS control plane entity and the MCE is canceled. In this case, after receiving the session management control signaling from the MBMS gateway, the MBMS control plane entity sends it to all E Bs in the system, whether or not the E B is E B in the MCE area. The MCE only needs to allocate radio resources for the E B in its own area, and does not need to forward the session management control signaling for the MBMS control plane entity and the ENB in its own area. This significantly simplifies the functionality of the MCE.

During the MBMS service session establishment process, the MBMS control plane entity may directly send a session start request message to all E Bs in the MBMS service area, whether E B is E B in the MCE area.

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 4 of a system for providing an MBMS service according to the present invention. In the figure, it is indicated by a dotted line with an arrow The direction of signaling transmission, the solid line with arrows indicates the direction of data transmission. The system is identical in composition to FIG. 3 except that the BM-SC is directly connected to the MBMS control plane entity, and sends session management control signaling to the MBMS control plane entity, which does not need to be forwarded through the MBMS gateway. At the same time, the BM-SC performs signaling interaction with the SGSN through the MBMS control plane entity, and the MBMS control plane entity sends the session management control signaling from the BM-SC to the SGSN; there is no direct signaling interaction between the MBMS gateway and the SGSN. In addition, after receiving the session management control signaling from the BM-SC, the MBMS control plane entity needs to send session management control signaling to the MBMS gateway, and the MBMS gateway maintains its established MBMS bearer context according to the received session management control signaling. , including establishing, modifying, and deleting MBMS bearer contexts.

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 5 of a system for providing an MBMS service according to the present invention. In the figure, the dotted line with an arrow indicates the direction of signaling transmission, and the solid line with an arrow indicates the direction of data transmission. The system is identical in composition to FIG. 5. The connection relationship and the functions of some entities are different from those of FIG. 5 only in that: the MBMS control plane entity is directly connected to all ENBs in the MBMS service area, and between the MBMS control plane entity and the MCE. The connection relationship is canceled. In this case, the MBMS control plane entity directly performs signaling interaction in the MBMS service with all EBs in the system, and sends the received session management control signaling from the BM-SC to all EBs in the system, regardless of Whether the ENB is an ENB in the MCE area. The MCE only needs to allocate radio resources for the ENB in its own area, and does not need to forward the session management control signaling for the MBMS control plane entity and the E B in its own area. This significantly simplifies the functionality of the MCE.

During the MBMS session establishment process, the MBMS control plane entity can directly send a session start request message to all E Bs in the MBMS service area, regardless of whether E B is E B in the MCE area.

The MBMS gateway in the system shown in Figure 3 to Figure 6 can be composed of MBMS dedicated gateway (mGW, MBMS dedicated GateWay) and P MBMS service gateway (mS-GW, MBMS Serving GateWay).

Among them, the MBMS dedicated gateway is a dedicated gateway supporting MBMS service. It can be a service gateway that supports MBMS services, or a PDN gateway, or a combination of both, or a new gateway that specifically supports MBMS services. In physical implementation, if it is a serving gateway that supports the MBMS service, it may also need to connect to the BM-SC through the PDN gateway. In terms of logic function, it supports at least content synchronization in multi-cell synchronization mode in LTE networks, guarantees content synchronization between E Bs, and provides a transport layer IP multicast protocol. If the transport layer IP multicast mode is used for the MBMS data transmission between the MBMS dedicated gateway and the EB, the M1 interface is used between the two. If the MBMS dedicated gateway and the EB use the point-to-point (PTP) For MBMS data transmission, an enhanced S1-U interface is used between the two.

The MBMS Serving Gateway is a generic gateway that supports MBMS services. It can be a serving SAE gateway that supports MBMS services, or a PDN SAE gateway, or a combination of both, or a new gateway that specifically supports MBMS services. In physical implementation, if it is a service SAE gateway that supports MBMS services, it may also need to pass PDN SAE. The gateway is connected to the BM-SC. In terms of logic function, it supports at least PTP transmission mode with EB, or / and is compatible with 2G/3G system, and may also provide transport layer IP multicast protocol. If the MBMS data transmission is performed between the MBMS service gateway and the ENB, the M1 interface is used. If the MBMS service gateway and the EB use the PTP bearer mode for MBMS data transmission, the two An enhanced S1-U interface is used.

In Figure 4 and Figure 6, the connection between the MBMS control plane entity and the MCE is canceled, and there is no longer any signaling interaction. For example, during the establishment of the mBMS service session, the MBMS control plane entity directly sends to all ENBs in the MBMS service area. Session start request message. In the implementation process, the connection relationship between the MBMS control plane entity and the MCE may be added on the basis of FIG. 4 and FIG. 6, and the signaling interaction between the MCE and the MBMS control plane entity is retained, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. Show. During the establishment of the mBMS service session, the MBMS control plane entity sends an SS request message to the MCE simultaneously when sending the SS request message to all the ENBs in the MBMS service area, so that when the MCE receives the SS request message from the MBMS control plane entity, The radio resource allocated for the EB in its own area can be actively sent to the corresponding EB.

The MCE in the system provided by the embodiment of the present invention may exist on the E B or a physical entity that exists separately, and is used to allocate radio resources to the connected E B according to the QoS attribute of the MBMS service.

When the ENB in the MCE area waits for the radio resource allocated by the MCE, it can initialize the counting function according to its own configuration policy or the indication in the received SS request message, and report the counting result to the MCE. This process may also be fi MCE indication, which occurs during the radio resource configuration process.

In the foregoing embodiment, whether the separate logical entities included in the system are physically unified is not limited herein. When some logical entities are combined, the protocol interface and signaling between them are converted into internal interface signaling. Specifically, if the MBMS control plane entity is integrated with the MBMS gateway, the message between the MBMS control plane and the MBMS gateway is an internal message; if the MBMS control plane entity is integrated with the MCE, the message between the MBMS and the MCE is converted into an internal message.

In addition, in the system for providing the MBMS service in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the BM-SC directly performs signaling interaction with the MCE or EB through the MBMS control plane entity, and converts the control plane function of the signaling interaction on the MBMS gateway to the MBMS. The control plane is physically, thus realizing the separation of the control plane and the signaling plane of the MBMS gateway. Referring to FIG. 9, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an MBMS control plane entity, which specifically includes:

The sending module is configured to distribute session management control signaling received by the management module.

Specifically, the sending module may distribute the session management control signaling to the ENB, the MBMS gateway, or the MCE. The detailed process is the same as that described in the foregoing system embodiment, and details are not described herein again.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the MBMS control plane entity is added to the system that provides the MBMS service, and the BM-SC can perform signaling interaction with the EB outside the MCE area through the MBMS control plane entity, and the EB does not need the MCE to allocate radio resources to it. The limitation of the network service capability of the MCE function in the prior art is avoided.

The method for implementing the MBMS service in the system for providing the MBMS service in the embodiment of the present invention, and the method for implementing the MBMS service by using the system provided by the embodiment of the present invention includes:

The MBMS control plane entity performs MBMS bearer context maintenance according to the received session management control signaling, and sends session management control signaling to the EB; the MBMS gateway performs MBMS bearer context maintenance according to the received session management control signaling; Session management control signaling to the maintenance of radio resources and MBMS service bearers.

Here, in the MBMS session establishment process, the session management control signaling may be a session start request message, and when the EB receives the session start request message, configure the radio resource, establish an MBMS service bearer between itself and the MBMS gateway; modify the MBMS session. In the process, the session management control signaling may be a session modification request message, and when the EB receives the session modification message, perform modification of the radio resource or/and the MBMS service bearer; during the MBMS session stop, the session management control signaling may be a session. When the request message is stopped, when the EB receives the session stop request message, the EB releases the configured radio resource and the established MBMS service bearer.

When the MBMS control plane entity sends the session start request message to the ENB, the MBMS control plane entity directly sends a session start request message to the EB outside the MCE area. The MBMS control plane is used to implement the MBMS session establishment. The entity sends a session start request message to the EB in the MCE area through the MCE. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the MCE does not need to connect with all E Bs in the MBMS service area, and sends a session start request message thereto.

Before the EB sends the received MBMS data from the BM-SC to the UE, it needs to configure the radio resources between itself and the UE. If the session start request message received by the EB carries a service attribute parameter, such as a local service, an SFN service, or an attribute parameter of another service, the EB may select how to configure the radio resource between the UE and the UE according to the service attribute parameter, specifically include: For services that do not need to use SFN transmission, EB allocates and configures radio resources, that is, single-cell mode. For services that need to use SFN transmission, the radio resources of the ENB in the MCE area are allocated by the MCE, and the wireless of the ENB outside the MCE area. Resources are configured by the ENB itself.

If the MCE exists alone, the service attribute parameter identification can be performed by the MCE or E B. If the MBMS control plane entity is located in the MCE, the MBMS control plane entity or the MCE or the E B may identify the service attribute parameter to configure the transmission mode of the E B, and the transmission mode includes: a single cell or a multi-cell MBMS synchronous transmission mode.

One of the specific implementation methods for the EB in the MCE area to obtain the radio resource allocated by the MCE is: When the MBMS control plane entity sends a session request to the EB in the MCE area through the MCE, the MCE allocates the ENB in the own area. The radio resource is carried in the session start request message and sent to the corresponding EB.

Another method for E B in the MCE area to obtain the radio resources allocated by the MCE is:

After receiving the session start request message from the MBMS control plane entity, the EB sends a radio resource request to the MCE, where the MBMS session attribute parameters may be included in the request, including: quality of service (QoS), MBMS service area (SA), and MBMS temporary mobility group. Identification (TMGI), etc.; After receiving the EB radio resource request from its own area, the MCE returns its assigned radio resource to the EB in its own area. The process can be implemented in the following three ways:

1) The MCE allocates radio resources for each ENB that sends a radio resource request;

2) After receiving the radio resource request from E B for the first time, the MCE allocates radio resources to all E Bs in the MCE area that need to provide the MBMS service. Then, the ENB other than the E B that sends the radio resource request does not initiate the radio resource request after receiving the radio resource configuration, and if the E B has not received the session start request, the resource reservation is performed.

3) After receiving the radio resource request sent by all E Bs, the MCE uniformly allocates radio resources for all E Bs. For example, the MCE can set a timer to wait for the arrival of radio resource requests from all E Bs.

In addition, if the MCE is located on the ENB, the E B requests the resource from the MCE by default.

Another method for the ENB in the MCE area to acquire the radio resource allocated by the MCE is: The MBMS control plane entity further sends a session start request message to the MCE connected to itself when sending the session start request to the EB; the MCE receives the MBMS from the MBMS After the session start request message of the control plane entity is actively sent to the EB in its own area, the radio resource allocated to it is sent.

There are two ways for the EB to establish an MBMS service bearer: one is the IP multicast mode and the other is the PTP bearer mode. If the EB wants to establish an MBMS service bearer in the IP multicast mode, the ENB can use the MBMS gateway to perform multicast registration with the transport layer for its assigned IP multicast address. If the EB wants to establish a PTP MBMS service bearer, the EB allocates the PTP. The bearer, such as creating a tunnel identity, and transmitting the PTP bearer information to the MBMS gateway through the MBMS control plane entity. Therefore, when the EB chooses to establish an MBMS service bearer in the IP multicast mode, the EB must know the MBMS network. The IP multicast address assigned to it.

In the actual implementation process, the MBMS control plane entity receives the session start request message sent by the BM-SC, which can be divided into two cases. One is that the BM-SC directly sends a session start request message to the MBMS control plane entity; The SC sends a session start request message to the MBMS control plane entity through the MBMS gateway.

In the former case, after receiving the session start request message from the BM-SC, the MBMS control plane entity also needs to perform the following steps: The MBMS control plane entity selects an MBMS gateway for the MBMS service, and sends a session start request message to the selected MBMS gateway. The MBMS gateway receives the session start request message from the MBMS control plane entity, and creates an MBMS bearer context. If the MBMS data is received by the IP multicast mode, the MBMS gateway registers with the BM-SC; otherwise, the MBMS gateway allocates the MBMS data for receiving. Carrying information, such as an IP address, and transmitting the bearer information to the BM-SC through the MBMS control plane entity; here, the MBMS gateway may also carry the IP multicast address assigned to the EB in the session start response message and send it to the MBMS control plane. The entity is sent by the MBMS control plane entity to the second case. Before the MBMS control plane entity receives the session start request message sent by the BM-SC, the method further includes: the BM-SC sending a session start request message to the pre-configured MBMS gateway, MBMS The gateway receives the session start request message from the BM-SC, creating an MBMS Context, the entity sends a session request message to the MBMS control plane, the session request message may carry the MBMS content synchronization protocol attributes, the transport layer address and other IP multicast MBMS session property parameters. The MBMS content synchronization protocol attribute and the transport layer IP multicast address are assigned by the MBMS gateway to the ENB.

In order to achieve the compatibility of providing the MBMS service in the 2G/3G network, the MBMS gateway in the embodiment of the present invention, after receiving the session start request message from the BM-SC, after establishing the MBMS bearer context, may further include: the MBMS gateway sends a session start request to the SGSN. The SGSN receives the session start request message from the MBMS gateway, creates an MBMS bearer context, and establishes an MBMS service bearer; or after the MBMS control plane entity receives the session start request message from the BM-SC, the MBMS control plane entity sends a session start request to the SGSN. The SGSN receives the session start request message from the MBMS control plane entity, creates an MBMS bearer context, and establishes an MBMS service bearer.

Here, the establishment of the MBMS service bearer by the SGSN can also be divided into two modes, one is to establish a PTP bearer, which is the same as the prior art, and will not be described again here; the other is to establish an MBMS service bearer of the IP multicast mode, where In this case, the SGSN must support the IP multicast mode, and the SGSN can establish the IP multicast mode service bearer only when the SGSN receives the IP multicast address assigned by the MBMS gateway.

10 is a flowchart of implementing MBMS service session establishment by using the system shown in FIG. 3. The process includes the following steps: Step 801: A BM-SC sends a session start (SS, Session Start) request message to a pre-configured MBMS gateway. The message carries a list of downstream nodes, an MBMS radio access indication (MB), and an MBMS session attribute parameter, and may also carry a service attribute parameter, such as a local service, an SFN service, or an attribute parameter of another service.

The MBMS gateway receives the session start request message from the BM-SC, creates an MBMS bearer context, and stores a list of downstream nodes, an MBMS RAT indication, and an MBMS session attribute parameter carried in the received session start request message.

If the MBMS gateway supports the IP multicast mode, it directly registers with the BM-SC; otherwise, it assigns the IP address information of the received MBMS data, and returns the IP address information to the BM-SC in the SS response.

The downstream node includes the MBMS control plane entity supporting the MBMS in the evolved network and the SGSN of the 2G/3G network, and the MBMS session attribute parameters include: quality of service (QoS), MBMS service area (SA, Service Area), and MBMS temporary mobility group identifier. (TMGI, Temporary Mobile Group Identity), etc.

Step 802: The MBMS gateway sends an S S request message to the downstream node.

For the 2G/3G network, the MBMS gateway sends an SS request message to the downstream node SGSN, where the message carries 2G/3G related information, including 2G/3G indication, QoS, SA, TMGI and other MBMS session attribute parameters; the SGSN receives the SS request. After the message, create an MBMS bearer context and establish a point-to-point (PTP) bearer. The related processing of establishing a PTP bearer by the SGSN is the same as that of the prior art, and details are not described herein again.

If the MBMS gateway provides a transport layer IP multicast address, and the SGSN can support the IP multicast mode, the SGSN returns an indication of supporting the IP multicast mode to the MBMS gateway, and performs transport layer IP multicast registration, and joins the MBMS gateway group. Broadcast tree.

For the LTE network, the MBMS gateway sends an SS request message to the downstream node MBMS control plane entity, where the request message carries the LTE network information, including the MBMS content synchronization protocol attribute, the transport layer IP multicast address, and the MBMS session attribute parameter, and the MBMS attribute parameter. The method includes: QoS, SA, TMGI, etc.; after receiving the request message, the MBMS control plane entity may reply the response message to the MBMS gateway for receiving and confirming.

Since the MBMS gateway needs to send an SS request message to LTE and/or 2G/3G, it is necessary to add an indicator bit based on the existing MBMS RAT indicator flag. The MBMS RAT Indicator is used to identify the MBMS data to be transmitted to LTE. For example, you can set the MBMS RAT Indicator to 0 to transmit MBMS data only to 2G; 1 to transmit MBMS data only to 3G; 2 to transmit MBMS data to 2G and 3G; 3 to transmit MBMS data only to LTE; 4 to 2G and LTE transmits MBMS data; 5 indicates transmission of MBMS data to 3G and LTE; and 6 indicates transmission of MBMS data to 2G, 3G, and: LTE.

In step 803, the MBMS control plane entity distinguishes the EBs in the EB and non-MCE regions in the MCE region. For the ENB in the non-MCE area, the MBMS control plane entity directly sends an SS request message to the ENBs, which carries the transport layer IP multicast address and the MBMS session attribute parameters allocated by the MBMS gateway, and the MBMS session attribute parameters include QoS, SA, TMGI et al. The SS request message may also carry a service attribute parameter.

For the EB in the MCE area, the MBMS control plane entity first sends an SS request message to the MCE, where the message carries the transport layer IP multicast address and the MBMS session attribute parameter allocated by the MBMS gateway, and the MBMS session attribute parameters include QoS, SA, TMGI. Wait. The SS request message may also carry a service attribute parameter. After receiving the SS request message, the MCE establishes an MBMS service context, saves related parameters, and returns a response to the MBMS control plane entity for confirmation; and sends an SS request message to the connected EB, where the message carries the transmission allocated by the MBMS gateway for the EB. Layer IP multicast address and MBMS session attribute parameters. In addition, when the SS is sent to the E B, the MCE may also transmit a radio resource such as Radio Link Control (MAC) assigned to the E B in its own area to the corresponding E B. Here, the MCE may determine whether to carry the radio resource allocated for the ENB in the SS request message according to the network configuration policy or the like.

In a specific implementation, when the MCE sends an SS request message to the ENB, the following two identifier fields or one of the following identifiers may also be carried in the message. An identification field is used to indicate which mode SFN mode the E B uses. The field meaning of the SFN mode can be set to: 0 for unicast mode; 1 for multi-cell mode; 2 for single-cell mode;

Another identification field Syn Indicator is used to indicate whether E B supports content synchronization in IP multicast mode. The meaning of the Syn Indicator field can be set to: 0 to support content synchronization, content to be sent by the MBMS GW to be synchronized, and to be processed; 1 to indicate that content synchronization is not supported, and there is no content synchronization in the data delivered by the MBMS GW. Processing; 2 means that the content of the mask is synchronized, and the data sent by the MBMS GW may have content synchronization, and no processing is required.

Specifically, in the standard definition, the meanings represented by the values of the above two fields can be arbitrarily set.

In addition, in the specific implementation, the MBMS control plane entity can obtain the connection between the MCE and the E B by the following two methods. One is to configure the connection between the MCE and the ENB to the MBMS control plane entity through the operation and maintenance center (0&M). The other is to report the connection between the MCE and the MCE to the MBMS after the EB is powered on or updated. Control plane entity.

Step 804: After receiving the SS request message from the MBMS control plane entity or the MCE, the E B configures the wireless resource to establish an MBMS service bearer.

If the SB receives the SS request message and carries the service attribute parameter, the EB selects the method for configuring the radio resource according to the service attribute parameter: For the service that does not need to adopt the SFN transmission, the EB allocates and configures the radio resource by itself; For the transmitted service, the radio resources of the EB in the MCE area are allocated by the MCE, and the radio resources of the EB outside the MCE area are configured by the ENB itself. The bearer of the MBB service established by the ENB is divided into the following three cases:

After the EB receives the SS request message from the MBMS control plane entity, if the PTP bearer mode is selected, the PTP bearer is allocated, for example, a tunnel identifier is created, where the tunnel may be a tunnel supporting a frame protocol FP or a GPRS tunneling protocol (GTP). And the allocated PTP bearer is carried in the response message, and returned to the MBMS through the MBMS control plane entity.

After the ENB receives the SS request message from the MCE, if the PTP bearer mode is selected, the PTP bearer is allocated, for example, a tunnel identifier is created, where the tunnel may be a tunnel supporting the frame protocol FP or the GPRS tunneling protocol (GTP) protocol, etc., and The allocated PTP bearer is carried in the response message and returned to the MBMS GW through the MCE and MBMS control plane entities.

After the ENB receives the SS request message from the MBMS control plane entity or the MCE, if the transport layer IP multicast is selected for MBMS data reception, the transport layer IP multicast address allocated by the MBMS gateway carried in the received SS request message is The transport layer performs multicast registration.

Specifically, the E B can select whether the manner of receiving the MBMS data is the transport layer IP multicast or the PTP bearer mode according to the transmission mode indication message carried by the MBMS control plane entity or the transmission mode of the network default configuration. Generally, in the ENB in the MCE area, if the multi-cell mode is adopted, these E B preferentially select the transport layer IP multicast to receive the MBMS data. In addition, E B can also select the mode of receiving MBMS data by judging whether itself or the network transport layer supports transport layer IP multicast. If E B determines that its own or network transport layer does not support IP multicast, you can select PTP bearer mode for MBMS data reception; otherwise, ENB can select IP multicast mode for MBMS data reception.

Step 805: The BM-SC transmits the MBMS data to the E B or the SGSN through the MBMS gateway. After receiving the MBMS data from the MBMS gateway, the E B or SGSN sends it to the user equipment (UE).

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of implementing MBMS service session establishment by using the system shown in FIG. 4. The process includes the following steps: Step 901 value step 902 is the same as step 801 to step 802 in FIG. 10, and details are not described herein again.

Step 903: The MBMS control plane entity sends an SS request message to all EBs connected thereto, where the message carries the transport layer IP multicast address allocated by the MBMS gateway and the MBMS session attribute parameter, including QoS, SA, TMGI, etc., and the message is also Can carry business attribute parameters.

Step 904: After the E B in the MCE area receives the SS request message from the MBMS control plane entity,

The MCE initiates the SS process, requesting the MCE to allocate radio resources for it; the MCE receives the request from the EB, allocates radio resource configuration parameters such as RLC/MAC for the corresponding EB, and carries the allocated radio resource configuration parameters in the response message and returns to the corresponding EB.

Here, in a specific implementation, the MCE may return a response message to the EB in the same manner as the MCE described in step 603 sends an SS request message to the ENB. Step 905: After receiving the SS request message from the MBMS control plane entity, the ENB configures the radio resource to establish an MBMS service bearer.

If the SB receives the SS request message and carries the service attribute parameter, the EB selects the method for configuring the radio resource according to the service attribute parameter: For the service that does not need to adopt the SFN transmission, the EB allocates and configures the radio resource by itself; For the transmitted service, the radio resources of the EB in the MCE area are allocated by the MCE, and the radio resources of the EB outside the MCE area are configured by the ENB itself.

E B establishes the bearer of the MBMS service and is divided into the following two cases:

If the EB selects the PTP bearer mode, the PTP bearer is allocated, for example, a tunnel identifier is created, where the tunnel may be a tunnel supporting the frame protocol FP or the GPRS tunneling protocol (GTP) protocol, and the allocated PTP bearer is carried in the response message. Return to the MBMS GW through the MBMS Control Plane entity. The PTP bearer allocated by the ENB includes a downstream IP address and a tunnel identifier for receiving MBMS data, and the like.

If E B selects transport layer IP multicast for MBMS data reception, E B performs multicast registration at the transport layer according to the transport layer IP multicast address allocated by the MBMS gateway carried in the received SS request message.

The method of selecting the MBMS data mode by E B is the same as the method described in step 604, and will not be described again.

Step 906: The BM-SC transmits the MBMS data to the E B or the SGSN through the MBMS gateway. After receiving the MBMS data from the MBMS gateway, the E B or SGSN sends it to the user equipment (UE).

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of establishing an MBMS service session by using the system shown in FIG. 5. The connection relationship between the entities in the system shown in FIG. 5 can be seen from the flowchart, and the process includes the following steps:

Step 1001: The BM-SC sends an SS request message to the MBMS control plane entity, where the message carries a list of downstream nodes, an MBMS radio access indication (RAT), and an MBMS session attribute parameter, and may also carry a service attribute parameter.

The MBMS control plane entity receives the SS request message from the BM-SC, creates an MBMS bearer context, and stores the downstream node list, the MBMS RAT indication, and the MBMS session attribute parameters carried in the received SS request message.

Only when the MBMS service is provided on the 2G/3G network, the BM-SC carries the downstream node list, such as the SGSN list, in the SS request message sent by the MBMS control plane entity.

Here, if there is no direct interface between the MBMS control plane entity and the BM-SC, the two can be forwarded by a normal packet data network gateway (PDN GW) or/and a serving gateway (Serving GW). If the normal packet data network gateway or / and the service gateway support the MBMS service, the MBMS control plane entity can select it as the MBMS gateway.

Step 1002: The MBMS control plane entity selects a corresponding MBMS gateway for the MBMS service.

In implementation, the selection mechanism of the MBMS gateway can be: APN selection mechanism, that is, the MBMS control plane entity is based on The MBMS APN delivered by the BM-SC selects the MBMS gateway. The MBMS gateway can also be statically configured on the MBMS control plane entity. The MBMS control plane entity selects the corresponding MBMS gateway from the statically configured MBMS gateways according to the load information.

Step 1003: The MBMS control plane entity sends an SS request message to the selected MBMS gateway, where the message carries an MBMS attribute parameter and the like.

For the 2G/3G network, the request message carries 2G/3G related information, including MBMS session attribute parameters such as QoS, SA, TMGI, etc.; after receiving the SS request message, the MBMS gateway creates an MBMS bearer context, if an IP group is used. If the broadcast mode is used for MBMS data reception, the MBMS gateway directly registers with the upstream node BM-SC; otherwise, the IP address of the received MBMS data is allocated and carried in the SS response message and returned to the MBMS control plane entity.

For the LTE network, the request message carries LTE network information, including MBMS session attribute parameters such as QoS, SA, TMGI, etc.; after receiving the request message, the MBMS gateway creates an MBMS bearer context, and if the IP multicast mode is used for MBMS data If it is received, it is directly registered with the upstream node BM-SC; otherwise, the PTP bearer that receives the MBMS data is allocated, for example, including the IP address port information, and the bearer information is carried in the SS response message and returned to the MBMS control plane entity. If the MBMS gateway supports the transport layer IP multicast when forwarding the MBMS data, the transport layer IP multicast address is allocated and carried in the SS response message and returned to the MBMS control plane entity.

Since the MBMS control plane entity needs to send a session start request message to the LTE and/or the 2G/3G, it is necessary to add an indicator bit MBMS RAT Indicator to identify the MBMS data to be transmitted to the LTE based on the existing RAT indicator flag. The method of implementation may use the method described in step 302.

Step 1004: The MBMS control plane entity sends an SS request message to the downstream node.

For the 2G/3G network, the MBMS control plane entity sends an SS request message to the downstream node SGSN, where the request message carries 2G/3G related information, including 2G/3G indication, QoS, SA, TMGI and other MBMS session attribute parameters; After the SS request message is sent, the MBMS bearer context is created. If the SGSN supports the IP multicast mode, and the SS request message sent by the MBMS control plane entity carries the IP multicast address assigned by the MBMS gateway, the SGSN directly goes to the upstream node MBMS. The gateway registers, otherwise the SGSN allocates the tunnel identification parameter of the MBMS data reception, and returns it to the MBMS control plane entity in the SS response message.

Considering that it is compatible with the 2G/3G network, if the SS process is directly sent to the SGSN by the MBMS gateway, that is, the SSMS message is directly sent by the MBMS gateway to the SGSN, when the MBMS control plane entity sends the SS request message to the MBMS gateway, it also needs to carry the downstream 2G/3G network related information such as the node SGSN list.

For LTE networks, the MBMS Control Plane entity distinguishes between EBs in the MCE region and EBs in the non-MCE region. For ENBs in non-MCE areas, the MBMS control plane entity sends an SS request message directly to these EBs, the message The MBMS attribute parameter includes the QoS, the SA, the TMGI, and the like, and the MBMS attribute parameter includes the QoS, the SA, the TMGI, and the like, and the message may also carry the service attribute parameter.

For the EB in the MCE area, the MBMS control plane entity sends an SS request message to the MCE, where the message carries the transport layer IP multicast address and the MBMS attribute parameters allocated by the MBMS gateway, including QoS, SA, TMGI, etc., and the message can also be carried. Business attribute parameters. After receiving the SS request message from the MBMS control plane entity, the MCE establishes the MBMS service context, saves the relevant parameters, and then returns a confirmation response to the MBMS control plane entity. The MCE sends an SS request message to its connected E B, which carries the transport layer IP multicast address and MBMS attribute parameters allocated by the MBMS gateway. In addition, when transmitting an SS request message to the E B, the MCE may also transmit a radio resource such as an RLC/MAC assigned to the E B in its own area to the corresponding E B . Here, the MCE may determine whether to carry the radio resource allocated for the E B in the SS request message according to the network configuration policy or the like.

In a specific implementation, when the MCE sends an SS request message to the E B, the MCE may optionally include one or two of the following identifier fields, and the MCE may send the SS request message to the E B in the manner described in step 603.

Step 1005: After receiving the SS request message from the MBMS control plane entity or the MCE, the E B configures the wireless resource to establish an MBMS service bearer.

If the SB receives the SS request message and carries the service attribute parameter, the EB selects the method for configuring the radio resource according to the service attribute parameter: For the service that does not need to adopt the SFN transmission, the EB allocates and configures the radio resource by itself; The transmitted service, the EB radio resource in the MCE area ώ MCE is allocated, and the EB radio resources outside the MCE area are configured by the ENB itself.

When the EB receives the SS request from the MBMS control plane entity to select the PTP bearer mode, the EB allocates a PTP bearer, for example, creates a tunnel identifier, where the tunnel can be a tunnel supporting a frame protocol (FP) or a GTP protocol, and responds in the SS. The message is returned to the MBMS Control Plane entity.

When the EB receives the SS request from the MCE to select the PTP bearer mode, allocates a PTP bearer, for example, creates a tunnel identifier, where the tunnel may be a tunnel supporting a frame protocol FP or a GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) protocol, and the allocated PTP. The bearer is carried in the SS response message and returned to the MBMS control plane entity through the MCE.

When E B receives an SS request from the MBMS control plane entity or MCE, selects the transport layer IP multicast mode.

When MBMS data is received, the ENB performs multicast registration at the transport layer according to the transport layer IP multicast address assigned by the MBMS gateway in the received SS request.

Specifically, the EB may select, according to the transmission mode indication message carried by the MBMS control plane entity or the transmission mode of the network default configuration, whether the mode of receiving the MBMS data is the transport layer IP multicast or the PTP bearer mode. Generally, in the ENB in the MCE area, if multi-cell mode is adopted, these EBs preferentially select transport layer IP multicast for MBMS data. Reception. In addition, the ENB can also select the mode of receiving MBMS data by judging whether itself or the network transport layer supports transport layer IP multicast. If the EB determines that the network transport layer does not support IP multicast, the PTP bearer mode may be selected for MBMS data reception; otherwise, the ENB may select the IP multicast mode for MBMS data reception.

Step 1006: The MBMS control plane entity initiates a session update (SU) process, and sends the tunnel identification information of the received MBMS data allocated by the E B and the SGSN that are selected by the PTP to the corresponding MBMS gateway.

In step 1007, the BM-SC transmits MBMS data to the ENB or SGSN through the MBMS gateway. After receiving the MBMS data from the MBMS gateway, the E B or SGSN sends it to the user equipment (UE).

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of implementing MBMS service session establishment by using the system shown in FIG. 6. The connection relationship between each entity in the system shown in FIG. 6 and the function in realizing the MBMS service session establishment process can be seen from the flowchart. The process includes the following steps:

Steps 1101 to 1103 are the same as steps 1001 to 1003 in Fig. 12, and will not be described again.

Step 1104: The MBMS control plane entity sends an SS request message to the downstream node, where the message carries the MBMS session attribute parameter and the like.

For the 2G/3G network, the MBMS control plane entity sends an SS request message to the downstream node SGSN, where the request message carries 2G/3G related information, including 2G/3G indication, QoS, SA, TMGI and other MBMS session attribute parameters;

After receiving the SS request message, the SGSN creates an MBMS bearer context. If the SGSN supports the IP multicast mode, and the SS request message sent by the MBMS control plane entity carries the IP multicast address assigned by the MBMS gateway, the SGSN directly goes upstream. The node MBMS gateway registers, otherwise the SGSN allocates the tunnel identification parameter of the MBMS data reception, and returns it to the MBMS control plane entity in the SS response message.

Considering that it is compatible with 2G/3G networks, if the SS process is initiated directly from the MBMS gateway to the SGSN, it is directly

The MBMS gateway sends an SS request message to the SGSN. When the MBMS control plane entity sends an SS request message to the MBMS gateway, it also needs to carry 2G/3G network related information such as the SGSN list of the downstream node.

The MBMS control plane entity sends an SS request message to all E Bs connected to it, which carries the transport layer IP multicast address and MBMS session attribute parameters allocated by the MBMS gateway, and the MBMS session attribute parameters include QoS, SA, TMGI, and the like.

Step 1105: After receiving the SS request message from the MBMS control plane entity, the EB in the MCE area initiates an SS procedure to the MCE, requesting the MCE to allocate a radio resource for it; the MCE receives the request from the EB, and allocates the RLC/ for the corresponding EB. Radio resource configuration parameters such as MAC, and the assigned radio resource configuration parameters are carried in the response message and returned to the corresponding EB.

Here, in a specific implementation, the MCE may send an SS request to the ENB by using the MCE described in step 603. The response message is returned to the EB in the same way.

Step 1106: After receiving the SS request message from the MBMS control plane entity, the E B configures the radio resource to establish an MBMS service bearer. It is also possible to further return a response message to the MBMS Control Plane entity.

The method of selecting the MBMS data mode by E B is the same as the method described in step 304, and will not be described again.

In step 1107, the BM-SC transmits MBMS data to the ENB or SGSN through the MBMS gateway. After receiving the MBMS data from the MBMS gateway, the E B or SGSN sends it to the user equipment (UE).

In the mBMS service session establishment process shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 11, when the MBMS control plane entity sends an SS request message to all EBs in the MBMS service area, the MBMS control plane entity may further increase the step of simultaneously sending an SS request message to the MCE, such that After receiving the SS request message from the MBMS control plane entity, the MCE can actively send the radio resource allocated for the ENB in its own area to the corresponding EB, and does not need to send the EB to the EB after receiving the request of the EB. Wireless resources.

Although the flow of the MBMS service establishment session is only given in the foregoing embodiment, the system architecture provided by the embodiment of the present invention can also be applied to other session implementation processes of the MBMS service, such as session stop and session modification.

After the E B establishes the MBMS service bearer, if the BM-SC initiates the session modification process, the method further includes the following steps:

The MBMS control plane entity receives the session modification request message from the BM-SC, and modifies the established MBMS bearer context according to the message, and distributes the session modification request message to the E B;

After receiving the session modification request message from the MBMS control plane entity, the EB modifies the configured radio resource or/and the established MBMS service bearer. In this process, the BM-SC may directly send a session modification request message to the MBMS control plane entity, or may send a session modification request message to the MBMS control plane entity through the MBMS gateway. When the BM-SC directly sends a session modification request message to the MBMS control plane entity, the MBMS control plane entity also sends the received session modification request message to the MBMS gateway. When the MBMS gateway receives the session modification request message, it modifies its established BNS bearer context according to the message.

The MBMS control plane entity may send directly to the E B, or may send a session modification request message to the E B through the MCE.

If the BM-SC initiates a session stop process, after the E B establishes the MBMS service bearer, the method further includes the following steps:

The MBMS control plane entity receives the session stop request message from the BM-SC, releases the established MBMS bearer context, and distributes the session stop request message to the E B;

After receiving the session stop request message from the MBMS control plane entity, E B releases the configured radio resource and the established MBMS service bearer.

In this process, the BM-SC may directly send a session stop request message to the MBMS control plane entity, or may send a session stop request message to the MBMS control plane entity through the MBMS gateway. When the BM-SC directly sends a session stop request message to the MBMS control plane entity, the MBMS control plane entity also sends the received session stop request message to the MBMS gateway. When the MBMS gateway receives the session stop request message, it deletes the established NBNS bearer context.

The MBMS control plane entity may send directly to the E B, or may send a session stop request message to the E B through the MCE.

The method provided in the foregoing embodiment adds a MBMS control plane entity in a system for providing an MBMS service, and the BM-SC can perform signaling interaction with an EB outside the MCE area through the MBMS control plane entity, and the EB does not need the MCE to allocate wireless thereto. Resources. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the MCE only needs to allocate a radio resource to the ENB in the local area, or further forward the session management control signaling, such as a session start request message, to the EB in the local area. Therefore, the system provided by the embodiment of the present invention The method can simplify the function of the MCE, thereby avoiding the limitation of the network service capability of the MCE function in the prior art.

In addition, in the method for implementing MBMS service session establishment provided in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, the BM-SC directly performs signaling interaction with the MCE or EB through the MBMS control plane entity, and converts the control plane function of the signaling interaction on the MBMS gateway to The MBMS control plane is physically implemented, thus realizing the separation of the control plane and the signaling plane of the MBMS gateway.

The system and method provided by the embodiments of the present invention are not only applicable to implementing the MBMS service in the LTE/SAE, but also compatible with the MBMS service in the 2G/3G. All or part of the technical solutions provided by the above embodiments may be implemented by software programming, and the software programs may be stored in a readable storage medium such as a hard disk, a memory or an optical disk in a computer.

In conclusion, the above description is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and scope of the present invention are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

Claim

A system for providing a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS service, comprising: a broadcast multicast service center BM-SC, an evolved base station E B, wherein the MBMS control plane entity is further included.

2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising an MBMS gateway, wherein the MBMS gateway is connected to the BM-SC, and configured to receive session management control signaling of the BM-SC. The MBMS bearers context maintenance, forwarding session management control signaling from the BM-SC to the MBMS Control Plane entity.

The system according to claim 1, further comprising an MBMS gateway, wherein the MBMS gateway is connected to the MBMS control plane entity, and the MBMS control plane entity is connected to the BM-SC.

The MBMS control plane entity receives session management control signaling from the BM-SC and distributes it to the E B and the MBMS gateway,

The MBMS gateway performs MBMS bearer context maintenance according to the received conference management control signaling from the MBMS control plane entity.

The system of claim 2 or 3, wherein the MBMS gateway is further configured to send MBMS data from the BM-SC to the E B;

The E B is further configured to receive MBMS data from the MBMS gateway and send the data to the user equipment UE.

The system of claim 2 or 3, wherein the MBMS gateway is further configured to allocate an IP multicast address to the ENB, and distribute the information to the E B through the MBMS control plane entity.

The system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the system further comprises a multi-cell MBMS coordination entity MCE, the ENB comprising: E B in the MCE area and E B outside the area,

The MCE is configured to allocate radio resources to the ENB in its own area.

The system according to claim 6, wherein the MBMS control plane entity is connected to the MCE and the EB outside the MCE area, and directly sends the received session management control signaling to the MCE. And an EB outside the MCE region; The MCE is further configured to forward the received session management control signaling to the ENB in the local area.

8. The system according to claim 6, wherein the MCE is further connected to the MBMS control plane entity, and after receiving the session management control signaling from the MBMS control plane entity, The EB sends the radio resource assigned to it.

9. The system of claim 2 or 3, wherein the system further comprises an SGSN,

The SGSN is connected to the MBMS gateway or the MBMS control plane entity, and is configured to perform maintenance of the MBMS service bearer according to the received session management control signaling.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the system further comprises: a radio resource controller RNC or a base station NB of the 2G/3G network coverage area,

The SGSN is further configured to receive MBMS data from the MBMS gateway and forward it to the RNC or B;

Or the MBMS gateway is further connected to the RNC or B, and sends MBMS data from the BM-SC to the RNC or NB.

The system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the MBMS gateway is composed of an MBMS dedicated gateway and an MBMS service gateway, and the ENB includes: E B in the MCE area and E B outside the area.

The MBMS dedicated gateway is connected to the E B in the MCE area for MBMS data forwarding, and is connected to the BM-SC and/or the MBMS control plane entity for session management control signaling transmission;

The MBMS service gateway is connected to the E B outside the MCE area for data forwarding, and performs session management control signaling transmission with the BM-SC or the MBMS control plane entity.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein said MBMS Serving Gateway is further coupled to an RNC or NB in said 2G/3G network for forwarding MBMS data from said BM-SC to said RNC or B.

A method for providing a multimedia broadcast multicast service MBMS service, the method comprising: the MBMS control plane entity performing MBMS bearer context maintenance according to the received session management control signaling,

E B sends session management control signaling;

The E B performs maintenance of the radio resource and the MBMS service bearer according to the received session management control signaling.

The method according to claim 13, wherein in the process of establishing an MBMS service session, the session management control signaling is: a session start request message;

Performing the MBMS bearer context maintenance to: establish an MBMS bearer context;

The EB performs maintenance of the radio resource and the MBMS service bearer: the EB configures the radio resource, establishes The MBMS service is hosted.

The method of claim 14, wherein the MBMS control plane entity sends a session start request message to the ENB, the MBMS control plane entity directly sends a session start request message to the EB outside the MCE area; The MCE sends a session start request message to the EB in the MCE area.

The method of claim 15, wherein the MCE sends a session start request message to the EB in the own area, the method further includes: the MCE carrying the radio resource allocated for the EB in the own area The session start request message is sent to the corresponding EB.

The method according to claim 14, wherein the method further comprises: after receiving the session start request message sent by the MBMS control plane entity, the EB in the MCE area further sends a wireless message to the MCE. Resource request

After receiving the radio resource request, the MCE returns the radio resource allocated to the E B in its own area.

The method according to claim 14, wherein the method further comprises: the MBMS control plane entity further transmitting a session start request message to the MCE connected to itself;

After receiving the session start request message, the MCE sends the allocated radio resource to the E B in its own area.

The method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein the MBMS control plane entity receives a session start request message sent by the BM-SC: the MBMS control plane entity receives the BM-SC a session start request message forwarded by the MBMS gateway;

The MBMS gateway establishes an MBMS bearer context according to the received session start request message: the MBMS gateway creates an MBMS bearer context according to the received session start request message from the BM-SC.

The method of claim 19, wherein the MBMS gateway creates an MBMS bearer context according to the received session start request message from the BM-SC, the method further comprising:

The MBMS gateway sends a session start request message to the SGSN; the SGSN receives a session start request message from the MBMS gateway, creates an MBMS bearer context, and establishes an MBMS service bearer.

The method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein the MBMS control plane entity receives

After the session start request message sent by the BM-SC, the method further includes:

The MBMS control plane entity selects an MBMS gateway for the MBMS service, and sends a session start request message to the selected MBMS gateway;

After receiving the session start request message from the MBMS control plane entity, the MBMS gateway creates an MBMS bearer context. If the MBMS data is received by using the IP multicast mode, the MBMS gateway enters the BM-SC. Row registration; otherwise, the MBMS gateway allocates bearer information for receiving MBMS data, and sends the bearer information to the BM-SC through the MBMS control plane entity.

The method of claim 21, wherein, after the MBMS control plane entity receives the session start request message sent by the BM-SC, the method further includes:

The MBMS control plane entity sends a session start request message to the SGSN; the SGSN receives from

The MBMS control plane entity's session start request message, creates an MBMS bearer context, and establishes an MBMS service bearer.

The method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein the establishing the MBMS service bearer by the E B comprises:

If the EB selects to establish an MBMS service bearer in the IP multicast mode, and the EB receives the IP multicast address assigned by the MBMS gateway, the EB allocates IP multicast according to the MBMS gateway. The address is multicast registered to the transport layer;

If the E B selects to establish a PTP mode MBMS service bearer, the E B creates a PTP bearer, and sends the bearer information of the PTP bearer to the MBMS gateway by using the MBMS control plane entity.

The method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein, after the E B establishes an MBMS service bearer, the method further includes:

Receiving, by the MBMS control plane entity, a session modification request message sent by the BM-SC, modifying an established MBMS bearer context according to the message, and distributing a session modification request message to the ENB and the MBMS gateway; the MBMS gateway receiving After the session modification request message from the MBMS control plane entity, modify the MBMS bearer context that has been established by itself;

After receiving the session modification request message sent by the MBMS control plane entity or sent by the MBMS control plane entity by using the MCE, the E B modifies the configured radio resource or/and the established MBMS service bearer.

Receiving, by the MBMS gateway, a session modification request message from the BM-SC, modifying an established MBMS bearer context according to the message, and forwarding a session modification request message from the BM-SC to the MBMS control plane entity; the MBMS The control plane entity receives the session modification request message sent by the MBMS gateway, and modifies the established MBMS bearer context according to the message, and distributes the session modification request message to the EB;

The method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein the EB establishes an MBMS service After the bearer, the method further includes:

Receiving, by the MBMS control plane entity, a session stop request message sent by the BM-SC, releasing an MBMS bearer context that has been established, and distributing a session stop request message to the ENB and the MBMS gateway;

After receiving the session stop request message from the MBMS control plane entity, the MBMS gateway releases the established MBMS bearer context;

After receiving the session stop request message sent by the MBMS control plane entity or sent by the MBMS control plane entity by using the MCE, the E B releases the configured radio resource and the established MBMS service bearer.

After receiving the session stop request message from the BM-SC, the MBMS releases its established MBMS bearer context, and forwards a session stop request message to the MBMS control plane entity;

After receiving the session stop request message from the MBMS, the MBMS control plane entity releases the MBMS bearer context established by itself, and distributes a session stop request message to the ENB;

28. An MBMS control plane entity, comprising: