Method of multicast service provisioning

1. A method of provisioning multicast services, comprising:

forming a plurality of multicast groups, each of the plurality of multicast groups associated with one of a plurality of different first channel quality ranges and one of a plurality of different multicast service levels;

forming a plurality of sub-groups for each of the plurality of multicast groups, each of the plurality of sub-groups associated with one of a plurality of different second channel quality ranges;

assigning a set of reporting parameters for each of the plurality of sub-groups for each multicast group, the set of reporting parameters including at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI) reporting interval, a CQI power offset, an acknowledgement (ACK) power offset and a non-ACK (NACK) power offset;

receiving a request for a multicast service from a mobile unit;

receiving an indicator indicating a channel quality of the mobile unit;

assigning the mobile unit to one of the plurality of multicast groups according to the channel quality range among the plurality of different first channel quality ranges within which the indicated channel quality is located;

assigning the mobile unit to one of the plurality of sub-groups associated with the assigned multicast group according to the channel quality range among the plurality of different second channel quality ranges within which the indicated channel quality is located; and

transmitting the set of reporting parameters corresponding to the assigned sub-group to the mobile unit.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indicator is a channel quality indicator (CQI).

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assigning step includes comparing the indicated channel quality with the plurality of first channel quality ranges and assigning the mobile unit to the multicast group having the first channel quality range including the indicated channel quality.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assigning step includes:

comparing the indicated channel quality with the plurality of second different channel quality ranges and

assigning the mobile unit to the sub-group having the second channel quality range including the indicated channel quality.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of second channel quality ranges collectively constitutes the first channel quality range of the assigned multicast group.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of reporting parameters establish reporting guidelines for the mobile unit to operate in accordance with during the multicast service provisioning.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the plurality of sub-groups for each of the plurality of multicast groups includes a lower sub-group and a higher sub-group, the lower sub-group including mobile units with lower reported channel quality indicators (CQIs) than the higher sub-group.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein multicast transmission parameters for each of the plurality of multicast groups are established based on the CQIs of the lower sub-group of the respective multicast group.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the multicast transmission parameters include at least one of a transmission power level for the multicast service provisioning and a transport format of the multicast service provisioning.

10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

at least one intervening sub-group including mobile units associated with CQIs lower than the higher sub-group and higher than the lower sub-group.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

reassigning the mobile unit to a different multicast group based on a newly reported indicator indicating a different channel quality for the mobile unit.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

reassigning the mobile unit to a different sub-group based on a newly reported indicator indicating a different channel quality received from the mobile unit.