Apparatus and method for supporting MCBCS proxy selection for MCBCS and macro diversity in wireless communication system

1. A method for supporting Multicast and Broadcast Service (MCBCS) proxy selection for MCBCS and macro diversity in a wireless communication system including a plurality of Access Service Networks (ASNs) for the MCBCS in one Multicast and Broadcast Service (MBS) zone, the method comprising:

selecting a first MCBCS proxy among MCBCS proxies in the plurality of ASNs as a master MCBCS proxy, and selecting other MCBCS proxies except for the first MCBCS proxy as slave MCBCS proxies;

transmitting, at the first MCBCS proxy, information for macro diversity to the slave MCBCS proxies;

transmitting, at the first MCBCS proxy, a notification message including an identifier of the master MCBCS proxy to the slave MCBCS proxies and an MCBCS controller; and

receiving, at the first MCBCS proxy, session information from the MCBCS controller in response to the notification message,

wherein the master MCBCS proxy first receives an MCBCS join message from a Mobile Station (MS) in the MBS zone.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the session information includes at least one of MBS channel information including Multicast/Broadcast Internet Protocol (IP) Address, transmission time information, and encoding/decoding information.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information for macro diversity is Layer 2 information.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the Layer 2 information includes at least one of modulation information, subchannel information, symbol information, offset information and Multicast Connection Identifier (MCID) information, and time information used for transmitting MCBCS contents.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

transmitting, at the master MCBCS proxy and the slave MCBCS proxies, the Layer 2 information to all Base Station (BSs) in the MBS zone.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the transmitting of the Layer 2 information comprises transmitting the Layer 2 information to BSs of the slave MCBCS proxies through relay paths provided by the slave MCBCS proxies.

7. A method for managing Multicast and Broadcast Service (MCBCS) proxy for MCBCS and macro diversity in a wireless communication system including a plurality of Access Service Networks (ASNs) for the MCBCS in one Multicast and Broadcast Service (MBS) zone, the method comprising:

receiving, at an MCBCS proxy, an MCBCS join message from a Mobile Station (MS) in the MBS zone;

checking, at the MCBCS proxy, whether the MS is a first MS for the MCBCS in the MBS zone based on the MCBCS join message;

setting, at the MCBCS proxy, the MCBCS proxy itself as a master MCBCS proxy when the MS is the first MS;

notifying, by the MCBCS proxy, an MCBCS controller of the setting of the master MCBCS proxy to an MCBCS controller for according to a session start procedure, and notifying other MCBCS proxies of the setting of the master MCBCS proxy so that the other MCBCS proxies are set as slave MCBCS proxies for the MCBCS; and

transmitting, at the MCBCS proxy, Layer 2 information to be assigned for the macro diversity to the slave MCBCS proxies according to the session start procedure.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the notifying steps comprise:

transmitting, by the MCBCS proxy, a notification message including an identifier of the master MCBCS proxy to the slave MCBCS proxies and the MCBCS controller.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving, at the MCBCS proxy, session information from the MCBCS controller in response to the notification message.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the session information includes at least one of MBS channel information including Multicast/Broadcast Internet Protocol (IP) Address, transmission time information, and encoding/decoding information.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the Layer 2 information includes at least one of modulation information, subchannel information, symbol information, offset information and Multicast Connection Identifier (MCID) information, and time information used for transmitting MCBCS contents.

12. An apparatus for supporting Multicast and Broadcast Service (MCBCS) proxy selection for MCBCS and macro diversity in a wireless communication system including a plurality of Access Service Networks (ASNs) for the MCBCS in one Multicast and Broadcast Service (MBS) zone, the apparatus comprising:

a reception unit configured to receive an MCBCS join message from a Mobile Station (MS);

an MCBCS proxy setting unit configured to check whether the MS is a first MS for the MCBCS in the MBS zone based on the MCBCS join message, and set a status of an MCBCS proxy corresponding the MS as a master when the MS is the first MS;

a transmission unit configured to notify an MCBCS controller of the setting of the master according to a session start procedure, and to other MCBCS proxies except for the master MCBCS proxy in the MBS zone so that the other MCBCS proxies are set as slave MCBCS proxies for the MCBCS, or transmit Layer 2 information to the other MCBCS proxies for the macro diversity; and

an information generation unit configured to generate the Layer 2 information according to the session start procedure, and transmit the Layer 2 information to the transmission unit.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the Layer 2 information includes at least one of modulation information, subchannel information, symbol information, offset information and Multicast Connection Identifier (MCID) information, and time information used for transmitting MCBCS contents.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the information generation unit is configured to generate the Layer 2 information using session information received according to the session start procedure, and the session information includes at least one of MBS channel information including Multicast/Broadcast Internet Protocol (IP) Address, transmission time information, and encoding/decoding information.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising:

a list storage unit configured to maintain and store a list of the other MCBCS proxies in the MBS zone.