Maintaining MBMS continuity
View Patent ↗Systems, apparatuses, and computer implemented methods may be directed to identifying that a UE is near a cell edge of the source base station, the UE receiving or requesting a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS). A target base station can be identified based, at least in part, on the MBMS received at or requested by the UE. The target base station can be provided to the UE, for example, by providing an indication to the UE of a target base station from which to receive services. The target base station may be acquired through a handover procedure (RRC connected), or through a cell selection procedure (RRC idle). The target base station can be identified based on a multimedia broadcast single frequency network area identifier (MBSFN AreaID) for a synchronized MBMS continuity across network cells or by a temporary multicast group identity (TMGI) for asynchronous MBMS continuity across network cells.
1. A computer implemented method in a communications network, the method comprising:
determining, at a source base station, that a user equipment (UE) is near a cell edge of a source base station, the UE receiving a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), wherein determining that UE is near the cell edge comprises receiving, from the UE, a measurement report, the measurement report including a multicast-broadcast single-frequency network (MBSFN) area identifier (MBSFN-AreaID) indicative of the MBMS that the UE is currently receiving;
identifying, at the source base station, a target base station based, at least in part, on the MBMS; and
providing, by the source base station, an indication of the target base station to the UE.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the UE is in RRC (Radio Resource Control) connected mode, and the method further comprises initiating a handover procedure for the UE to the target base station.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the UE is in RRC idle mode, and the method further comprises initiating a cell selection procedure for the UE to select the target base station.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurement report includes a temporary multicast group identity (TMGI) indicator.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurement report includes an identification of a base station that has the same MBSFN-AreaID as the UE that is receiving the MBMS service.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the target base station based on the MBMS comprises:
identifying, at the source base station, one or more base stations that have the same MBSFN-AreaID; and
selecting, at the source base station, the target base station from among the identified one or more base stations based, at least in part, on a signal strength of the target base station.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the target base station based on the MBMS comprises:
sending a MBSFN area identifier (MBSFN-AreaID) of one or more neighboring base stations to the UE;
receiving from the UE an identification of one or more base stations that have the same MBSFN-AreaID; and
selecting the target base station from among the identified one or more neighboring base stations based, at least in part, on a signal strength of the one or more neighboring base stations and the MBSFN-AreaID.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the target base station based on the MBMS comprises:
receiving a temporary multicast group identity indicator (TMGI) from the UE;
identifying one or more base stations that transmit the same TMGI indicator received from the UE; and
selecting the target base station from among the identified one or more base stations based, at least in part, on a signal strength of the target base station.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the target base station based on the MBMS comprises initiating an MBMS query procedure to identify the target base station based, at least in part, on an MBMS service identifier.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the target base station based on the MBMS comprises initiating an MBMS query procedure to identify one or more base stations based on a temporary multicast group identity (TMGI) similar to or the same as a TMGI of the source base station and the proximity of the target base station relative to the source base station.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the target base station to the UE comprises providing a temporary multicast group identity indicator (TMGI) of the target base station to the UE.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the target base station based, at least in part, on the MBMS comprises initiating an MBMS query procedure to identify one or more base stations based, at least in part, on a MBSFN area identifier (MBSFN-AreaID) similar to or the same as an MBSFN-AreaID of the source base station and the proximity of the target base station relative to the source base station.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the target base station to the UE comprises providing a MBSFN area identifier (MBSFN-AreaID) of the target base station to the UE.
14. A method performed at a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communications network, the method comprising:
communicating a measurement report to a first base station, the measurement report including an indication of a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) provided to the UE by the first base station, wherein the indication of the MBMS includes a multimedia broadcast single frequency network area identifier (MBSFN-AreaID) indicative of the MBMS that the UE is currently receiving; and
receiving a message from the first base station, the message including an identifier of a second base station, the second base station having the same MBSFN-AreaID indicative of the MBMS that the UE is currently receiving.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the UE is in RRC (Radio Resource Control) connected mode and the message is a RRC connection reconfiguration message.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the message includes a start time associated with the MBMS.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the message includes an indication of an MBMS service available for the UE from the second base station.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the indication of the MBMS is a temporary multicast group identity (TMGI).
19. A user equipment (UE) comprising:
a transceiver configured to facilitate wireless communications between the UE and a first base station of the wireless communications network; and
a hardware processor configured to execute instructions comprising:
communicating a measurement report to the first base station, the measurement report including multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) identifier associated with an MBMS for the UE, wherein the MBMS identifier comprises a multimedia broadcast single frequency network area identifier (MBSFN-AreaID) indicative of the MBMS that the UE is currently receiving; and
receiving a message from the first base station, the message including an identifier of a second base station, the second base station having same MBSFN-AreadlD indicative of the MBMS that the UE is currently receiving.
20. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the MBMS identifier for the UE is a temporary multicast group identity (TMGI).
21. The UE of claim 19 , wherein receiving a message from the first base station comprises receiving a message that includes a TGMI of a second base station.
22. The UE of claim 19 , wherein receiving a message from the first base station comprises receiving a message that includes an MBSFN-AreaID of a second base station.
23. The UE of claim 19 wherein the instructions further comprise:
identifying one or more neighboring base stations that transmit the same MBMS identifier received from the first base station as the UE; and
identifying a base station from among the one or more neighboring base stations having the same MBMS identifier based, at least in part, on a signal strength of the target base station to be included in the measurement report.