The MBSFN-based eMBMS using the method of Incremental Allocation of Radio Resource between Unicast and Multicast (IARR-UM)

Abstract

The evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS) using the Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) technique was designed for having multimedia streaming services using the multicast/broadcast way over the cellular network. Since (1) the unit of resource allocation in eMBMS-MBSFN is a subframe, (2) the code rate of an eMBMS-MBSFN session is based on the lowest Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) among involved User Equipments (UEs) of the eMBMS-MBSFN session and (3) the resource allocation for eMBMS-MBSFN cannot be so instantly and dynamically adjusted based on the status of involved UEs, triggering eMBMS-MBSFN in the inappropriate time and allocating inappropriate resource to eMBMS, for which a framework of how to set the configuration of the allocated resource for eMBMS-MBSFN has been defined in the standard, may cause (1) the radio resources to be wasted and (2) the low streaming quality and code rate. Based on the MBMS operation on Demand (MooD) concept, this work proposed the Incremental Allocation of Radio Resource between Unicast and Multicast (IARR-UM) method to dynamically allocate radio resources to eMBMS based on the current Radio Access Network’s (RAN’s) congestion situation such that some suitable multimedia streaming services are switched to eMBMS and others still use unicast communication. To effectively use eMBMS to mitigate RAN’s congestion, the proposed IARR-UM method (1) dynamically increases/decreases the amount of radio resources allocated to eMBMS, i.e., modifying the configuration of the allocated resource for eMBMS-MBSFN using the standard’s framework, based on the situation of RAN’s congestion, (2) uses the Knapsack algorithm to select a subset of suitable multimedia streaming services to be eMBMS sessions according to the given amount of radio resources allocated to eMBMS, and then (3) design a Common Subframe Allocation (CSA) pattern that can have the lower amount of redundant radio resources allocated to eMBMS. The results of the performance evaluation shown that the proposed method can (1) provide UEs with appropriate radio resources and (2), although the throughput may be reduced in some cases, effectively reduce (increase) the UEs’ invalid packet rates (data rates), especially in the higher density of UEs’ situation.