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Mobile broadcast technology and multicast services in mobile networks
Ericsson Review, no. 01, 2005
Written by: Martin Bakhuizen and Uwe Horn
Download PDF file.
During 2004, many mobile operators launched mobile TV services, which allow users to watch TV on their mobile terminals. At present mobile TV is offered via streaming technology over point-to-point connections. However, large-scale market deployment of mass media services like mobile TV will require new mobile network capabilities commonly referred to as broadcast/multicast.
In this article the authors give an overview of the new mobile broadcast/ multicast services specified in 3GPP and 3GPP2. They also compare the performance gains from new point-to-multipoint radio bearers with the performance of existing point-to-point radio bearers.
Introduction
Telephony, messaging and on-demand streaming and download services are based on point-to-point (PTP) communication. The end-points are either two telephones in a voice call, or in the case of a download or streaming session, a client-server connection.
Mobile broadcast technologies and multicast services on the other hand are synonyms for point-to-multipoint (PTM) communication where data packets are simultaneously transmitted from a single source to multiple destinations. The term broadcast refers to the ability to deliver content to all users. Known examples are radio and TV services, which are broadcasted over the air (either terrestial or via satellite) and over cable networks. Multicast, on the other hand, refers to services that are solely delivered to users who have joined a particular multicast group. Ordinarily, a multicast group is a group of users interested in a certain kind of content, for example, sports, news, cartoons and so on. A multicast-enabled network ensures that the content is solely distributed over those links that are serving receivers which belong to the corresponding multicast group. This is thus a very resource-efficient way of delivering services to larger user groups. Multicasting was first introduced via the internet. Today, it is used for delivering internet radio services.
Two years ago, 3GPP and 3GPP2 began addressing broadcast/multicast services in GSM/WCDMA and CDMA2000 respectively. In 3GPP, the work item is called Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service (MBMS). In 3GPP2 it is called Broadcast and Multicast Service (BCMCS). The specifications of mobile broadcast services were functionally frozen in 2004. 3GPP MBMS and 3GPP2 BCMCS have many commonalities. Therefore, throughout the rest of this article we will only distinguish between them when needed. Otherwise we will use the term “mobile broadcast” keeping in mind that MBMS and BCMCS each support multicast as well.
Whereas MBMS and BCMCS introduce efficient support for broadcast/multicast transport in mobile networks, OMA BCAST is working on the specification of broadcast/multicast-related service-layer functionalities that can be applied to mobile and non-mobile digital broadcast networks. For instance, OMA BCAST addresses content protection, service and program guides, and transmission scheduling. It is agnostic of the underlying broadcast/multicast distribution scheme, which could be MBMS, BCMCS or a non-mobile digital broadcasting system such as DVB-H.
MBMS and BCMCS each introduce only minor changes to existing radio and core network protocols. The same applies to OMA BCAST for broadcast/multicast specific service-layer functions. This reduces implementation costs in terminals and in the network, and makes mobile broadcast a relatively inexpensive technology compared to non-mobile broadcast technologies, which require new receiver hardware in the terminal and additional investments in the network infrastructure. Another advantage of mobile broadcast is that mobile operators can retain established business models. Current services, such as mobile TV, will greatly benefit from the capacity-boosting effect of mobile broadcast. Certainly mobile broadcast will also stimulate the development of new, mobile, mass-media services. Likewise, it will enable operators to provide a full triple-play service offering—telephony, Internet, and TV—for mobile handheld devices in a cost-effective way over a common service and network infrastructure.
