METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DELIVERY OF HIGH RATE DATA AS PART OF A MULTIMEDIA BROADCAST/MULTICAST SERVICE

摘要

A communication system (100) is provided that comprises a Radio Access Network (110) having a Radio Network Controller (RNC) (114) coupled to each of a cellular Node B (112) and a Digital Broadcasting Video-Handhelds (DVB-H) Node B (120). When the communication system delivers low rate Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS) user information, the user information is conveyed via the cellular Node B and a low data rate channel. When the communication system delivers high rate MBMS user information, the user information is conveyed via the DVB-H Node B and a high data rate channel. Thus the communication system provides high rate MBMS data services without imposing the system capacity constraints resulting from the employment of HSDPA by a cellular Node B.