| 摘要 |
A method and system for managing communication resources within a cellular network such as an LTE network are disclosed. The method comprises receiving from a base station 20 information indicating the load of the base station; determining groups of user equipment, UEs 10, engaged in a group call such as an MBMS group call, in a first mode of operation to be migrated to a second mode of operation based on the load; and sending a message indicating that the determined groups of UEs 10 are to migrate. The message may be a cessation of the group call. The load information may include an indication that a load threshold has been reached, or an indication of the utilization of one or more MBMS resources. The UEs may be migrated from multicast to unicast operation if MBMS resource utilization is above a first threshold, preferably using MBMS resources configured for multicast if no UEs in multicast mode are using the resource. Alternatively, they may be migrated from unicast to multicast if utilization is above a second threshold. A time indicator may be provided to synchronise the migration, preferably by joining an IP multicast user plane data distribution group in order to receive SYNC packets. |
