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1. A method of counting idle mode wireless communication devices in a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication system providing Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) service, the system comprising a plurality of wireless communication devices, each wireless communication device capable of being in one of at least two modes comprising a connected mode and an idle mode where a wireless communication device is in the connected mode when a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Connection has been established and is in the idle mode when no RRC has been established, the method comprising:
sending an idle mode downlink message comprising an idle mode counting request identifying a Point-to-Multipoint (PTM) compatible service, the idle mode downlink message being one of a System Information Block (SIB) message and a MBMS point-to-multipoint Control Channel (MCCH) message; receiving idle mode counting request response messages transmitted by communication devices that were in the idle mode at the time the downlink message was sent, each idle mode counting request response message indicating the communication device sending the idle mode counting request response message should be counted for the PTM compatible service; and prior to sending the idle mode downlink message, executing a connected mode counting procedure to determine whether a number of wireless communication devices in a connected mode indicating that they should be counted for the PTM compatible service is greater than a connected mode threshold, wherein sending the idle mode downlink message is executed only if the number of wireless communication devices in the connected mode indicating that they should be counted for the PTM compatible service is not larger than the connected mode threshold. |
