VERFAHREN ZUM BETREIBEN EINES MBMS (MULTIMEDIA BROADCAST MULTICAST SERVICE) FÜR EINE MOBILSTATION NACH ORT ODER QUALITÄT DES SIGNALS

摘要

A method of operating a MBMS (Multimeda Broadcast/Multicast service) comprises causing a network controller to broadcast ( 1 ) to all mobile stations in a cell an offer of service. The network controller requests from each mobile station an indication of interest in the offered service and receives ( 2 ) data relating to each interested mobile station enabling the position or received signal quality of each mobile station within the cell to be determined. The network controller analyses the arrangement of interested mobile stations in one or more predefined areas and requires ( 7 ) each interested mobile station which is out of range of a subsequent broadcast transmission use an alternative mechanism to receive the service. (i.e. to use a point-to-multipoint connection if it out of range, while using a point-to-multipoint connection if it is in the range).