Service continuity for eMBMS in LTE/LTE-Advanced network: Standard analysis and supplement

摘要

Evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS) has recently attracted a great attention from the telecommunication industry. All big companies in the field have invested and intended to deploy eMBMS as the broadcast solution in response to the immense demand in multimedia traffic. The eMBMS, also known as LTE broadcast, can provide high quality live video streaming services for a large number of users simultaneously in an open area such as a stadium or arena during an entertainment or sport event. Nowadays, in a high mobility environment, maintaining the service reception for moving users becomes a crucial task for mobile operators and service providers. Unfortunately, the support from LTE standard for eMBMS service continuity is very limited at the moment and in many cases, the users cannot continue to receive their desired services. To overcome the limitation in the standard, this paper will present a novel method to ensure the service continuity as well as to reduce the service interruption time during handover period for eMBMS users in the mobility context.