Power saving techniques in mbms multicast mode

Abstract

Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS) was introduced in Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 6 in order to more efficiently use network and radio resources for the transmission of multimedia services both in the core network and, most importantly, in the air interface of UTRAN (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network). From the radio perspective, MBMS includes point-to-point (PtP) and point-to-multipoint (PtM) modes. The latter aims to overcome network congestion when a large number of users request the same content. One of the most important aspects in MBMS is power control. The fact that Node B's transmission power is a limited resource and must be shared among all MBMS users in a cell indicates the need for power control during an MBMS service. Techniques, such us rate splitting and mixed usage of transport channels can be used to reduce the power requirement of delivering multicast traffic for MBMS users. To this direction, this paper presents simulation results that will reinforce the need for the usage of such techniques and will reveal the amount of power that is saved.