A New Approach for Efficient MBMS Service Provision in UTRAN

As currently specified by 3GPP, MBMS services can be provided in a cell either by Point-to-Point (PtP) or Point-to-Multipoint (PtM) transmission mode, but not both at the same time. With PtP transmission mode, one Dedicated Channel (DCH) is established for each MBMS user within the cell. With PtM transmission mode one Forward Access CHannel (FACH) is established, covering the whole cell's area and commonly shared by all the MBMS users within. In this paper, the authors describe the existing 3GPP MBMS service provision approach, highlight its deficiencies, and propose a new approach to address them.