Effective service delivery and group management in integrated terrestrial-HAP systems for multicast communications

Multicast service delivery can be easily guaranteed to users in disadvantaged areas by effectively integrating HAPs (High Altitude Platforms) into the terrestrial cellular system. HAPs are meant to be as unmanned aerial vehicles, airships or aircrafts, which remain relatively stationary in the stratosphere at short distance from Earth compared to satellites. In the scientific literature, there is evidence of the effectiveness of a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems) system augmented by the presence of HAPs, which are equipped with UMTS payloads and play the role of additional base stations. This integrated terrestrial-space platform intrinsically fits the exigencies of rural and emergency scenarios, which are characterized by network resource scarcity, due to either geographical reasons (such as in rural areas) or to temporary resource over-utilization-reduction (due to emergency status). In this paper, the focus is on the delivery of Multimedia Broadcast-Multicast Services (MBMS) in the reference integrated architecture. Main objectives are designing resource allocation policies to manage multicast groups between space and terrestrial coverages, and analysing their feasibility and performances in terms of offered grade of service. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[1]  Romeo Giuliano,et al.  Interoperability between WiMAXand broadband mobile space networks [topics in radio communications] , 2008, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[2]  Sudhir Dixit,et al.  Wireless relays for broadband access [radio communications series] , 2008, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[3]  Antonio Iera,et al.  The Effect of Multicast User Number and Distribution on the Performance of RRM Policies in Terrestrial-HAP MBMS Systems , 2007, IEEE GLOBECOM 2007 - IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference.

[4]  Antonio Iera,et al.  Multicast in Terrestrial-HAP Systems: "User Number" vs. "User Distribution" Oriented RRM Policies , 2007, 2007 IEEE 66th Vehicular Technology Conference.

[5]  Christos Bouras,et al.  A Power Control Scheme for Efficient Radio Bearer Selection in MBMS , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Symposium on a World of Wireless, Mobile and Multimedia Networks.

[6]  Nedo Celandroni,et al.  Proposal of a Reliable Multicast Protocol in a HAP-Satellite Architecture , 2007, 2007 IEEE 65th Vehicular Technology Conference - VTC2007-Spring.

[7]  Georgios Theodoridis,et al.  CAC-TCP Cross-Layer Interaction in a HAPS-Satellite Integrated Scenario , 2007, 2007 IEEE 65th Vehicular Technology Conference - VTC2007-Spring.

[8]  Emanuela Falletti,et al.  Integrated services from high-altitude platforms: a flexible communication system , 2006, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[9]  Fotini-Niovi Pavlidou,et al.  The role of high altitude platforms in beyond 3G networks , 2005, IEEE Wireless Communications.

[10]  Marina Ruggieri,et al.  Integrated satellite-HAP systems , 2005, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[11]  Fabio Dovis,et al.  Support infrastructures based on high altitude platforms for navigation satellite systems , 2005, IEEE Wireless Communications.

[12]  Antonio Iera,et al.  An integrated HAP-satellite communications system for DVB-RCS service provisioning , 2005, 2005 IEEE 16th International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications.

[13]  Antonio Iera,et al.  The Role of HAPs in Supporting Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Services in Terrestrial-Satellite Integrated Systems , 2005, Wirel. Pers. Commun..

[14]  Teck Hu,et al.  UMTS Release 99/4 airlink enhancement for supporting MBMS services , 2004, 2004 IEEE International Conference on Communications (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37577).

[15]  F. De Rango,et al.  An integrated satellite-HAP-terrestrial system architecture: resources allocation and traffic management issues , 2004, 2004 IEEE 59th Vehicular Technology Conference. VTC 2004-Spring (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37514).

[16]  M. Ruggieri,et al.  TCP/IP performance over satellite and HAP integrated systems , 2004, 2004 IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings (IEEE Cat. No.04TH8720).

[17]  Fabio Dovis,et al.  Integration of a HAP within a Terrestrial UMTS Network: Interference Analysis and Cell Dimensioning , 2003, Wirel. Pers. Commun..

[18]  J. de Vriendt,et al.  Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast services in 3G mobile networks , 2003 .

[19]  David Grace,et al.  High-altitude platforms for wireless communications , 2001 .

[20]  David Grace,et al.  Communications from high altitude platforms a complementary or disruptive technology , 2000 .

[21]  Goran M. Djuknic,et al.  Establishing wireless communications services via high-altitude aeronautical platforms: a concept whose time has come? , 1997, IEEE Commun. Mag..