Resource efficient multicast for 3G UMTS wireless networks

The European telecommunication standard Institute proposed IP multicast for third generation universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) broadband wireless networks. In their proposed approach, multicast messages are sent as multiple unicast messages to all active multicast group members in the UMTS network. As a result their proposed scheme is inefficient in terms of internal infrastructure and radio resource usage; and multicast packets incur significant delays. We propose a resource efficient IP multicast scheme, which significantly reduce radio resource usage and message delay. The proposed scheme uses IP tunnels and efficient unicast routing within the UMTS infrastructure to eliminate unnecessary message duplication and transmission. We also proposed the use common multicast channels in the efficient utilization of radio resources. Common multicast channels are designed to accommodate the varying and channel characteristics of active multicast users. We also propose a secure mechanism to distribute common radio group key to active multicast users.