Efficient MCS selection mechanisms for multicasting over LTE networks

In Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, the Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Services over Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) operation enables the delivery of the same multimedia content to a set or all the users in a cell, leading in this way to efficient utilization of the network resources. This is achieved through a time-synchronized common waveform that is transmitted from multiple cells for a given duration, which enables over-the-air combining, and therefore significantly improves the spectral efficiency. However, the performance of MBSFN is directly connected to the Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and the transmission mode that will be selected for the delivery of the multimedia data. This paper proposes three different approaches for the selection of the MCS during MBSFN transmissions. Main target is to determine the most efficient approach depending on the target that the operator may set, i.e. the approach that either maximizes the spectral efficiency or achieves a target spectral efficiency for various user distributions. The performance of the approaches is evaluated for scenarios that include users' mobility and for three different transmission modes in order to also examine the effectiveness of Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) techniques.