Access agnostic delivery of broadcast, multicast, or unicast content

Abstract

A user equipment transmits a request to configure a first network to transmit complementary content associated with multicast or broadcast content received at the user equipment from a second network. In some cases, the request is transmitted in response to the user equipment detecting that a quality of a signal received from the second network is below a threshold. In response to receiving the request, the first network is configured to transmit the complementary content. The complementary content is transmitted from the first network concurrently with transmitting the multicast or broadcast content from the second network. The user equipment combines the complementary content received from the first network with the multicast or broadcast content received from the second network.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 transmitting, from a user equipment, a request to configure a first network to transmit complementary content associated with multicast or broadcast content received at the user equipment from a second network; and   combining, at the user equipment, the complementary content received from the first network with the multicast or broadcast content received from the second network.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first network supports unicasting, wherein the second network does not support unicasting, and wherein the second network comprises a plurality of synchronized base stations that multicast or broadcast content concurrently over a multicast-broadcast single-frequency network (MBSFN). 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 detecting, at the user equipment, that a signal quality for the multicast or broadcast content is below a threshold value, and   wherein the request to configure the first network is transmitted in response to detecting that the signal quality is below the threshold value.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the request to configure the first network comprises a request to add at least one base station from the first network to a multicast-broadcast single-frequency network (MBSFN) supported by the second network, and wherein the complementary content received from the first network is the same as the multicast or broadcast content received from the second network. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the request to configure the first network comprises a request to form a pseudo-MB SFN in which the user equipment receives the multicast or broadcast content from the second network and the user equipment receives the complementary content as unicast content from the first network. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the unicast content is different than the multicast or broadcast content. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the multicast or broadcast content comprises a base layer formed by scalable video coding of video content and the unicast content comprises at least one upper layer formed by scalable video coding of the video content. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 modifying a configuration of the second network dependent upon whether the first network is available to provide the complementary content.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein modifying the configuration of the second network comprises adding or removing at least one base station from a multicast-broadcast single-frequency network (MBSFN). 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 modifying a configuration of the first network in response to a change in a distribution of user equipment in a geographic region served by the first network or the second network.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein modifying the configuration of the first network comprises removing the first network from a multicast-broadcast single-frequency network (MBSFN) and reconfiguring the first network to unicast the complementary content to the user equipment. 
     
     
         12 . A method comprising:
 receiving, from a user equipment, a request to configure a first network to transmit complementary content associated with multicast or broadcast content received at the user equipment from a second network;   configuring the first network to transmit the complementary content; and   transmitting the complementary content from the first network concurrently with   transmitting the multicast or broadcast content from the second network.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the first network supports unicasting, wherein the second network does not support unicasting, and wherein the second network comprises a plurality of synchronized base stations that multicast or broadcast content concurrently over a multicast-broadcast single-frequency network (MBSFN). 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein receiving the request to configure the first network comprises receiving the request in response to the user equipment detecting that a signal quality for the multicast or broadcast content is below a threshold value. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein configuring the first network comprises adding at least one base station from the first network to a multicast-broadcast single-frequency network (MBSFN) supported by the second network, and wherein the complementary content transmitted by the first network is the same as the multicast or broadcast content transmitted by the second network. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein configuring the first network comprises configuring the first network to unicast the complementary content to the user equipment in conjunction with the second network transmitting the multicast or broadcast content. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the complementary content transmitted by the first network is different than the multicast or broadcast content transmitted by the second network. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the multicast or broadcast content comprises a base layer formed by scalable video coding of video content and the unicast content comprises at least one upper layer formed by scalable video coding of the video content. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 modifying a configuration of the second network dependent upon whether the first network is available to provide the complementary content.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein modifying the configuration of the second network comprises adding or removing at least one base station from a multicast-broadcast single-frequency network (MBSFN). 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 reconfiguring the first network in response to a change in a distribution of user equipment in a geographic region served by the first network or the second network.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein reconfiguring the first network comprises removing the first network from a multicast-broadcast single-frequency network (MBSFN) and reconfiguring the first network to unicast the complementary content to the user equipment. 
     
     
         23 . A user equipment comprising:
 a transmitter configured to transmit a request to configure a first network to transmit complementary content associated with multicast or broadcast content received at the user equipment from a second network; and   a processor configured to combine the complementary content received from the first network with the multicast or broadcast content received from the second network.   
     
     
         24 . The user equipment of  claim 23 , wherein:
 the processor is configured to detect that a signal quality for the multicast or broadcast content is below a threshold value, and   wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the request in response to the processor detecting that the signal quality is below the threshold.   
     
     
         25 . The user equipment of  claim 23 , wherein the complementary content received from the first network is the same as the multicast or broadcast content received from the second network. 
     
     
         26 . The user equipment of  claim 23 , wherein the unicast content is different than the multicast or broadcast content. 
     
     
         27 . The user equipment of  claim 26 , wherein the multicast or broadcast content comprises a base layer formed by scalable video coding of video content and the unicast content comprises at least one upper layer formed by scalable video coding of the video content, and wherein the processor is configured to combine the base layer and the at least one upper layer.