Optimal MBMS Power Allocation Exploiting MIMO in LTE Networks

In the frame of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) of mobile networks, the provision of rich multimedia services, such as Mobile TV, is considered of key importance for the LTE proliferation in mobile market. To this end, Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS) is envisaged to play an instrumental role during LTE standardization process. MBMS was introduced in the Release 6 of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) in order to deliver multimedia data from a single source entity to multiple destinations. However, downlink capacity in such networks is limited by base station transmission power. As an aftermath, in MBMS efficient power allocation techniques should be implemented so as to ensure the mass provision of multimedia applications to mobile users. In this paper we propose a power control scheme for efficient selection of MBMS bearers. The proposed mechanism on the one hand manages to economically utilize power resources during MBMS transmissions, while on the other hand exploits the performance enhancements emerged from Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antennas used in LTE networks. Simulation results indicate that the proposed scheme results to significant power and capacity improvements.