Patent ID: 7092730
Filing Date: 2006-08-15
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
1. In a communication system comprising at least a first and second simulcast station at a first remote site, a method comprising: detecting, by a simulcast site controller, unavailability of the first simulcast station for communicating on a first communication resource; determining, by a simulcast site controller, if the second simulcast station is available for supporting simulcast transmissions on the first communication resource; and if the second simulcast station is available, assigning, by a simulcast she controller, the second simulcast station to communicate on the first communication resource, sending, by a comparator, data to be communicated over the simulcast channel to one or more of the simulcast stations along with a timestamp specifying when the data will be transmitted, and communicating, by the second simulcast station, simulcast messages on the first communication resource, and wherein the communication system further comprises a plurality of simulcast stations distributed among a plurality of remote sites and where a subset of the plurality of simulcast stations communicates on the first communication resource and wherein the controller, comparator and simulcast stations are connected by an Internet Protocol network and the simulcast stations that communicate on the first communication resource share a multicast Internet Protocol address.