Patent Publication Number: US-2005118946-A1

Title: In-band signaling within broadcast stream and support for mixed flows

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application claims priority to Provisional U.S. Patent Applications 60/517,739 filed Nov. 5, 2003; 60/527,861 filed Dec. 8, 2003; and 60/611,489 filed Sep. 20, 2004, which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention generally relates to broadcast and multicast services for wireless communication networks, and more particularly, autonomous soft hand-off by mobile stations between base stations while receiving a broadcast stream.  
      The 3rd Generation (3G) wireless communication networks provide mobile users wireless access to packet data networks, such as the Internet. Many Internet applications and services, once available only to users at fixed terminals, are now being made available via wireless communication networks to mobile users. Services such as real-time streaming video and music, and on-line interactive gaming, are just a few examples of services now being provided via wireless networks to mobile users. The demand for such services challenges standardization bodies to develop 3G standards capable of providing high rate data transmission over the radio interface between the access network and mobile users.  
      The broadcast/multicast service (BCMCS) provides the ability to transmit media content to multiple users simultaneously over a shared forward link channel. A BCMCS stream, referred to herein as a broadcast stream, is transmitted at a fixed rate and at a constant power. Mobile station handoff is performed autonomously by the mobile stations. To improve system performance, it is desirable to support autonomous soft handoff between sectors in a wireless communication network transmitting the same broadcast stream. Soft handoff of mobile stations receiving broadcast streams requires that the transmission of broadcast streams from each sector be time synchronized.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention provides a method of inserting in-band signaling within a broadcast stream while the mobile station receiving the broadcast stream is in a soft handoff. The base station inserting the in-band signaling into the broadcast stream sends a notification message to the other base stations prior to transmitting the signaling message to resynchronize transmission of the broadcast stream. The resynchronization creates a gap in the broadcast stream into which the signaling message may be inserted.  
      In another aspect of the present invention, a base station multiplexes multiple broadcast streams onto the broadcast channel by dividing the broadcast channel into multiple time slots. The base station negotiates with member base stations to determine selected time slots to assign to one or more broadcast streams and that transmits the broadcast streams in the agreed upon time slots. The base station silences transmission during the unused time slots. If no other base station is using the unused time slot, it may use the time slots for other purposes. For example, the base station may send overhead messages to the mobile stations in the unused time slots. The unused time slots may also be used for a unicast transmission. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a diagram of a wireless communication network according to one exemplary embodiment based on cdma2000 standards  
       FIG. 2  is a diagram of a radio access network according to one embodiment of the present invention based on the cdma200 standards.  
       FIG. 3  is a call flow diagram illustrating a broadcast parameter coordination process according to one embodiment of the present invention based on distributed control.  
       FIG. 4  is block diagram of an exemplary base station configured to implement the broadcast parameter coordination process shown in  FIG. 3 .  
       FIG. 5  is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary program executed by a base station initiating the broadcast parameter coordination process as shown in  FIG. 3 .  
       FIG. 6  is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary program executed by a base station responding to a Broadcast Parameter Coordination Request as shown in  FIG. 3 .  
       FIG. 7  is a call flow diagram illustrating an alternative broadcast parameter coordination process according to one embodiment using centralized control.  
       FIG. 8  is diagram illustrating an exemplary method of packetizing a broadcast stream.  
       FIG. 9  is a block diagram illustrating the data and signal paths for the broadcast stream and related signaling respectively according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 10  is a block diagram illustrating the data and signal paths for the broadcast stream and related signaling respectively according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 11  is a call flow diagram illustrating an alternative broadcast parameter coordination procedure according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       FIG. 1  illustrates logical entities of an exemplary wireless communication network  10  that provides broadcast/multicast services (BCMCS) to mobile station  100 . The wireless communication network  10  may be any type of wireless communication network, such as a CDMA network, WCDMA network, GSM/GPRS network, EDGE network, or UMTS network.  FIG. 1  illustrates a network  10  configured according to the cdma2000 standards. Wireless communication network  10  comprises a packet-switched core network  20  and a radio access network (RAN)  40 . The core network  20  connects to one or more external packet data networks  16 , such as the Internet, or to other wireless communication networks. The RAN  30  connects to the core network  20  and serves as the access point for mobile station  100 .  
      The core network  20  includes a Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN)  22 , a Broadcast Serving Node (BSN)  24 , a BCMCS Controller  26 , a BCMCS Content Server (BCMCS-CS)  28 , and an authentication, authorization and accounting server (AM)  30 . The core network  20  may further include a BCMCS Content Provider (BCMCS-CP)  32 , however, those skilled in the art will understand that the BCMCS-CP  32  may reside outside of the core network  20 .  
      The PDSN  22  connects to an external packet data network (PDN)  60 , such as the Internet, and supports PPP connections to and from the mobile station  100 . It adds and removes IP streams to and from the RAN  40  and routes packets between the external packet data network  16  and the RAN  40 . The BSN  24 , which may be incorporated into the PDSN  22 , connects to the BCMCS-CS  28  and supports BCMCS streams to and from the mobile station  100 . It adds and removes BCMCS streams to and from the RAN  30 . The functions of the BSN  24  may be incorporated into the PDSN  22  if desired.  
      The BCMCS controller  26  is responsible for managing and providing BCMCS session information to the BSN  24 , BCMCS-CS  28 , RAN  40 , and the mobile station  100 . The BCMCS-CS  28  is the logical entity that makes BCMCS content available to mobile station  100 . The BCMCS-CS  28  is not necessarily the source of the content but may receive the content from a content provider. It may store and forward content from the content provider, or may merge content from multiple content providers. If encryption is used, the BCMCS-CS  28  may encrypt the stream content. It may also reformat content for delivery to the mobile station  100 .  
      The AAA  30  is responsible for authentication, authorization and accounting functions. It accesses a Subscriber Profile Database (not shown) to obtain information from a user&#39;s subscription profile, and may send the user subscription profile to the BCMC-CS  28 .  
      The content provider  32  is the source of content carried by a BCMCS stream. The broadcast content may comprise a real-time broadcast or a stored broadcast program, e.g. video on demand. The BCMCS-CP  32  may be a server within the serving network, in a mobile station&#39;s home network, or in an external PDN such as the Internet. If the content provider  32  is outside the network, the content provider packetizes the broadcast content for delivery over the IP network to the BCMCS-CS  28  in the core network  20 , which makes the content available to mobile station  100  within the wireless communication network  10 .  
      The RAN  40  includes a Packet Control Function (PCF)  42 , a Base Station Controller (BSC)  44  and one or more radio base stations (RBSs)  46 . The primary function of the PCF  32  is to establish, maintain, and terminate connections to the PDSN  22 . The BSCs  44  manage the radio resources within their respective coverage areas. The RBSs  36  communicate over the air interface with mobile station  100 . An exemplary air interface specification for providing BCMCS services is described in the Third Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) specification titled  CDMA High Rate Broadcast - Multicast Packet Data Air Interface Specification,  Version 1.0 (February 2004)(the  BCMCS Air Interface Specification ), which is incorporated herein by reference. A BSC  44  can manage more than one RBSs  46 . In cdma2000 networks, the BSC  44  and an RBS  46  comprises a base station  50  ( FIG. 4 ), which is described in more detail below. In cdma2000 networks, a single BSC  44  may comprise part of multiple base stations  50 . In other network architectures based on other standards, the network components comprising the base station  50  may be different but the overall functionality will be the same or similar.  
      BCMCS services provide the ability to transmit the same information stream, referred to herein as a BCMCS stream or broadcast stream, to multiple users simultaneously. A BCMCS stream is also referred to as a BCMCS flow. BCMCS services may be used for video streaming applications and to provide videoconferencing capabilities to mobile station  100 . Typical video streaming applications include live broadcasts and video on demand (VOD). In  FIG. 1 , the content for a BCMCS stream is received by the BCMCS-CS  28  from the BCMCS-CP  32 . A BCMCS stream flows from the BCMCS-CS  28  to a number of mobile stations  100 , which may be in different sectors of the wireless communication network  10 . The BCMCS stream is duplicated at branching points within the network  10  to make the stream available to different sectors. For example, the PCF  44  may divide the BCMCS stream for delivery to two or more BSCs  44 , which may in turn divide the BCMCS stream for delivery to two or more RBSs  46 . One or more RBSs  36  broadcast the BCMCS stream to the mobile station  100  over a forward broadcast channel. The BCH may comprise several subchannels referred to herein as Broadcast Logical Channels. A BCMCS stream is carried on one Broadcast Logical Channel. Each Broadcast Logical Channel may carry one or more BCMCS streams. In order for a mobile station  100  to discover and monitor broadcast content successfully, various broadcast-related parameters need to be sent to the mobile receiver over the air interface. The network broadcasts these parameters over the BCH in the form of a broadcast overhead message. The broadcast overhead message contains the logical-to-physical channel mapping and other parameters for each BCMCS stream to enable the mobile station  100  to successfully receive the BCMCS stream.  
      Though not essential to the invention, a description of the BCMCS service may be useful to understand the invention. Reception of a BCMCS service is enabled by a number of procedures that are described in the 3GPP2 specification titled  Broadcast and Multicast Services Framework X.P 0019, Rev. 0.1.4 (Mar. 15, 2004)( Framework ). The basic procedures include service discovery/announcement, content subscription, content information acquisition, content availability determination, BCMCS registration, reception of content, and BCMCS deregistration. The network  10  provides one or more mechanisms to enable users to request or be informed about BCMCS services available. The BCMCS-CS  28  may act as a server in communication with a client application in a mobile station  100 . The client application may request BCMCS service information from the BCMCS-CS  28 , or the BCMCS-CS  28  may send unsolicited announcements about BCMCS services. Other service discovery/announcement mechanisms include announcements via SMS and WAP. Whatever mechanism is used for service discovery/announcement, the information concerning BCMCS content and schedule is provided to the mobile station  100 . The service discovery/announcement mechanism provides basic information about the service required for information acquisition, such as the content name and start time.  
      The user subscribes to BCMCS content and selects the content that he wants to receive. Content subscription may be performed either before or after service discovery/announcement. User subscription information is stored in a subscriber profile. To receive selected content, the mobile station  100  communicates with the BCMCS controller  26  to acquire session information associated with a selected BCMCS content. This process is known as content information acquisition. The session information includes such information such as a BCMCS flow Identifier that identifies a BCMCS stream, flow treatment, e.g., header compression and/or header removal, and the transport and application protocols used.  
      The content availability determination procedure enables the mobile station  100  to determine the availability of a particular BCMCS stream. The serving RBS  46  may transmit content availability information to the MS in overhead messages. If the mobile station  100  cannot find the content availability information from the overhead messages, the mobile station  100  may request the desired BCMCS stream by making a BCMCS registration request.  
      The mobile station  100  uses a BCMCS registration procedure to request delivery of a BCMCS stream. In cdma2000 networks, the BCMCS registration request is sent by the mobile station  100  to the serving RBS  36  over the Random Access Channel (RACH) or Enhanced Random Access Channel (REACH). If a bearer path between the BCMCS-CS  28  and the RBS  46  is not established, the RBS  46  in cooperation with the BCMCS-CS  28  will establish a bearer path. Once the mobile station  100  begins receiving the BCMCS stream, the RBS  46  may require the mobile station  100  to periodically re-register. Periodic registration allows the RBS  46  to stop broadcasting a BCMCS stream when there are no mobile station  100  receiving the stream.  
      The mobile station  100  may perform a BCMCS deregistration procedure to notify the RBS  46  that the mobile station  100  is no longer monitoring the BCMCS stream. Deregistration may also occur via time out at the RBS  46  if the deregistration timer for the mobile station  100  expires.  
      The broadcast channel (BCH) for transmitting a BCMCS stream over the air interface may be a shared channel or a dedicated channel. The BCH, in general, will have a forward link but no reverse link. In cdma2000 systems, the broadcast channel may comprise one or more forward supplemental channels (F-SCH). Also, the BCH could be carried over a shared packet data channel, such as the forward packet data channel F-PDCH in cdma2000. The BCH carries packets containing the BCMCS content generated by the BCMCS-CS  28 . The BCH can also carry forward-link signaling messages. Each BCMCS stream is associated with an identifier called a BCMCS Flow ID.  
      When a mobile station  100  receiving a broadcast stream from a cell or sector from an RBS  46  in the network  10  adds to its active set another cell or sector from another RBS  46  serving the same broadcast stream, the mobile station  100  performs an autonomous soft handoff.  FIG. 2  illustrates mobile station  100  during handoff and provides further details of the RAN  30 .  FIG. 2  illustrates three RBSs  46 , each providing coverage in a geographic region known as a cell  12 . The cells  12  are represented as hexagonal regions and are denominated as cells C 1 , C 2  and C 3 . Each cell  12  is divided into three sectors to reduce interference. The sectors in each cell  12  are denominated as sectors S 1 , S 2  and S 3 . Two BSCs  44 , denominated as BSC 1  and BSC 2  are illustrated. RBS 1  and BSC 1  comprise a first base station BS 1  providing coverage in cell C 1 . RBS 2  and BSC 1  comprise a second base station BS 2  providing coverage in cell C 2 . RBS 3  and BSC 2  comprise a third base station BS 3  providing coverage in cell C 3 . BSC 1  and BSC 2  are connected by a sidehaul link, which is referred to in the IS-2001 standard as the A3/A7 interface. The A3 interface carries user traffic between BSCs  44  and the A7 interface carries signaling between BSCs  44 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 2 , a mobile station  100  in cell C 2  has entered a boundary region  14  between sector S 1  of cell C 2  and sector S 3  of cell C 3 . Prior to entering the boundary region, the mobile station  100  was receiving a broadcast stream from BS 2 . The network  10  must detect the mobile station  100  in the boundary region  14  and provide the same broadcast stream to BS 3  to enable a handoff between BS 2  to BS 3 . The network  10  may detect entry by the mobile station  100  into the boundary region  14  by monitoring signal quality reports from the mobile station  100 . For example, when the mobile station  100  is in a boundary region  14 , Periodic Pilot Strength Measurement Messages (PPSMMs), or the like, returned from the mobile station  100  will include pilot strength measurements for one or more neighboring base stations controlling the adjacent service areas associated with the boundary region  14 . Thus, BS 2  may detect that the received signal strength for its pilot is decreasing at the mobile station  100 , while the received signal strength for BS 3  is increasing. When the network  10  detects the mobile station  100  in the boundary region  14 , it provides the broadcast stream to each adjacent base station  50  in anticipation of a handoff by the mobile station  100 .  
      In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the mobile station  100  handoffs autonomously based on the pilot strength measurements from neighboring base stations and/or other channel quality statistics. To improve system performance, it is desirable to support soft handoff by a mobile station  100  receiving a broadcast stream to enable soft-combining at the mobile station  100 . When the mobile station  100  moves between sectors served by the same base station, or between sectors in two different base stations served by the same BSC  44 , conventional soft-handoff procedures can be used. It is also desirable to support soft handoff across BSC boundaries, which is referred to herein as an inter-BSC handoff.  
      The present invention provides procedures that can be implemented by the base stations  50  in network  10  to support autonomous soft handoff by a mobile station  100  across BSC boundaries. Soft handoff requires that the transmission of broadcast streams be coordinated between participating base stations  50 . The BCMCS Flow ID is known to the PDSN  22 , base stations  50 , and mobile station  100  and can be used to coordinate the broadcast stream content and broadcast parameters. Some of the broadcast parameters that need to be coordinated include: 
          Encoding and Data Rate—The same content needs to be transmitted at the same rate the same application layer encoding needs to be used across the sectors in a soft handoff. It may be desirable to use more than one encoding/compression algorithm to adapt to the available bandwidth, which may vary over time.     Frequency—Each base station  50  needs to transmit the broadcast stream over the same frequency.     Long code mask—Each base station  50  needs to apply the same long code mask to the broadcast stream.     Framing—There are two framing methods available for BCMCS—framing at the PDSN/BSN using HDLC, and framing at the BSC  44  using the Broadcast Framing Protocol.     Flow level encryption—The base stations  50  must coordinate encryption. Possible encryption schemes include link level encryption, application level encryption, or both. The same encryption keys need to be used by each base station.     Link level encryption—Security parameters for link level encryption need to be the same, otherwise link level encryption should be disabled. The short-term key is generated from the BAK and a random seed. The BAK will be the same for all base stations  50 . To enable encryption, the random seed needs to be exchanged. The base stations should use the same hash function for short key generation that yields the same short key in all base stations.     Reed Solomon Coding—In cdma2000, Reed Solomon (RS) outer coding is enabled only for rates 115200 bps. When enabled, the start of RS blocks for Reed Solomon coding need to be the same so that the transmission of the information bits and the computation of the parity bits are synchronized.     Time synchronization—The same data need to be transmitted from the same sectors at the same time during a soft handoff. Transmissions should be time synchronized on a frame by frame basis.     Frame Offset—Each base station  50  must use the same frame offset.     Power Offset—The mobile station  100  soft combines the packets based on the pilot power level it sees for the sectors. The pilot power level may be different for different sectors. For maximal ratio combining, the traffic to pilot ratio should preferably be the same for all sectors.     Neighbor list—The mobile station  100  needs to be informed of the possible set of sectors that can be soft combined through common channel messaging, e.g. the Broadcast Overhead message for IS 6001 (1xEV-DO) and the Broadcast Services Parameter message for IS-2001 (1xEV-DV). Base stations  50  participating in a soft handoff need to agree on the sectors that will transmit the broadcast stream, which may be a subset of the mobile station  100 &#39;s active set.        

      Some of the broadcast parameters listed above may be fixed and others may be negotiable between participating base stations  50 . Further, the above list of broadcast parameters is not intended to be limiting and those skilled in the art may find reasons to add other broadcast parameters in addition to or in place of those listed above.  
      In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, a peer-to-peer or distributed control approach is used to coordinate broadcast parameters. Using the peer-to-peer approach, each base station  50  includes a broadcast service function  64  ( FIG. 4 ) that provides services necessary to support broadcast services, including coordinating broadcast parameters with its neighbors. The broadcast service function  64  at any base station  50  can initiate a broadcast parameter coordination process. The initiating base station  50  assumes the role of an arbitrator for the broadcast parameter coordination process. A three-way handshake described in more detail below is used to coordinate broadcast parameters without involvement or intervention by the PDSN  22 . Further, broadcast parameter coordination process does not require any signaling with the mobile station  100 , except to inform the mobile station  100  of the soft handoff sectors after the broadcast parameter coordination process is completed. The list of soft handoff sectors may be sent to the mobile station  100  in a common overhead message, such as the Broadcast Overhead message in 1xEV-DO systems or the Broadcast Service Parameters message in 1xEV-DV systems.  
       FIG. 3  is a call flow diagram illustrating the broadcast parameter coordination process for an inter-BSC handoff according to one embodiment of the invention. In the example shown in  FIG. 3 , a mobile station  100  has moved into the boundary area  44  between sectors in two BSC coverage zones. In this example, the mobile station  100  has moved into boundary area adjacent BS 1  and has sent a registration request message to BS 1  that triggers the broadcast parameter coordination process. BS 1  is the initiating base station  50  and serves as the arbitrator. BS 1  sends a BCMCS Parameter Coordination Request to its neighbor base stations  50  (step a) represented in  FIG. 3  by BS 2 . The BCMCS Parameter Coordination Request message includes the BCMCS Flow ID associated with the broadcast stream, and the sector ID for the sector that received the registration request. The BCMCS Parameter Coordination Request message may further include the broadcast parameter settings that it proposes to use, and a list of its own soft-handoff sectors that it will commit to a soft handoff for the identified broadcast stream. BS 2  is one of the neighbor base stations to receive the BCMCS Parameter Coordination Request message. BS 2  responds with a Broadcast Coordination Response message (step b). The BCMCS Parameter Coordination Response message includes the BCMCS Flow ID that identifies the broadcast stream. If the responding base station cannot use the broadcast parameters proposed by the requesting base station, it may include in the Broadcast Parameter Coordination Response an alternative set of the broadcast parameter settings that the answering base station  50  is willing to use on the border sectors. The Broadcast Parameter Coordination Response message includes a list of sectors in the control of the responding base station  50  that it will commit to the soft handoff. The Broadcast Parameter Coordination Response message could, in some embodiments, include an Action Time to indicate a time at which the broadcast parameters will be effective. After hearing from all of its neighbors, the initiating base station  50  determines what broadcast parameter settings to use and the sectors, including those controlled by neighbor base stations, that will use the same set of common broadcast parameter settings. The decision algorithm for determining the final broadcast parameter settings may depend on the objectives of the service provider. For example, if the primary objective of the service provider is to maximize soft combining, the initiating base station  50  may select a transmission rate that provides a maximal soft-handoff region. The initiating base station  50  sends a BCMCS Parameter Coordination Commit message to its neighbor base stations  50  indicating the final decision regarding the broadcast parameter settings that will be used and the sectors included in the soft handoff (step c). The Broadcast Parameter Commit may also include an Action Time that indicates a time when the broadcast parameters will be effective. If a neighbor base station  50  needs to do so, it establishes a connection with the PDSN  22  according to well-established and known procedures (step d). In some situations, the initiating base station  50  may need to change its transmission parameters. Such changes may require the initiating base station  50  to request a new connection with the PDSN  22  (step e).  
      Certain predetermined broadcast coordination events may trigger the base station  50  to initiate a broadcast parameter coordination process as described above. Possible triggers for broadcast parameter coordination include: 
          Receipt of a registration request from a mobile station  100 .     A change of conditions that dictate a need to change the rate of a BCMCS transmission.     Start of a BCMCS session.     Periodically to correct for changes.     After a disruption in transmission to the mobile station  100 .     Mobile station  100  detecting lack of synchronization and requesting the base stations  50  to re-synchronize. The mobile station  100  may detect lack of synchronization based on the number of frame erasures over a predetermined window. If the number of frame erasures exceeds a threshold, the mobile station  100  may request the base stations  50  to synchronize broadcast parameters. 
 
 When broadcast parameter coordination process is triggered, the base station  50  negotiates the broadcast parameters with its soft-handoff neighbors using the three-way handshake process as described above. At the completion of the handshake process, each base station  50  involved will know what broadcast parameters to use on which sectors, and will have a list of other soft handoff sectors that will use the same broadcast parameters. Each base station  50  can transmit the list of soft handoff sectors to the mobile station  100  in the Broadcast System Parameters message. The mobile station  100  can then determine which sectors to include in its active set when performing a soft handoff. 
       

       FIG. 4  illustrates an exemplary base station  50  configured to implement the broadcast parameter coordination process described above. The base station components in the exemplary embodiment are distributed between a RBS  46  and a BSC  44 . The RBS  46  includes RF circuits  52 , baseband processing circuits  54 , and interface circuits  56  for communicating with the BSC  44 . The BSC  44  includes interface circuits  58  for communicating with the RBS  46 , communication control circuits  60 , and interface circuits  62  for communicating with the PCF  42 . The communication control circuits  60  include the broadcast service function  64  to perform processing tasks related to broadcast services, and radio resource management circuits  66  to manage the radio and communication resources used by the base station  50 . The communication control circuits  60  may comprise one or more processors programmed to carry out the functions of the communication control circuits  60 . The broadcast service function  64  receives GRE packets transmitted from the PDSN  22 , de-packetizes the GRE packets, and formats the broadcast stream into frames for transmission over the air interface to one or more mobile stations  100 . The broadcast service function  64  is also responsible for coordinating broadcast parameters with neighbor base stations  50  as previously described. The broadcast service function  64  may be implemented in a processor programmed to carry out the functions of the BSF  64 .  
       FIG. 5  is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary program  150  executed by a broadcast control function  64  at the base station  50  initiating the broadcast parameter coordination process as shown in  FIG. 3 . The procedure starts when a broadcast parameter coordination event occurs (block  152 ). The base station  50  sends a Broadcast Parameter Coordination Request message to its neighbor base stations, which may be preconfigured (block  154 ), and waits a predetermined time period for responses from the neighbor base stations  50 . After receiving a Broadcast Parameter Coordination Response message from each of its neighbors, or after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the initiating base station  50  determines the broadcast parameter settings for the soft handoff and the soft handoff sectors (block  158 ). The initiating base station  50  then sends a Broadcast Parameter Commit message to its neighbor base stations  50  indicating the negotiated broadcast parameters and the sectors committed to the soft handoff (block  160 ). If necessary, the base station  50  establishes a connection to the PDSN  22 , if not yet established, to receive the broadcast stream (block  162 ). The base station  50  transmits the broadcast stream in the sectors included in the soft handoff list using the broadcast parameter settings specified in the Broadcast Parameter Commit message. (block  164 ).  
       FIG. 6  is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary program  170  executed by the broadcast service function  66  at a base station  50  responding to a Broadcast Parameter Coordination Request as shown in  FIG. 3 . The base station  50  receives a Broadcast Parameter Coordination Request from a neighbor base station  50  (step  172 ). The base station  50  determines proposed broadcast parameters settings and available sectors (block  174 ) and returns a Broadcast Parameter Coordination Response message (block  176 ). The base station then waits for a Broadcast Parameter Commit message from the initiating base station  50 . When the broadcast parameter coordination commit message is received (block  178 ), the base station  50  establishes a connection to the PDSN  22 , if not yet established, to receive the broadcast stream (block  180 ), and transmits the broadcast stream in the committed sectors using the broadcast parameter settings specified in the Broadcast Parameter Commit message (block  182 ).  
      In an alternate embodiment of the invention, a master-servant or centralized approach may be used for broadcast parameter coordination. The master-servant or centralized control approach assigns each sector to a maximal soft-handoff region (MSHOR) and designates one base station  50  in the MSHOR to the master base station  50 . A sector can only belong to one MSHOR. The master base station  50  for the MSHOR determines the broadcast parameters based on reports from the other base stations  50  in the MSHOR. The master base station  50  may use a three-way handshake process similar to the peer-to-peer approach to arbitrate the broadcast parameter coordination process. Sectors within the MSHOR may be dynamically added and removed. For example, a base station  50  in the MSHOR may commit one of its sectors to a soft handoff when a mobile station  100  registers in one of its sectors or when a particular broadcast program begins. The base station  50  may remove the one of its sectors from the soft handoff controlled by the master base station  50  when the sector can no longer support the rate or other parameters set by the master base station  50 , or when there are no users in the sector receiving a particular broadcast stream. Intra-BSC handoffs are still possible between sectors that are not added to the soft handoff by the master base station  50 .  
       FIG. 7  is a call flow diagram illustrating the broadcast parameter coordination process for an inter-BSC handoff according to another embodiment of the invention. The call flow diagram illustrates three base stations  50  designated as the master base station, BS 1 , and BS 2 . In the example shown in  FIG. 7 , a mobile station  100  has moved into a boundary area  44  for a sector in the coverage area of BS 1  and has sent a registration request message to BS 1  that triggers the broadcast parameter coordination process. BS 1  sends a BCMCS Parameter Coordination Request message to the master base station (step a). The BCMCS Parameter Coordination Request message includes the BCMCS Flow ID associated with the broadcast stream, the sector ID for the sector that received the registration request, proposed broadcast parameter settings that it desires to use, and a list of its own soft-handoff sectors that it will commit to a soft handoff. The master base station  50  knows the broadcast parameters currently associated with the broadcast stream. If necessary, the master base station  50  can change the broadcast parameter settings responsive to the Broadcast Parameter Coordination Request from BS 1 , or may decide to continue using the current broadcast parameter settings. The master base station  50  responds with a Broadcast Coordination Response message (step b). The BCMCS Parameter Coordination Response message includes the BCMCS Flow ID that identifies the broadcast stream, the broadcast parameter settings for the broadcast stream, a list of soft handoff sectors transmitting the broadcast stream, and an action time parameter that indicates when to start applying the broadcast parameter settings. The initiating base station, BS 1 , sends a BCMCS Parameter Coordination Commit message to the master base station  50  indicating the sectors that it will commit to the soft handoff based on the broadcast parameters specified in the Broadcast Parameter Coordination Response message (step c). If necessary, the master base station  50  then sends a Broadcast Parameter Coordination Request message to each base station  50  in the MSHOR (step d). This step may be necessary, for example, where the master base station  50  has changed the broadcast parameter settings. The Broadcast Parameter Coordination Request message includes the Broadcast Flow ID, the broadcast parameter settings, a SHO list, and an action time indicating when the new broadcast parameter settings will be effective. Each base station  50  receiving the Broadcast Parameter Coordination Request message from the master base station returns a Broadcast Parameter Coordination Commit message that includes the BCMCS Flow ID and the sectors that it can commit to the soft handoff based on the new broadcast parameter settings specified in the Broadcast Parameter Coordination Request message (step e).  
       FIG. 8  illustrates one exemplary method of packetizing a broadcast stream for delivery to mobile station  100 . IP packets are transmitted to the PDSN  22  from the BCMCS-CS  28 . A framing function in the PPP layer at the PDSN 22  frames the IP packets to generate HDLC frames. Those skilled in the art will recognize that HDLC framing is not required and that framing at the BSC according to the Broadcast Framing Protocol may be used in place of or in addition to HDLC framing at the PDSN  22 .  
      The PDSN  22  segments the HDLC frames into multiple segments that are inserted into GRE frames for transmission to the BSC  44  via the A8/A10 interface. The GRE frames include a GRE header and GRE payload. The GRE payload carries the HDLC frames or frame segments and is divided into octets. In a preferred embodiment, the GRE payload includes a header extension that includes a time stamp, sequence number or other synchronizing information. The presence of the header extension may be indicated by the Protocol Type field in the GRE header or in A11 Registration Request/Reply messages when setting up the A10 connection. The BSC  44  uses the time-stamp or sequence number contained in the GRE header extension to determine the time for transmitting the PDUs over the air interface to the mobile station  100 . The time stamp indicates the time that the PDU containing the first octet of a GRE packet is transmitted over the A8/A10 interface to the PDSN  22 .  
      The BSC  44  decapsulates the GRE packets and maps the GRE payload, less the GRE header extension, to Packet Data Units (PDUs) for transmission over the air interface to the mobile station  100 . Data from two or more GRE packets may be mapped to a single PDU. Those skilled in the art will understand that the first octet of a GRE packet may not necessarily be located at the start of a PDU. In some embodiments of the invention, the PDU containing the last octet of a GRE packet may be padded with dummy bits or fill bits so that the first octet in every GRE packet coincides with the start of a PDU. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 6 , however, the BSC  44  begins filling the remainder of the PDU with data from the next GRE packet when the last octet of the GRE packet is reached. As seen in  FIG. 6 , the first GRE packet fills the first two PDUs and part of the third PDU. Bits from the second GRE packet are used to fill the remainder of the third PDU. The fourth and fifth PDUs contain user data bits from the second GRE packet. Each PDU comprises a broadcast frame for transmission to the mobile station  100  over the air interface.  
       FIG. 9  illustrates the data and signaling paths in one exemplary embodiment of the invention that is particularly suited for the distributed control approach for coordination of the broadcast stream. The solid line in  FIG. 9  represents the path of the broadcast stream, while the dotted line represents the signaling path for broadcast stream related signaling. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 9 , each base station  50  receives the same broadcast stream from the PDSN  22 . The sidehaul links between BSCs  44  are used for inter-BSC signaling. In cdma2000 networks, the A7 interface comprises the sidehaul link used for inter-BSC signaling. One advantage of this approach is that no sidehaul links are needed to transport user data between BSCs  44 . However, some mechanism is needed to synchronize transmission of broadcast frames over the air to the mobile station  100 . The broadcast parameter coordination process described above can be used to coordinate the transmission of broadcast streams in different sectors. As noted earlier, the PDSN  22  may insert time synchronization information into the GRE packets delivered to the BSCs  44 , which the BSCs  44  can use along with additional time synchronization parameters exchanged over the sidehaul link to time synchronize the broadcast streams. An exemplary method of time synchronization is described below.  
       FIG. 10  illustrates the data and signaling paths in another exemplary embodiment of the invention. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 10 , a source base station  50  receives the broadcast stream from the PDSN  22  and is responsible for generating broadcast frames for transmission over the air interface for a particular broadcast stream. During soft handoff, the source base station  50  transmits the broadcast stream over a sidehaul link to the other base stations  50 . When a base station  50  other than the source base station  50  receives a registration request from a mobile station  100 , the base station  50  requests the content stream from the source base station  50  and receives the broadcast stream over a sidehaul link.  
       FIG. 11  is call flow diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure used by a base station  50  to request a broadcast stream from a source base station  50 . A requesting base station, upon receiving a registration request from the mobile station  100 , sends a BCMCS Parameter Coordination Request to all neighbor base stations  50  including the source base station (step a) and receives a BCMCS Parameter Coordination Response from each neighbor base station (steps b and c) as previously described and shown in  FIG. 3 . Based on the responses from the neighbor base stations  50 , the requesting base station  50  determines the broadcast parameter settings to use and the soft handoff sectors as previously described. The registration request from the mobile station  100  identifies the source base station  50 . The requesting base station  50  then sends a BCMCS Content Request message to the source base station  50  to request the broadcast stream (step d). The BCMCS Content Request message includes the BCMCS Flow ID for the broadcast stream and the broadcast parameter settings. The source base station  50  returns a BCMCS Content Response message to the requesting base station  50  (step e). The BCMCS Content Response message includes the BCMCS Flow ID and an Action Time parameter. The Action Time parameter indicates to the requesting base station  50  the time that the source base station  50  will begin transmitting the broadcast stream to the requesting base station  50  over the sidehaul link. If the source base station  50  does not have the broadcast content with the parameter settings specified in the BCMCS Content Request, the source base station  50  requests the content with the correct broadcast parameter settings from the PDSN  22 . The requesting base station  50  then sends a BCMCS Broadcast Parameter Commit to the neighbor base stations  50  including the source base station  50  (step f).  
      In embodiments where all of the base stations  50  connect to the same PDSN  22  or BSN  24 , a time-stamp approach may be used to synchronize transmission of broadcast frames across BSC boundaries. An exemplary time-stamping method will be described using  FIG. 8  as a reference. At the start of a BCMCS transmission, the base station  50  calculates a time to begin the transmission of the broadcast stream based on the time stamp in the first GRE packet and a time offset T offset  that indicates a desired packet latency. The time offset may be preconfigured or may be negotiated as part of the broadcast parameter negotiation process described earlier. The time stamp may be inserted into the GRE packet by the PDSN  22  or BSN  24 . The time stamp may indicate the time that the GRE packet is transmitted by the PDSN  22  of BSN  24 , or a time derived from the packet transmission time. Alternatively, the time stamp in the GRE packet may be derived from a time stamp in RTP packets received at the PDSN  22  or BSN  24  from the content server  28 .  
      The base station  50  computes the start transmission start time TBS(i,s) of the first broadcast frame contains a part of GRE packet GRE(i) in sector s according to: 
 
 TBS ( i,s )= TCN ( i )+ T   offset    Eq. (1) 
 
 where i is the sequence number of the GRE packet, TCN(i) is the time that the PDSN  22  transmits the GRE packet on the A8/A10 interface or other time stamp value, and T offset  is the time offset. If the computed value of TBS(i,s) is not a possible frame start time, then TBS(i,s) is rounded up to the next frame transmission start time. Equation 1 may also be used to resynchronize after a disruption in transmission, or in response to a request from a mobile station to resynchronize. 
 
      For a subsequent GRE packet denominated as GRE(j) where j&gt;i, the BSC  44  can compute the frame transmission start time TBS(j,s) for the frame containing the first bit of GRE(j) according to:  
               TBS   ⁡     (     j   ,   s     )       =       TBS   ⁡     (     i   ,   s     )       +       ⌊         P   ⁡     (     i   ,   s     )       +       ∑     k   =   i       j   -   1       ⁢     N   ⁡     (   k   )           S     ⌋     ×   Δ   ⁢           ⁢   t               Eq   .           ⁢     (   2   )               
 
 where TBS(i,s) is the frame transmission start time for the first broadcast frame containing a part of GRE(i), TBS(j,s) is the frame transmission start time for the first broadcast frame containing a part of GRE(j), P(i,s) is the position of the first bit of GRE(i) in the initial frame, N(k) is the number of user data bits in GRE packet with sequence number k, S is the number of user data bits in a broadcast frame, and Δt is the broadcast frame transmission time. The summation in Equation 2 gives the total number of user data bits in all previous GRE packets beginning with GRE(i) through GRE(j-1). The variable P(i,s) accounts for the bits in the frame preceding the first user data bit of GRE(i). The total bits transmitted is divided by the number of bits in a frame S to get the number of frames transmitted, which is rounded down to the nearest integer value. The number of broadcast frames is multiplied by the frame transmission time to get the total transmission time of each complete frame, ignoring the user data bits in GRE(j) carried over to the last frame. The total transmission time is added to the frame transmission start time TBS(i,s) of the first frame containing a part of GRE(i) to get the frame transmission start time TBS(j,s) of the first frame containing the a part of GRE(j). 
 
      The start position P(i n ,s) of the first bit in GRE(i n ) can be computed according to:  
               P   ⁡     (     j   ,   s     )       =       (       P   ⁡     (     i   ,   s     )       +       ∑     k   =   i       j   -   1       ⁢     N   ⁡     (   k   )           )     ⁢   mod   ⁢           ⁢   S             Eq   .           ⁢     (   3   )               
 
 Equation 3 computes the sum modulus S of the user data bits transmitted in all frames preceding GRE(j) beginning with the initial frame of GRE(i). This total includes the bits preceding the first bit of GRE(i) in the initial frame. 
 
      When a first base station  50  starts sending a broadcast stream in a sector s that is already being transmitted by a second base station  50  in a neighboring sector s′, the first base station  50 , denoted BS 1 , may send a request to the second base station  50 , denoted BS 2 , for the frame transmission start time TBS(i,s′) and start position P(i,s′) for the GRE frame GRE(i) currently being transmitted. While the first base station BS 1  is waiting for a reply, it may keep count of the number of user data bits in each transmitted GRE packet so that it calculate the frame transmission start time for a frame TBS(j,s) and start position P(j,s) to synchronize transmission in sector s′ with the transmission sector s. That is, the base station BS 1  will compute  
         ∑     k   =   i       j   -   1       ⁢     N   ⁡     (   k   )           
 
 while it waits for the for BS 2  to report the frame transmission start time TBS(i,s′) and the start position P(i,s′). BSI then sets TBS(j,s)=TBS(j,s′) and P(j,s)=P(j,s′). The Broadcast Parameter Coordination process shown in  FIG. 3  may be used to exchange time synchronization parameters. 
 
      If the base stations  50  insert signaling into the broadcast channel that delays the transmission of user data received from the PDSN, a similar calculation can be applied provided that the delay is equal at all base stations  50  transmitting the broadcast stream to the mobile station  100 . For signaling messages that are not sent in all sectors, sectors can be removed from the soft handoff using the broadcast parameter coordination procedure previously described, and then added back to the soft handoff are the signaling is completed.  
      Due to the insertion of signaling messages into the broadcast stream and variances at which the PDSN  22  sends user data to the base stations  50 , the latency period between the time that the PDSN  22  sends the user data and the time that the user data is actually transmitted to the mobile station  100  may vary. Such variances will in turn cause the buffer levels at the base stations  50  to increase and decrease as the packet latency varies. If the average rate at which the PDSN  22  sends user data to the base stations  50  exceeds the average rate at which the base stations  50  transmit the data to the mobile station  100 , the fill level of the buffer will increase and could cause a buffer overflow. Conversely, if the average rate at which the PDSN sends user data to the base stations  50  is less than the average rate at which the base stations  50  send the user data to the mobile station  100 , the buffer level will decrease and could cause the buffer to empty, i.e. buffer underflow. To prevent buffer overflow/underflow, upper and lower bounds can be set for the buffer level that trigger automatic resynchronization. The upper and lower bounds may be preconfigured by the network operator or may be negotiated between the base stations  50  during the broadcast parameter coordination process previously described.  
      In one embodiment of the invention packet latency L is computed by calculating the elapsed time between the time that the PDSN  22  transmits a GRE packet to the base station  50  and the frame transmission start time for the initial broadcast frame containing a part of the GRE packet. The time that the PDSN  22  transmits the GRE packet is identified by the time stamp TCN(i) in the GRE packet. The frame transmission start time TBS(i,s) may be computed according to Equation 2 or other time computation algorithm. The base stations  50  monitor the latency L between the time that the PDSN  22  transmits a GRE packet to the base station  50  and the frame transmission start time according to: 
 
 L=TCN ( i )− TBS ( i,s )   Eq. (4) 
 
 If the packet latency L exceeds the upper bound L upper , the base stations  50  drop selected GRE packets to prevent a buffer overflow. If the packet latency L is less than the lower bound, the base stations  50  pad the frames or send null frames to increase the packet latency. The base station  50  may also assign frames to another user. Each of these methods creates a gap in the transmission of broadcast frames to allow time for the buffer to fill. In either case, an automatic resynchronization process is triggered. 
 
      In the case of a buffer overflow, GRE packets are dropped from the end of the buffer until the anticipated latency is reduced to the minimum value greater than T offset . If j denotes the GRE packet that triggers the buffer overflow (TBS(j,s)−TCN(j)&gt;L upper ), the dropped GRE packets will be those that satisfy the conditions: 
 
 TBS ( i,s )− TCN ( i )≦ L   upper    Eq. (5) 
 
 TBS ( i,s )− TCN ( j )≧ T   offset    Eq. (6) 
 
 The first condition ensures that the packet triggering the automatic resynchronization process, i.e., GRE(j) is retained. The second condition selects all GRE packets preceding GRE(j) whose scheduled transmission start time exceeds their time stamp TCN(j) of GRE(j) by more than T offset . The base station  50  recalculates the frame transmission start time for the initial frame of GRE(j). If k is the sequence number of the last GRE packet not dropped, the transmission start time for GRE(j) may be calculated according to:  
               TBS   ⁡     (     j   ,   s     )       =       TBS   ⁡     (     k   ,   s     )       +       ⌊         P   ⁡     (     k   ,   s     )       +     N   ⁡     (   k   )         S     ⌋     ×   Δ   ⁢           ⁢   t               Eq   .           ⁢     (   7   )               
 
 The start position of GRE(j) in the initial frame may be calculated according to: 
 
 P ( j,s )=( P ( k,s )+ N ( k ))mod  S    Eq. (8) 
 
      GRE(j) will therefore be transmitted immediately after GRE(k).  
               TABLE 1                          Buffer Overflow Example                                                                                 Buffer Fill                                       Upper       i   T   TCN(i)   N(i)   P(i, s)   TBS(i, s)   L(i, s)       Bound                                                         0   0   0   12384   0   800   800       12384       1   100   100   12384   864   980   880       24768       2   110   110   320   448   1,180   1,070       25088       3   200   200   12384   768   1,180   980       37472       4   310   310   12384   352   1,380   1,070       49856       5   380   380   12384   1,216   1,560   1,180       62240       6   445   445   12392   800   1,760   1,315       74632       7   500   500   9600   392   1,960   1,460       84232       8   600   600   12384   1,032   2,100   1,500       96616       9   700   700   12384   616   2,300   1,600   DROPPED   109000       10   750   750   12384   200   2,500   1,750   PACKETS   121384       11   800   800   12384   1,064   2,680   1,880       133768       12   960   960   12384   648   2,880   1,920       133768       13   1,100   1,200   4320   232   3,080   1,880       125384       14   1,250   1,250   12112   712   3,140   1,890       125112       15   1,400   1,400   12384   24   3,340   1,940       137496           1,400   1,400   12384   616   2,300   900   RECOMPUTED   71528                                   VALUES                  
 
      In the example shown in Table 1, the first packet is transmitted to the base station  50  at time 0 as indicated by the time stamp TCN(0) and is transmitted at time 800, which is equal to Toffset. The first GRE packet GRE(0), which contains 12384 bits, is put into the transmit buffer where it remains until the designated transmission time TBS(0,s) (which in this example equals 800). Note that the start position P(0,s) of GRE(0) equals 0 because the transmission of the first GRE packet coincides with the start of a frame. The second packet GRE(1) is received at time 100 and placed into the transmit buffer. The base station  50  computes the transmission start time TBS(1,s) of the frame containing the first bit of GRE(1) according to Equation 2. The second packet contains 12,384 user data bits, which require nine complete frames and 864 bits of a tenth frame to transmit. The number of complete frames is multiplied by the frame transmission time, which in this example is 20 ms, and the result is added to frame transmission start time TBS(0,s) for the frame containing the first bit of GRE(0) to get the frame transmission start time TBS(1,s) for the frame containing the first bit of GRE(1). In this case, the frame transmission start time TBS(1,s) is computed to be 980. The packet latency has increased to 880 and the buffer level has increased to 24,768 bits. After the 15th GRE packet, GRE(14), is delivered by the PDSN, the packet latency has increased to 1890 and the buffer level has increased to 125,112 bits. Upon receipt of the 16th GRE packet GRE(15), the packet latency L(15,s) increases to 1940, which is greater than the maximum packet latency, L upper  (set to 1900 in this example), triggering the automatic resynchronization process. The time stamp for the packet triggering the automatic resynchronization is 1400. Note that TBS(8,s)&gt;TCN(15)+T offset , whereas TBS(9,s)&gt;TCN(15)+T offset . Therefore, GRE(15) is transmitted immediately after GRE(8), and the intermediate packets GRE(9)-GRE(14) are selected for deletion from the buffer. Observe that the deleted packets satisfy Equations 5 and 6. After deletion of packets GRE(9)-GRE(14), the frame transmission start time TBS(15,s), start position P(15,s), and packet latency L(15,s) for packet GRE(15) is recalculated based on TBS(8,s), P(8,s) and N(8). The recalculated synchronization parameters for GRE(15) are TBS(15,s)=616, P(15,s)=2300, which equal the corresponding parameters for GRE(9) since the calculation of these parameters is also based on TBS(8,s), P(8,s), and N(8), and L(15,s)=900.  
      In the case of a buffer underflow, the base stations  50  delay transmission of GRE packets and pad any intervening frames with dummy bits or fill bits. If j is the sequence number of a GRE packet that triggers an underflow condition, then the frame transmission start time TBS(j,s) and start position P(j,s) for GRE(j) are reset as follows: 
 
 TBS ( j,s )= TCN ( j )+ T   offset    Eq. (9) 
 
 P ( j,s )=0   Eq. (10) 
 
      If TBS(j,s) is not a possible frame start time, then TBS(j,s) is rounded up to the next possible frame transmission start time. Queued GRE packets are mapped to air interface frames normally. When all GRE packets preceding GRE(j) have been transmitted, dummy bits are inserted into the transmitted air interface frames prior to TBS(j,s).  
               TABLE 2                          Buffer Underflow Example                                                                                         Buffer Fill       c   T   TCN(i)   N(i)       P(i, s)   TBS(i, s)   L(l, s)       Lower Bound                                                             0   0   0   1350   10800   0   800   800       0       1   200   200   1200   9600   560   960   760       0       2   400   400   1100   8800   1200   1,100   700       10800       3   500   500   680   5440   1040   1,240   740       10800       4   600   600   760   6080   1040   1,340   740       20400       5   800   800   1200   9600   720   1,440   640       18400       6   1,000   1,000   1400   11200   80   1,600   600       20320       7   1,200   1000   1200   9600   1040   1,760   760       21120       8   1,400   1400   996   7968   400   1,920   520       20800       8   1,600   1600   880   7040   688   2,040   440       20800       9   1,800   1800   798   6384   48   2,160   360   PAD   7968           1,800   1800   798   6384   0   2,600   800   RECOMPUTED   7968       10   2,000   2000   1230   9840   1264   2,680   680   VALUES   7040       11   2,200   2200   1002   8016   864   2,840   640       6384       12   2,400   2400   1548   12384   1200   2,960   560       16224       13   2,600   2600   1440   11520   784   3,160   560       24240                  
 
      As shown in Table 2, the packet latency for GRE(9) drops below 400, which is the minimum threshold, L lower . Packet GRE(9) contains a time stamp equal to 1800. The base station  50  recalculates the frame transmission start time for GRE(9) by adding T offset  to the time stamp value to get a news frame transmission start time of 2600 which in this case coincides with the start of a frame. If the new frame transmission start time did no coincide with the beginning of a frame, the new frame transmission start time would be rounded up to the next possible frame transmission start time. The base station  50  sets the start position P(9,s) to zero because the first bit of GRE(9) will coincide with the first bit of the over-the-air frame.  
      The base station could also perform time synchronization based on a sequence number placed in the GRE packets by the PDSN  22  or BSN  24 . To perform time synchronization based on a sequence number, the base stations  50  could negotiate a frame transmission start time TBS(i,s) for a packet with sequence number i using the broadcast parameter coordination process described above. The frame transmission start time and start position for subsequent GRE packets can then be computed according to Equations 2 and 3 above. Resynchronization could be periodically.  
      During mobile operation, it may be desirable to allow the base stations  50  to send layer 3 (L3) signaling messages to a mobile station  100  within the broadcast stream. For example, a base station  50  may desire to send a broadcast system parameters message or other overhead message to mobile station  100  listening to the broadcast channel. One approach to enable broadcasting of overhead messages on the broadcast channel is to temporarily drop those sectors in which the overhead message is broadcast from the soft handoff, and add the sectors back to the soft handoff after the signaling is complete. This approach is complex and requires coordination between the participating base stations  50  and the mobile station  100 . For example, the time at which the soft handoff legs are dropped and added need to be coordinated between the base stations  50  and mobile station  100  receiving the broadcast stream. Such coordination requires signaling over the sidehaul links between participating base stations  50  and over-the-air signaling between the mobile station  100  and one or more of the participating base stations  50 . The approach could lead to degradation in performance during those periods when the soft handoff legs are dropped. Because the duration of the signaling message is typically very short, this approach may not be desirable to network operators.  
      Another approach to enable signaling over the broadcast channel is to blank or delay frames scheduled for transmission to the mobile station  100  in all sectors involved in the soft handoff. The signaling message can be inserted into the frames that are made available by blanking or delaying frames carrying the broadcast stream. In this approach, the base station  50  that needs to send signaling or overhead messages on the broadcast channel sends a notification message to neighbor base stations. The notification message includes the time that it will begin transmission of the overhead message, the size of the overhead message, and the duration of the transmission of the overhead message. The notification message may be transmitted over the sidehaul links from the base station  50  initiating the signaling to its soft handoff neighbors. The message may include an action time field, length field, and optional message field. The action time field contains the time at which the initiating base station  50  will begin transmitting the signaling message on the broadcast channel. The length field indicates the length of the signaling message, which may be used by the other base stations  50  to determine the duration of the signaling message. The optional message field may contain the signaling message being transmitted to the mobile station  100 . The notification message is used to resynchronize transmission of the broadcast stream following transmission of the overhead message to the mobile station.  
      When the initiating base station  50  provides the signaling message to its soft handoff neighbors, the soft handoff neighbors may be required to transmit the signaling message to the mobile station  100 , allowing soft combining of the signaling message by the mobile station  100 . If the signaling message is not provided by the initiating base station  50 , the soft handoff neighbors must go into discontinuous transmission mode and stop transmission for the duration of the signaling message. When Reed Solomon coding is enabled, discontinuous transmission may not be used because the parity bits generated by the outer Reed Solomon code will not match resulting in the loss of an entire Reed Solomon block. To avoid this problem when Reed Solomon coding is enabled, the signal message carried over the broadcast channel needs to be transmitted in all sectors.  
      When the bandwidth of the broadcast channel is greater than necessary to support a broadcast stream, multiple broadcast streams may be multiplexed onto the same broadcast channel. To enable soft combining across BSC boundaries, the frames transmitted need to be identical in all sectors. If frames transmitted on the broadcast channel include data from multiple broadcast streams, a given base station  50  may need to subscribe to a broadcast streams that is not currently needed because all frames need to be identical to support soft combining.  
      The present invention provides support for multiplexed broadcast streams on the same broadcast channel without the need for base stations  50  to subscribe unnecessarily to a broadcast stream. The base station  50  may divide the broadcast channel into multiple time slots and identify the broadcast stream carried in each time slot. In this way, a mobile station  100  may soft combine those time slots carrying a broadcast stream of interest. Base station  50  participating in a soft handoff may negotiate which time slots to use for a given broadcast stream using the broadcast parameter coordination process as previously described. The remaining time slots may be used to transmit other broadcast streams, or the base station  50  may operate in a discontinuous transmission mode and stop transmitting during unused time slots. The base station  50  is not required to a broadcast stream that is not currently needed one of its sectors. Different base stations can transmit different broadcast streams in the same time slot as long as no mobile station is soft combining the time slots with the different streams. Thus, the multiplexed broadcast streams can be different in different sectors.  
      When multiplexing multiple broadcast streams in a frame on the broadcast channel, the bandwidth of the broadcast channel has to at least equal to the sum of the bandwidth required for the individual broadcast streams. The required bandwidth B for N broadcast streams is given by:  
                 ∑     i   =   1     N     ⁢     B   i       ,           Eq   .           ⁢     (   11   )               
 
 where B i ≦B and B i  is expressed in kbs. Some broadcast streams may require an entire time slot, while other broadcast streams can be grouped into a single time slot. If some broadcast streams can be combined so that M&lt;N time slots are required, Equation 11 can be rewritten as:  
                 ∑     i   =   1     M     ⁢     B   i       ,           Eq   .           ⁢     (   12   )               
 
      In one embodiment of the invention, the time slots are 20 ms. Given that frame sizes on the BCH are typically multiples of 20 ms, each frame on the BCH can be evenly divided into 20 ms time slots. Let T denote the time period during which all broadcast streams are served so as to satisfy the bandwidth requirement for each broadcast stream. T can be expressed as the number of 20 msec time slots. The value of T determines the periodicity with which each broadcast stream will be serviced and the buffer size needed to support the multiplexed broadcast streams.  
      The challenge is to determine the minimum time period T needed to optimally serve all multiplexed broadcast streams. The minimum broadcast interval T can be computed according to:  
               T   MIN     =       ∑     i   =   1     M     ⁢       B   i     GCF               Eq   .           ⁢     (   13   )               
 
 In Equation 13, the bandwidth B i  for each broadcast stream is divided by the greatest common factor GCF for all broadcast streams and the results are summed to get the minimum broadcast interval T MIN . In this computation, two or more broadcast streams sharing the same time slot are treated as a single broadcast stream. By minimizing the broadcast interval, the size of the dejitter buffer at the mobile station is minimized. 
 
      As one example, assume that a base station  50  is multiplexing three broadcast streams onto the BCH with data rates of 10 kbs, 12 kbs, and 20 kbs respectively. The greatest common factor for these three broadcast streams is 2000. Therefore, the minimum broadcast interval T MIN  can be computed as follows:  
                     T   MIN     =       ∑       10   ⁢     ,     ⁢   000       2   ⁢     ,     ⁢   000         +       12   ⁢     ,     ⁢   000     2.000     +       20   ⁢     ,     ⁢   000       2   ⁢     ,     ⁢   000                       T   MIN     =       ∑   5     +   6   +   10                   T   MIN     =   21                 Eq   .           ⁢     (   14   )               
 
 In this example, the broadcast interval T MIN  is equal to 21 frames. The value of T MIN , along with the slot allocation and the starting point for the broadcast interval needs to be communicated to the other base stations  50  participating in a soft handoff. 
 
      In any case, those skilled in the art should appreciate that the present invention is not limited by the foregoing discussion, nor by the accompanying figures. Rather, the present invention is limited only by the following claims, and their reasonable legal equivalents.