Patent ID: 8570911

Claim:
A method of operating an access network that is configured to send multicast messages within a wireless communication system, comprising: receiving, by a network device of the access network, a multicast message to be transmitted to a plurality of access terminals, the received multicast message having a first format; determining, by the network device of the access network, whether to transmit the received multicast message to the plurality of access terminals using the first format or a second format, wherein the determining includes detecting whether the received multicast message is delay-sensitive, high-priority and/or emergency-related, wherein the second format permits the received multicast message to be transmitted at an earlier transmission time as compared to the first format, wherein the determining determines to transmit the received multicast message using the first format if the received multicast message is not detected as being delay-sensitive, high-priority and/or emergency-related and wherein the determining determines to transmit the received multicast message using the second format if the received multicast message is detected as being delay-sensitive, high-priority and/or emergency-related; converting, by the network device of the access network, the received multicast message from the first format into the second format if the determining step determines to transmit the received multicast message using the second format; and transmitting, by the network device of the access network, the converted multicast message with the second format over a control channel to at least one of the plurality of access terminals.