Patent ID: 7509127

Claim:
A channel type switching method for a Multimedia Broadcast and Multicast Service (MBMS) Point to Point (P-t-P) and Point to Multi point (P-t-M) channel, when a UE having MBMS service moves to a cell in a Destination Radio Network Controller (DRNC) that has an Iur interface with a Serving Radio Network Controller (SRNC), comprising the steps of: determining in the DRNC, to perform switching channel type between the P-t-M channel and the P-t-P channel based on a number of users having the MBMS service in the cell; notifying the SRNC of the determined MBMS channel type from the DRNC; notifying in the SRNC, the UE to reconfigure an MBMS channel via a Radio Resource Control (RCC) message in order to perform channel type switching to the determined MBMS channel type; and transmitting MBMS data with the determined channel type to UEs requiring MBMS service.