Communication systems and methods with resource management for overlapping multicast and broadcast service zones

A communication method for providing resource allocation in a communication network, the method comprising:

• identifying at least two broadcast zones for receiving broadcast services in the communication network;
• generating a first index based on a relative relationship among the at least two broadcast zones, the first index including information indicative of whether a first broadcast zone overlaps with at least one other broadcast zone;
• generating a second index based on the relative relationship among the at least two broadcast zones, the second index including information indicative of a number of broadcast zones overlapped with the first broadcast zone;
• assigning at least one identifier to each of the at least two broadcast zones based on the first index and the second index, each identifier being associated with at least one communication resource, with distinct identifiers being assigned to overlapping broadcast zones of the at least two broadcast zones;
• enabling data transmissions to the at least two broadcast zones based on the assigned identifiers and using the at least one communications resource associated with the identifiers;
• updating the first index, when a variation to one of the at least two broadcast zone occurs, based on the relative relationship among the at least two broadcast zones, the updated first index including the information indicative of whether the first broadcast zone overlaps with at least one other broadcast zone;
• re-assigning the at least one identifier to each of the at least two broadcast zones if the updated first index is different from the first index;
• and
• enabling the data transmissions to the at least two broadcast zones based on the identifiers and using the at least one communications resource associated with the identifiers.

A communication system for providing resource allocation in a communication network, the system comprising:

• a zone identification unit, the zone identification unit being configured to identify at least two broadcast zones for receiving broadcast services in the communication network;
• a resource scheduling unit coupled with the zone identification unit, the resource scheduling unit being configured to generate a first index based on a relative relationship among the at least two broadcast zones, the first index including information indicative of whether a first broadcast zone overlaps with at least one other broadcast zone, the resource scheduling unit also being configured to generate a second index based on the relative relationship among the at least two broadcast zones, the second index including information indicative of a number of broadcast zones overlapped with the first broadcast zone;
• a resource allocation unit coupled with the resource scheduling unit, the resource allocation unit being configured to assign at least one identifier to each of the at least two broadcast zones based on the first index and the second index, each identifier being associated with at least one communication resource, with distinct identifiers being assigned to overlapping broadcast zones of the at least two broadcast zones,
• a communication interface unit coupled with the resource allocation unit, the communication interface unit being configured to enable data transmissions to the at least two broadcast zones based on the assigned identifiers and using the at least one communications resource associated with the identifiers;