Method and apparatus for providing a multimedia broadcast/multicast service in a visited network

Abstract

A communication system provides a Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS) to a roaming user equipment (UE) by receiving, at a first network, a request from the UE to subscribe to an MBMS service and, in response to receiving the request, conveying to the UE a Temporary Mobile Group Identity (TMGI) that is uniquely associated with the MBMS service and the first network. When the first network receives information associated with a registration of the UE with a second network and further receives MBMS data associated with the MBMS service, the first network conveys the MBMS data and the TMGI to the UE via the second network. By using a TMGI that is unique to the MBMS service and the first network, the UEs subscribed to an MBMS service at the second network ignore a notification conveyed to the UE by the second network, thereby preserving a battery life of such UEs.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.