Gateway, base station and method for window-based content synchronization

A method for processing data packets in a gateway for content synchronization, comprising:

• receiving data packets to be transmitted to base stations;
• counting the data packets to be transmitted, such that a predetermined number of data packets forms a window, the predetermined number being a window size;
• generating a sequence number for each of the data packets to be transmitted;
• setting a timestamp for each of the data packets within the window, such that the timestamps for all the data packets in the window are related to each other;
• and
• including the generated sequence number, the timestamp and a byte count in the data packet to be transmitted, the byte count being an amount of the bytes of all data packets in an immediately previous window, the byte count included in each packet of the window being the same.

A method for processing data packets in a base station for content synchronization, comprising:

• receiving data packets from a gateway;
• extracting a sequence number, a timestamp and byte count information from each of the received data packets;
• counting the received data packets based on the extracted sequence number of each of the received data packets so as to form a window;
• processing the counted received data packets within the window and setting an anticipated air interface transmission time for the data packets in a current window based on the extracted timestamp;
• analyzing the received data packet to determine whether the received data packet is a sync control packet;
• wherein the sync control packet includes a sequence number which is a sequence number of a next packet to be transmitted;
• a timestamp;
• and a total byte count of the packets transmitted in a window terminated prior to the sync control packet.