Multicast communications within a wireless communications network

A method of multicasting in a wireless communications network including a plurality of sectors, comprising:

• transmitting, on a downlink channel at each target sector within a target sector group, a first scheduling message configured to suppress registration feedback from one or more access terminals, the target sectors within the target sector group expected to have one or more access terminals belonging to a given multicast group;
• periodically transmitting, on the downlink channel at each target sector within the target sector group, a second scheduling message in place of the first scheduling message, the second scheduling message configured to prompt registration feedback from one or more access terminals;
• and
• first determining, at each target sector, whether to remain a target sector based on whether registration feedback is received in response to one of the periodically transmitted second scheduling messages.

A wireless communication network including an access network including a plurality of sectors, comprising:

• logic configured to form a target sector group, the target sector group including each target sector from among the plurality of sectors, each target sector expected to have one or more access terminals belonging to a given multicast group based upon receipt of at least one registration message from the one or more access terminals;
• logic configured to form a supporting sector group, the supporting sector group including at least one supporting sector from among the plurality of sectors, each supporting sector not being a target sector and satisfying a proximity metric with respect to at least one target sector;
• and
• logic configured to transmit multicast messages associated with a multicast communication session for the given multicast group in each sector of the target sector group and the supporting sector group.

A wireless communications network including a plurality of sectors, comprising:

• means for forming a target sector group, the target sector group including each target sector from among the plurality of sectors, each target sector expected to have one or more access terminals belonging to a given multicast group based upon receipt of at least one registration message from the one or more access terminals;
• means for forming a supporting sector group, the supporting sector group including at least one supporting sector from among the plurality of sectors, each supporting sector not being a target sector and satisfying a proximity metric with respect to at least one target sector;
• and
• means for transmitting multicast messages associated with a multicast communication session for the given multicast group in each sector of the target sector group and the supporting sector group.

A wireless communications network including a plurality of sectors, comprising:

• means for transmitting, on a downlink channel at each target sector within a target sector group, a first scheduling message configured to suppress registration feedback from one or more access terminals, the target sectors within the target sector group expected to have one or more access terminals belonging to a given multicast group;
• means for periodically transmitting, on the downlink channel at each target sector within the target sector group, a second scheduling message in place of the first scheduling message, the second scheduling message configured to prompt registration feedback from one or more access terminals;
• and
• means for determining, at each target sector, whether to remain a target sector based on whether registration feedback is received in response to one of the periodically transmitted second scheduling messages.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon, the program code configured to operate within a wireless communications system including a plurality of sectors, comprising:

• program code to form a target sector group, the target sector group including each target sector from among the plurality of sectors, each target sector expected to have one or more access terminals belonging to a given multicast group based upon receipt of at least one registration message from the one or more access terminals;
• program code to form a supporting sector group, the supporting sector group including at least one supporting sector from among the plurality of sectors, each supporting sector not being a target sector and satisfying a proximity metric with respect to at least one target sector;
• and
• program code to transmit multicast messages associated with a multicast communication session for the given multicast group in each sector of the target sector group and the supporting sector group.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium including program code stored thereon, the program code configured to operate within a wireless communications system including a plurality of sectors, comprising:

• program code to transmit, on a downlink channel at each target sector within a target sector group, a first scheduling message configured to suppress registration feedback from one or more access terminals, the target sectors within the target sector group expected to have one or more access terminals belonging to a given multicast group;
• program code to periodically transmit, on the downlink channel at each target sector within the target sector group, a second scheduling message in place of the first scheduling message, the second scheduling message configured to prompt registration feedback from one or more access terminals;
• and
• program code to determine, at each target sector, whether to remain a target sector based on whether registration feedback is received in response to one of the periodically transmitted second scheduling messages.

A wireless communications network including a plurality of sectors, comprising:

• logic configured to transmit, on a downlink channel at each target sector within a target sector group, a first scheduling message configured to suppress registration feedback from one or more access terminals, the target sectors within the target sector group expected to have one or more access terminals belonging to a given multicast group;
• logic configured to periodically transmit, on the downlink channel at each target sector within the target sector group, a second scheduling message in place of the first scheduling message, the second scheduling message configured to prompt registration feedback from one or more access terminals;
• and
• logic configured to determine, at each target sector, whether to remain a target sector based on whether registration feedback is received in response to one of the periodically transmitted second scheduling messages.