WO2016099364A1

WO2016099364A1 - Managing content streaming requests

Info

Publication number: WO2016099364A1
Application number: PCT/SE2014/051551
Authority: WO
Inventors: Stefan Hellkvist; Tommy Arngren; Olof LUNDSTRÖM
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2014-12-19
Filing date: 2014-12-19
Publication date: 2016-06-23

Abstract

The invention relates to a network node and a method at the network node in a communications network for managing streaming sessions of a plurality of mobile terminals. The method at a network node (10) in a communications network (11) for managing streaming sessions of a plurality of mobile terminals (12a, 12b, 12c) comprises receiving (S101) a request from at least one (12a) of the plurality of mobile terminals to establish a streaming session, scheduling (S102) the at least one mobile terminal by placing the request of the at least one mobile terminal in at least one scheduling queue comprising requests of at least a subset of the plurality of mobile terminals, and establishing (S103) a streaming session for the at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals with at least one streaming session bridging node (14), when the request of said at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals has a placement in the scheduling queue being due for establishing the streaming session.

Description

MANAGING CONTENT STREAMING REQUESTS

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a network node and a method at a network node in a communications network for managing streaming sessions of a plurality of mobile terminals. The invention further relates to a computer program performing the method according to the present invention, and a computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having the computer program embodied therein.

BACKGROUND

The World Wide Web is growing increasingly bigger every day and is used to an ever growing extent on a daily basis on different devices, such as smartphones, personal computers (PCs), tablets, IP-TV devices, etc. Mobile communication technologies facilitate sharing of audio visual content through social networks and video sharing sites which are available on the Internet. As communication technologies are developed and become more user-friendly, the sharing of audio visual content becomes more common. Accordingly, the amount of video traffic originating from mobile terminals is expected to increase.

Large arenas that are built today are often equipped with wireless access technologies. Audiences typically bring their smartphones to the arenas, or other sites where events such as outdoor festivals are held, and expect to be able to connect to social networks. These events gathering huge audiences make it necessary to build communication infrastructure to cater for the online access expected by the audiences. Current communication

infrastructure at arenas is mainly dimensioned for online browsing (like Facebook/Twitter status updates), but not for simultaneous upload of high- definition (HD) content from a large number of smartphones using mobile applications like Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Snapchat, etc., to share experiences from events with friends and contacts by text using for instance Short Message Service (SMS), by photo using for instance Multimedia Message Service (MMS), or by video. The audience, being up to 100.000 people or more, typically bring video- capable smartphones to events and want to share their experience before, during, and after the event with friends and family, and even with the other members of the audience. However, during events, network capacity and service availability are limited. Network solutions and services of today have difficulties to manage live streams, in particular HD video streams, generated or consumed by people at events which are characterized by dense areas, large audiences, and bandwidth constraints.

Radio schedulers used in 3GPP networks, and in particular 4G networks such as for instance Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, typically allocate a fair share of the spectrum to the users. WiFi networks have a back-off method that statistically allows users to share the same spectrum, although degrading throughput with increasing load. However, at events gathering a great number of people, there is a need for a higher layer scheduler which is more application dependent than the schedulers used by today's radio networks.

SUMMARY

An object of the present invention is to solve, or at least mitigate, this problem in the art and to provide an improved method and node in a communications network for managing streaming sessions of a plurality of a potentially large number of mobile terminals.

This object is attained in a first aspect of the present invention by a method at a network node in a communications network for managing streaming sessions of a plurality of mobile terminals. The method comprises receiving a request from at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals to establish a streaming session, scheduling the at least one mobile terminal by placing the request of the at least one mobile terminal in at least one scheduling queue comprising requests of at least a subset of the plurality of mobile terminals, and establishing a streaming session for the at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals with at least one streaming session bridging node, when the request of said at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals has a placement in the scheduling queue being due for establishing the streaming session.

This object is attained in a second aspect of the present invention by a network node for a communications network configured to manage streaming sessions of a plurality of mobile terminals. The network node comprises a processing unit and a memory, which memory contains instructions executable by the processing unit, whereby the network node is operative to receive a request from at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals to establish a streaming session, schedule the at least one mobile terminal by placing the request of the at least one mobile terminal in at least one scheduling queue comprising requests of at least a subset of the plurality of mobile terminals, and establish a streaming session for the at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals with at least one streaming session bridging node when the request of the at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals has a placement in the scheduling queue being due for establishing the streaming session.

In an environment defined by a great number of users in a relatively small location having access to limited bandwidth, such as an arena concert or a football game, requests for live data streaming sent from mobile terminals, such as User Equipments (UEs), of the users must be managed. For instance, it can be envisaged that the users capture pictures or even video with their UEs, which they want to submit for viewing by the arena audience on a large- screen display or a jumbotron in the arena.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a managing node is implemented in, or in connection to, the arena (even though it could be positioned remote from the arena), which receives requests from a great number of the UEs to establish streaming sessions via one or more streaming session bridging nodes, such as one or more Multipoint Control Units (MCUs), through which a great number of UEs can be connected to display live data streams on large- screen displays. A streaming session bridging nodes is a node used for bridging multipoint connections, thereby facilitating interaction among users of the connections, such as for instance videoconferencing connections.

The requests are scheduled by the managing node by placing the requests in a scheduling queue comprising a potentially great number of requests received from UEs of members of the audience. When a request of a UE has a placement in the scheduling queue being due for establishing a streaming session, the managing node advantageously effects establishment of a session with the MCU (or the large-screen display, in case an MCU is not used) for the particular UE being up for session establishment based on its placement in the scheduling queue. This is particularly advantageous for uplink video streams (i.e., video streams sent from the UEs to the MCU), as uplink bandwidth capacity typically is a bottleneck in these types of networks.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the managing node performs a ranking of incoming requests. Thus, incoming requests from the UEs are scheduled for subsequent streaming session establishment in a scheduling queue. Advantageously, to provide a more elaborate scheduling, the managing node ranks the incoming requests in accordance with at least one ranking criterion, and the placement of the requests in the scheduling queue is at least partly based on the ranking. For example, ranking criteria may include:

A user score associated with a user of a particular UE. The score may be based on a type of telephony service subscription held by the user, a particular type of UE held by the use, a category of a ticket which the user purchased for the event (where a premium category is given a higher rank), historical user data such as number of previously attended events for a particular event arranger, etc.;

A number of acknowledgements received by a user from other users. If a user receives many "likes" for a submitted content stream, her ranking will improve. Thus, the scheduling entity 13 will take into account the result of the ranking received from the ranking unit 15 and determine the placement of a request in the scheduling queue based at least in part on the result of the ranking.

In still a further embodiment, the managing node performs network monitoring in order to attain a measure of network load in order to

advantageously adjust MCU capacity in the network. Thus, a number of MCUs to be used for establishing the streaming sessions can be adjusted by applying horizontal scaling, i.e., adding or removing MCUs, or by applying vertical scaling by having one MCU handle more than one streaming session at a time. The MCUs may advantageously be deployed in a cloud environment and could be embodied in the form of virtual machines. By using virtual machines, the number of MCUs can advantageously be adjusted momentarily and continuously, which is not possible if conventional hardware MCU nodes are utilized. Further provided is a computer program performing the method according to the present invention, and a computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having the computer program embodied therein.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following. Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to "a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc." are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is now described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure l shows a schematic overview of an exemplifying wireless

communications network in which the managing node according to an embodiment of the present invention is deployed;

Figure 2 shows a different deployment of the managing node according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 3 shows a simplified communications network implementing the managing node according to embodiments of the present invention;

Figure 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method at the managing node for managing streaming sessions in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 illustrates a further embodiment of the managing node according to the present invention;

Figure 6 illustrates a flowchart of method at the managing node for managing streaming sessions in another embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 7 illustrates still a further embodiment of the managing node according to the present invention;

Figure 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method at the managing node for managing streaming sessions in still another embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 9 shows a managing node according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the description.

Figure l shows a schematic overview of an exemplifying wireless

communications network in which the present invention is deployed. The wireless communications system of Figure l is LTE based. It should be pointed out that the terms "LTE" and "LTE based" are here used for present and future LTE based networks, such as, for example, advanced LTE networks. It should be appreciated that although Figure ι shows an LTE based communications network, the example embodiments herein may also be utilized in connection with other wireless communications networks, such as, e.g., Global System for Communication (GSM) or Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), comprising nodes and functions that correspond to the nodes and functions of the network of Figure l.

The wireless communications network comprises one or more base stations in the form of eNodeBs, operatively connected to a Serving Gateway (SGW), in turn operatively connected to a Mobility Management Entity (MME) and a Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW), which in turn is operatively connected to a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF). The eNodeB is a radio access node that interfaces with a mobile terminal, e.g., a mobile terminal, a UE, or an Access Point. The eNodeBs of the network form the so called Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) for communicating with the UE over an air interface, such as LTE-Uu. The core network in LTE is known as Evolved Packet Core (EPC), and the EPC together with the E-UTRAN is referred to as Evolved Packet System (EPS). The SGW routes and forwards user data packets over the Si-U interface, whilst also acting as the mobility anchor for the user plane during inter- eNodeB handovers and as the anchor for mobility between LTE and other 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) technologies (terminating S4 interface and relaying the traffic between 2G/3G systems and PGW). For idle state UEs, the SGW terminates the downlink data path and triggers paging when downlink data arrives for the UE, and further manages and stores UE contexts, e.g., parameters of the IP bearer service, and network internal routing information. The SGW communicates with the MME via interface Sn and with the PGW via the S5 interface. Further, the SGW may communicate via the S12 interface with NodeBs of the Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) and with Base Station Transceivers (BTSs) of the GSM EDGE ("Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution") Radio Access Network (GERAN).

The MME is responsible for idle mode UE tracking and paging procedure including retransmissions. It is involved in the bearer activation/deactivation process and is also responsible for choosing the SGW for a UE at the initial attach and at time of intra-LTE handover involving core network node relocation. It is responsible for authenticating the user by interacting with the Home Subscriber Server (HSS). The Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling terminates at the MME and it is also responsible for generation and allocation of temporary identities to UEs via the Si-MME interface. It checks the authorization of the UE to camp on the service provider's Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) and enforces UE roaming restrictions. The MME is the termination point in the network for ciphering/integrity protection for NAS signaling and handles the security key management. The MME also provides the control plane function for mobility between LTE and 2G/3G access networks with the S3 interface terminating at the MME from the Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN). The MME also terminates the S6a interface towards the home HSS for roaming UEs. Further, there is an interface S10 configured for communication between MMEs for MME relocation and MME-to-MME information transfer. The PGW provides connectivity to the UE to external packet data networks (PDNs) by being the point of exit and entry of traffic for the UE. A UE may have simultaneous connectivity with more than one PGW for accessing multiple PDNs. The PGW performs policy enforcement, packet filtering for each user, charging support, lawful Interception and packet screening.

Another key role of the PGW is to act as the anchor for mobility between 3 GPP and non-3GPP technologies such as WiMAX and 3GPP2 (CDMA lX and EvDO). The interface between the PGW and the packet data network, being for instance the Internet, is referred to as the SGi. The packet data network may be an operator external public or private packet data network or an intra operator packet data network, e.g., for provision of IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) services. The PCRF determines policy rules in real-time with respect to the radio terminals of the system. This may, e.g., include aggregating information in real-time to and from the core network and operational support systems so as to support the creation of rules and/or automatically making policy decisions for user radio terminals currently active in the system based on such rules or similar. The PCRF provides the PGW with such rules and/ or policies or similar to be used by the acting PGW as a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) via interface Gx. The PCRF further communicates with the packet data network via the Rx interface.

A number of different placements of the managing node 10 may be envisaged, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. In Figure 1, the managing node 10 is placed as a node deployed on the Internet, where an MCU 14, with which the managing node 10 communicates, also is placed.

Figure 2 illustrates a different placement of the managing node 10 of embodiments of the present invention, as well as of the MCU 14, with which the managing node 10 communicates. As can be seen, an Access Point (AP) hosting a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) has been added. The UE connects to the EPC network via interface SWu to an Evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG), in case of untrusted WLAN, and further via interface S2B/GTP to the PGW. In case of trusted WLAN (not shown in Figure 2), the UE would instead connect to a TWAG (Trusted Wireless Access Gateway) via interface SWw and further via interface S2a/GTP. In the configuration of Figure 2, an advantage is that a local network based on WLAN can be setup at the arena with the managing node 10 and the MCU also arranged locally, for instance in a so called Outside Broadcasting (OB) bus parked at the arena. In such a configuration, the latency between the UEs and the MCU(s) can be reduced when streaming data, and the load on the EPC network would decrease.

A combination of the configurations of Figures l and 2 can further be envisaged, where the managing node 10 and the MCU 14 are arranged as nodes on the Internet, but which nodes are accessed by UEs via a local WLAN, and not via the E-UTRAN.

Figure 3 shows a simplified communications network 11 implementing the network node 10 for managing streaming sessions of a plurality of UEs 12 a, 12b, 12c. It should be noted that the managing node 10 may manage live streams sent in uplink (UL), i.e., from the UEs to the MCU(s), in downlink (DL), i.e., from the MCUs to the UEs, or both, for any UE. In the illustration of Figure 3, the streaming sessions of the respective 12a, 12b, 12c are separated into UL and DL streaming sessions.

Thus, the network 11 comprises UEs 12a, 12b, 12c - i.e., mobile terminals - performing live streaming in UL, DL, or both directions. The network 11 further comprises the managing node 10 responsible for streaming session scheduling according to an embodiment of the present invention by means of communicating with the UEs via a polling protocol, and further responsible for performing signaling needed to establish streaming sessions from an MCU to the UE.

The managing node 10 can, as was discussed in connection to Figures 1 and 2, be deployed either as part of the infrastructure in the arena or as part of a nearby local operator network. From a general point of view, availability of infrastructure inside or outside of the arena and operator coverage in the nearby surroundings as well as latency requirements will typically determine the most useful deployment.

The network 11 further comprises one or more Multipoint Control Units 14 (MCUs) serving as anchor points for setting up streaming sessions initiated by the managing node 10. A purpose of the MCU 14 is to setup point-to- multipoint streaming sessions initiated by the managing node 10. Thus, a number of UEs 12a, 12b, 12c will advantageously be able to stream content, e.g., for display on a large-screen arena display, possibly even simultaneously in case the display is segmented to provide simultaneous multi -viewing. A number of MCUs can be provided as virtual machines that can be scaled horizontally in a local cloud environment, but also scaled vertically by having one MCU handle more than one streaming session at a time. The MCU 14 can make use of broadcast functionality supported by available radio access, e.g., LTE broadcast. As an alternative, the MCU 14 will setup multiple unicast connections. Advantageously, a user will be able to download an event, arena, or operator, specific application ("app") related to the particular event to his/her UE, be it a concert, sports game, festival etc. The mobile app makes it possible to share content streams in UL and consume (live) content streams in DL before, during, and after the event. The UEs 12a, 12b, 12c send polling requests, for instance using GET requests in Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to the managing node 10, which requests are placed in a streaming queue. The managing node 10 will subsequently assign a UE a channel for UL or DL streaming and setup a streaming session via the MCU 14. As soon as a UE 12a, 12b, 12c is assigned a channel for streaming, the managing node 10 will appropriately handle signalling required to setup streaming between the MCU 14 and the UEs 12a, 12b, 12c, e.g., using

WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication). The managing node 10 is aware of which (if many) MCU 14 is handling a respective stream so that a current MCU 14 can be notified and the session can be created.

Figure 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method at the managing node 10 for managing streaming sessions of a plurality of mobile terminals 12a, 12b, 12c in a communications network 11. In practice, the method at the managing node 10 is performed by a processing unit 20 embodied in the form of one or more microprocessors arranged to execute a computer program 22 downloaded to a suitable storage medium 21 associated with the

microprocessor, such as a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Flash memory or a hard disk drive. The processing unit 20 is arranged to carry out the method according to embodiments of the present invention when the appropriate computer program 22 comprising computer-executable instructions is downloaded to the storage medium 21 and executed by the processing unit 20. The storage medium 21 may also be a computer program product comprising the computer program 22. Alternatively, the computer program 22 maybe transferred to the storage medium 21 by means of a suitable computer program product, such as a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) or a memory stick. As a further alternative, the computer program 22 maybe downloaded to the storage medium 21 over a network. The processing unit 20 may alternatively be embodied in the form of a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), etc.

Now, in a first step S101, the managing node 10 receives requests from a plurality of UEs 12a, 12b, 12c of users in an audience at, for instance, an arena concert. As previously discussed, the users may capture live video content at the concert which they wish to submit, e.g., for display on a large-screen display. In order to handle such streaming in a context with high user density and limited bandwidth, the managing node 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will in step S102 advantageously schedule incoming requests in a scheduling queue.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the received requests from the UEs 12a, 12b, 12c are time-stamped such that the incoming requests are arranged in the scheduling queue in chronological order, where a first request received before a second request will be scheduled for streaming prior to the second request.

In step S103, the managing node 10 establishes a streaming session between the UE 12a - whose request is up for scheduling - and the MCU 14. Thus, any captured video stream can be submitted from the scheduled UE 12a via the MCU 14 for exhibition on a large-screen display by means of an available channel setup between the UE 12a and the MCU 14.

Advantageously, with the embodiment of the method described with reference to Figure 4, better control and use of available radio resources is achieved for content streaming, for instance live video sharing in UL and/ or live video consumption in DL, in dense areas with bandwidth constraints. Hence, a communications network such as that illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 can be offloaded and the managing node 10 according to embodiments of the present invention is can further be adapted to specific conditions prevailing at the particular event at which it is setup, such as bandwidth, number of users, the deployment selected for the managing node, etc.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the establishment of the streaming session as undertaken by the management node 10 in step S103 further comprises notifying the MCU 14 in advance at which estimated instant of time the UE 12a is scheduled for streaming session establishment with the MCU 14. This is advantageous for the MCU for planning purposes, and bandwidth capacity in the network is better utilized.

In yet an embodiment of the present invention, the establishment of the streaming session as undertaken by the management node 10 in step S103 further comprises notifying the at UE 12a that it may commence the streaming session with the MCU 14. This will advantageously offload the MCU 14 in terms of required signalling. In still another embodiment, the step of establishing a streaming session in step S103 further comprises

determining whether the UEi2a should be allowed to send UL data to the MCU 14, to receive DL data from the MCU 14, or both, and notify the UE 12a accordingly.

In still a further embodiment of the present invention, a mobile terminal being turned off will be removed from the scheduling queue by the managing node 10. Advantageously, no scheduling resources are wasted on non-active mobile terminals. Figure 5 illustrates a further embodiment of the managing node 10 according to the present invention. In this embodiment, in addition to a scheduling entity 13, the managing node 10 further comprises a ranking entity 15. As was described in connection to the embodiment illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, incoming requests from the UEs 12a, 12b, 12c are scheduled for subsequent streaming session establishment in a scheduling queue, which is handled by the scheduling entity 13. As further has been discussed, a respective time stamp of each incoming request may, at least partly, determine the place of the request in the queue. To provide a more elaborate scheduling, the ranking entity 15 will rank the requests of the UEs 12a, 12b, 12c in accordance with at least one ranking criterion. A result of the ranking is communicated to the scheduling entity 13, wherein the placement of the incoming requests in the scheduling queue is at least partly based on the ranking.

For example, ranking criteria may include: - A user score associated with a user of a particular UE. The score may be based on a type of telephony service subscription held by the user, a particular type of UE held by the use, a category of ticket purchased by the user for the event (where a premium category is given a higher rank), historical user data such as number of previously attended events for a particular event arranger, etc.;

- A number of acknowledgements received by a user from other users. If a user receives many "likes" for a submitted content stream, her ranking will improve. Historical data may be considered, thereby aggregating "likes" from several events for a user, which will indicate a degree of popularity.

Thus, the scheduling entity 13 will take into account the result of the ranking received from the ranking unit 15 and determine the placement of a request in the scheduling queue based at least in part on the result of the ranking.

Figure 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method at the managing node 10 for managing streaming sessions of a plurality of mobile terminals 12a, 12b, 12c in a communications network 11 using the ranking as discussed with reference to Figure 5.

Now, in a first step S101, the managing node 10 receives requests from a plurality of UEs 12a, 12b, 12c. In order to handle such streaming in a context with high user density and limited bandwidth, the ranking entity 15 of the managing node 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will in step Si02a advantageously rank each request. For instance, the rank may in an exemplifying example be implemented as:

Rank = Wi * No. of likes + W2 * Ticket type + W3 * Subscription type, where Wi, W2 and W3 are appropriately selected weighting factors.

Depending of the outcome of the ranking algorithm, the request of a user may be advanced in the scheduling queue. That is, a first high-ranked user may be scheduled for streaming session establishment prior to a second lower- ranked user even though the managing node 10 received the request of the second user before the request of the first user.

The ranking entity 15 thus communicates the result of the ranking to the scheduling entity 13, which in step S102 advantageously schedules incoming requests in a scheduling queue at least partly based on the ranking.

Finally, in step S103, the managing node 10 establishes a streaming session between the UE 12a - whose request is up for scheduling, possibly advanced by its ranking - and the MCU 14. Thus, any captured video stream can be submitted from the scheduled UE 12a via the MCU 14 for exhibition on a large-screen display. Advantageously, based on the ranking performed by the ranking entity 15, a user may be given priority. Should the displayed video stream be widely acclaimed in the form of received "likes", the user may be assigned an even higher rank the next time she decides to request submission of a UL data stream with the managing node 10. The scheduling queue will continuously be updated by taking into account (ever changing) rankings of the users. Information regarding the various utilized ranking criteria is l6 typically sent from the mobile app on the UEs to the managing node 10 such that the ranking is up to date.

Figure 7 illustrates still a further embodiment of the managing node 10 according to the present invention. In this embodiment, in addition to a scheduling entity 13 and the ranking entity 15, the managing node 10 further comprises a network monitor 16. It should be noted that the managing node 10 in an embodiment of the present invention comprises the scheduling entity 10 and the network monitor 16, but not the ranking entity 15.

As was described in connection to the embodiments illustrated in Figures 3- 6, incoming requests from the UEs 12a, 12b, 12c are scheduled for subsequent streaming session establishment in a scheduling queue, which is handled by the scheduling entity 13. As further has been discussed, a respective time stamp of each incoming request may, at least partly, determine the place of the request in the queue. To provide a more elaborate scheduling, the ranking entity 15 will rank the UEs 12a, 12b, 12c in accordance with at least one ranking criterion. A result of the ranking is communicated to the scheduling entity 13, wherein the placement of the incoming requests in the scheduling queue is at least partly based on the ranking. As was discussed in connection to Figure 5, ranking criteria may include a user score based on a type of telephony service subscription held by the user, a category of a ticket purchased by the user for the event, etc., number of "likes" received for a submitted content stream, etc.

The scheduling entity 13 takes into account the result of the ranking received from the ranking unit 15 and determines the position of a request in the scheduling queue based at least in part on the result of the ranking.

Further, in this particular embodiment, the network monitor 16 of the managing node 10 measures or attains a current load of the network, which is taken in to account when scheduling the UEs 12a, 12b, 12c. In particular, a measure is attained for a load of the radio access network through which the UEs communicate with the MCUs. Information pertaining to the current network load maybe attained from a radio resource management entity of the radio access network.

Thus, the managing node 10 takes the network load measure from the network monitor 16 into account before selecting UL and/or DL scheduling of an appropriate number of UEs at a next available streaming occasion, such as in a next available time slot. A number of different embodiments are envisaged where the monitored network load is considered. Firstly, a number of the UEs which are allowed in the scheduling queue can be determined based on the attained network load measure, where a higher network load allows for a smaller number of the UEs in the scheduling queue. Secondly, a number of the UEs which are allowed for simultaneous establishment of streaming sessions can be based on the attained network load measure, where a higher network load allows for a smaller number of the UEs being scheduled for simultaneous establishment of streaming sessions. Hence, the requests are placed in the scheduling queue but only the N requests being first in the queue are scheduled for simultaneous establishment of streaming sessions where the number N is adjusted based on network load.

In this context it should be noted that a number of parallel scheduling queues may be handled by the scheduling entity. Thus, instead of having one queue where N UEs are up for scheduling, it is possible to have, e.g., N queues where a streaming session is established for the first UE being up for scheduling in each queue. To conclude, requests can be scheduled for streaming session establishment in practically any number of scheduling queues. From a general point of view, the higher the network load, the longer the scheduling latency for each request.

Thirdly, MCU capacity is adjusted based on the attained network load. Thus, a number of MCUs to be used for establishing the streaming sessions can be adjusted by applying horizontal scaling, i.e., by adding or removing MCUs, or by applying vertical scaling by having one MCU handle more than one streaming session at a time. Thus, a channel setup between a UE 12a and an MCU 14 for establishing a streaming session would typically involve one l8

MCU, and one UL stream and several DL streams. Hence, the number of available channels is adjusted by activating or deactivating MCUs based on feedback from the network monitor 16. The network monitor 16 may interface with, e.g., a Radio Network controller (RNC) or an eNodeB to collect complementary network data for scheduling purposes, e.g., from a radio resource management entity which the RNC or eNodeB are provided with. The managing node 10 continuously keeps track of network monitoring data for horizontal/vertical MCU scaling. As previously discussed, the MCUs may advantageously be embodied in the form of virtual machines. Figure 8 illustrates a flowchart of a method at the managing node 10 for managing streaming sessions of a plurality of mobile terminals 12a, 12b, 12c in a communications network 11 using the network monitoring as discussed with reference to Figure 7.

Now, in a first step S101, the managing node 10 receives requests from a plurality of UEs 12a, 12b, 12c. In order to handle such streaming in a context with high user density and limited bandwidth, the ranking entity 15 of the managing node 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will in step Si02a advantageously rank each request. For instance, the rank may in an exemplifying example be implemented as: Rank = Wi * No. of likes + W2 * Ticket type + W3 * Subscription type, where Wi, W2 and W3 are appropriately selected weighting factors.

The ranking entity 15 thus communicates the result of the ranking to the scheduling entity 13, which in step S102 advantageously schedules incoming requests in a scheduling queue at least partly based on the ranking. Further, in step Si02b, the network monitor 16 measures network load and communicates the measure to the scheduling entity 13 in order to, e.g., adjust the number of MCUs in the network such that an appropriate number of channels can be assigned for establishing streaming sessions based on the measured network load.

Finally, in step S103, the managing node 10 establishes a streaming session between the UE 12a - whose request is up for scheduling, possibly advanced by its ranking - and the MCU 14. Thus, any captured video stream can be submitted from the scheduled UE 12a via the MCU 14 - or any other activated MCU depending on the result of the network monitoring - for exhibition on a large-screen display. Advantageously, based on the

measurements performed by the network monitor 16, bandwidth capacity can be adjusted to a current network load.

Figure 9 shows a managing node 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The managing node 10 comprises receiving means 31 adapted to receive a request from at least one of a plurality of mobile terminals to establish a streaming session, scheduling means 32 adapted to schedule the at least one mobile terminal by placing the request of the at least one mobile terminal in at least one scheduling queue comprising requests of at least a subset of the plurality of mobile terminals, and establishing means 33 adapted to establish a streaming session for the at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals with at least one streaming session bridging node when the request of the at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals has a placement in the scheduling queue being due for establishing the streaming session. The receiving means 31 and the establishing means 33 may comprise a communications interface for receiving and providing information, and further a local storage for storing data. The receiving means 31, scheduling means 32 and establishing means 33 may (in analogy with the description given in connection to Figure 3) be implemented by a processor embodied in the form of one or more microprocessors arranged to execute a computer program downloaded to a suitable storage medium associated with the microprocessor, such as a RAM, a Flash memory or a hard disk drive. The receiving means 31 and establishing means 33 may comprise one or more transmitters and/ or receivers and/ or transceivers, comprising analogue and digital components and a suitable number of antennae for radio communication. The invention has mainly been described above with reference to a few embodiments. However, as is readily appreciated by a person skilled in the art, other embodiments than the ones disclosed above are equally possible within the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended patent claims,

Claims

CLAIMS l. A method at a network node (10) in a communications network (n) for managing streaming sessions of a plurality of mobile terminals (12a, 12b, 12c), which method comprises:

receiving (S101) a request from at least one (12a) of the plurality of mobile terminals (12a, 12b, 12c) to establish a streaming session;

scheduling (S102) the at least one mobile terminal (12a) by placing the request of the at least one mobile terminal in at least one scheduling queue comprising requests of at least a subset of the plurality of mobile terminals ; establishing (S103) a streaming session for the at least one (12a) of the plurality of mobile terminals (12a, 12b, 12c) with at least one streaming session bridging node (14) when the request of said at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals has a placement in the scheduling queue being due for establishing the streaming session.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the scheduling (S102) further comprises:

ranking (Si02a) the request of the at least one mobile terminal (12a) in accordance with at least one ranking criterion, wherein the placement of the request in the scheduling queue is at least partly based on the ranking.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the at least one ranking criterion is based on number of acknowledgements received from users of the plurality of mobile terminals (12a, 12b, 12c).

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the at least one ranking criterion is based on a score associated with a user of a respective one of the plurality of mobile terminals (12a, 12b, 12c), said score being based on a type of telephony service subscription held by the user, a particular type of mobile terminal held by the user, a category of a ticket which the user purchased for the event, number of previously attended events for a particular event arranger.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the scheduling (S102) further comprises:

registering a time of reception of the request of each mobile terminal (12a, 12b, 12c), wherein the placement of the mobile terminals in the scheduling queue is at least partly based on the time of reception of each request.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the establishing (S103) further comprises:

notifying the streaming session bridging node (14) in advance at which estimated instant of time said at least one mobile terminal (12a) is scheduled for streaming session establishment with the streaming session bridging node.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the establishing (S103) further comprises:

notifying the at least one mobile terminal (12a) that it may commence the streaming session with the streaming session bridging node (14).

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the establishing (S103) further comprises:

determining whether said at least one mobile terminal (12a) should be allowed to send uplink data to the streaming session bridging node (14), to receive downlink data from the streaming session bridging node, or both; and notifying said at least one mobile terminal (12a) whether it is allowed to perform uplink transfer, downlink reception, or both during, the established streaming session.

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising:

attaining (Si02a) a measure of a current load of the communications network (11); and

determining (Si02b) a number of the mobile terminals (12a, 12b, 12c) which are allowed for simultaneous establishment of streaming sessions based on the attained communications network load measure, where a higher communications network load allows for a smaller number of the mobile terminals being scheduled for simultaneous establishment of streaming sessions.

10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising:

attaining a measure of a current load of the communications network (11); and

adjusting streaming session bridging node capacity available for establishing streaming sessions in the network based on the attained communications network load measure, where a higher communications network load results in a higher streaming session bridging node capacity being allocated.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the streaming session bridging node capacity is adjusted by adding at least one further streaming session bridging node or by removing at least one current streaming session bridging node.

12. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of scheduling (S102) further comprises:

removing, from the scheduling queue, a request from a mobile terminal among said plurality of mobile terminals being turned off.

13. A network node (10) for a communications network (11) configured to manage streaming sessions of a plurality of mobile terminals (12, 13), which network node comprises a processing unit (20) and a memory (21), said memory containing instructions (22) executable by said processing unit, whereby said network node is operative to:

receive a request from at least one (12a) of the plurality of mobile terminals (12a, 12b, 12c) to establish a streaming session;

schedule the at least one mobile terminal (12a) by placing the request of the at least one mobile terminal in at least one scheduling queue comprising requests of at least a subset of the plurality of mobile terminals (12a, 12b, 12c);

establish a streaming session for the at least one (12a) of the plurality of mobile terminals (12a, 12b, 12c) with at least one streaming session bridging node (14) when the request of said at least one of the plurality of mobile terminals has a placement in the scheduling queue being due for establishing the streaming session.

14. The network node (10) according to claim 13, further being operative to: rank the request of the at least one mobile terminal (12a) in accordance with at least one ranking criterion, wherein the placement of the request in the scheduling queue is at least partly based on the ranking.

15. The network node (10) according to claim 14, wherein the at least one ranking criterion is based on number of acknowledgements received from users of the plurality of mobile terminals (12, 12b, 12c).

16. The network node (10) according to claim 14, wherein the at least one ranking criterion is based on a score associated with a user of a respective one of the plurality of mobile terminals (12a, 12b, 12c), said score being based on a type of telephony service subscription held by the user, a particular type of mobile terminal held by the user, a category of a ticket which the user purchased for the event, number of previously attended events for a particular event arranger.

17. The network node (10) according to any one of claims 13-16, further being operative to:

register time of reception of the request of each mobile terminal (12a, 12b, 12c), wherein the placement of the mobile terminals in the scheduling queue is at least partly based on the time of reception of each request.

18. The network node (10) according to any one of claims 13-17, further being operative to:

notify the streaming session bridging node (14) in advance at which estimated instant of time said at least one mobile terminal (12a) is scheduled for streaming session establishment with the streaming session bridging node.

19. The network node (10) according to any one of the claims 13-18, further being operative to:

notify the at least one mobile terminal (12a) that it may commence the streaming session with the streaming session bridging node (14).

20. The network node (10) according to claim 20, further being operative to:

determine whether said at least one mobile terminal (12a) should be allowed to send uplink data to the streaming session bridging node (14), to receive downlink data from the streaming session bridging node, or both; and notify said at least one mobile terminal (12a) whether it is allowed to perform uplink transfer, downlink reception, or both during, the established streaming session.

21. The network node (10) according to any one of claims 13-20, further being operative to:

attain a measure of a current load of the communications network (11); and

determine a number of the mobile terminals (12a, 12b, 12c) which are allowed for simultaneous establishment of streaming sessions based on the attained communications network load measure, where a higher

communications network load allows for a smaller number of the mobile terminals being scheduled for simultaneous establishment of streaming sessions.

22. The network node (10) according to any one of claims 13-21, further being operative to:

attain a measure of a current load of the communications network (11); and

adjust streaming session bridging node capacity available for

establishing streaming sessions in the network based on the attained communications network load measure, where a higher communications network load results in a higher streaming session bridging node capacity being allocated.

23. The network node (10) according to claim 22, wherein the streaming session bridging node capacity is adjusted by adding at least one further streaming session bridging node (14) or by removing at least one current streaming session bridging node.

24. The network node (10) according to any one of claims 13-23, the network node (10) being deployed as a node in a Wireless Local Area

Network, WLAN, of the communications network (11).

25. The network node (10) according to any one of claims 13-23, the network node (10) being deployed as a node on the Internet.

26. The network node (10) according to any one of claims 13-23, the network node (10) being deployed as a node in an Evolved Packet Core, EPC, network.

27. A system comprising the network node (10) according to any one of claims 13-26 and at least one streaming session bridging node (14) via which the streaming sessions are established.

28. A computer program (22) comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a device (10) to perform steps recited in any one of claims 1-12 when the computer-executable instructions are executed on a processing unit

(20) included in the device.

29. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium

(21) , the computer readable medium having the computer program (22) according to claim 28 embodied therein.