Techniques for distributing content to multiple devices in a communication network

Abstract

This disclosure describes techniques for scheduling distribution of content to a plurality of devices in a communication network, such as a cellular-based wireless network. According to this disclosure, two or more distribution techniques may be used, and scheduling techniques are performed to determine which distribution technique to use for different content. For example, content can be broadcast to all devices on the network (broadcast), multicast within several cells of the network (multi-cell multicast), multicast in a specific cell of the network (single cell multicast), or unicast to one or more specific devices within specific cells of the network (unicast). The scheduling techniques described in this disclosure may improve content distribution by substantially maximizing the number of content requests that are satisfied, particularly when bandwidth is limited.