Patent ID: 9692581
Date: 2017-06-27
CPC Classifications: H04L,H04W

Claim:
1. A method for generating a common subframe pattern in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: synchronizing frame numbers associated with multiple access nodes operating on a same frequency channel in a coverage area; determining that subframe patterns associated with the multiple access nodes are out-of-sequence with each other, wherein the out-of-sequence subframe patterns of the multiple access nodes each comprise an almost blank subframe (ABS) ratio different from an ABS ratio of at least one other subframe pattern of the out-of-sequence subframe patterns of the multiple access nodes; generating a common subframe pattern based on the ABS ratios of the out-of-sequence subframe patterns of the multiple access nodes, the common subframe pattern comprising at least a same number of ABS as the subframe pattern of an access node of the multiple access nodes with a highest ABS ratio; providing the common subframe pattern to each of the multiple access nodes operating in the coverage area; and scheduling traffic using the common subframe pattern and synchronized frame numbers.