Patent ID: 8145223
Filing Date: 2012-03-27
Classification: H04B,H04W

Abstract:
1. A method of reducing inter-cell interference within a Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) cellular network architecture having a plurality of CoMP cells, wherein each CoMP cell includes a plurality of sub-cells in which radio transmissions are made to and from User Equipments (UEs), said method comprising the steps of: grouping the plurality of CoMP cells into a number of mutually exclusive subsets, wherein the CoMP cells in each subset are sufficiently separated from each other geographically so that no inter-CoMP-cell interference occurs among the CoMP cells in any given subset; scheduling transmissions to and from UEs in the sub-cells of the CoMP cells in a first subset to minimize intra-CoMP-cell interference among the sub-cells within the CoMP cells in the first subset, wherein transmissions in the downlink direction in a given CoMP cell in the first subset are scheduled so that none of the UEs experience interference that exceeds a threshold λ; passing scheduling information from each of the CoMP cells in the first subset to neighboring CoMP cells in all other subsets; and scheduling transmissions to and from UEs in the sub-cells of the CoMP cells in a second subset, wherein transmissions in the second subset are scheduled to minimize intra-CoMP-cell interference among the sub-cells within the CoMP cells in the second subset, and wherein transmissions in the second subset are also scheduled utilizing the scheduling information received from the first subset to minimize inter-CoMP-cell interference with CoMP cells in the first subset.