Patent ID: 8594683
Filing Date: 2013-11-26
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
1. A communication method of a master base station in a cluster including the master base station and at least one slave base station, the method comprising: receiving, from at least one master terminal corresponding to the master base station, information associated with a preferred rank; determining a transmission rank based on information that is associated with a coordinated rank with respect to the master base station and on information that is received from at least one slave terminal corresponding to the at least one slave base station; scheduling, when a master terminal exists in a first master group, the master terminal included in the first master group, and scheduling, when a terminal included in the first master group is nonexistent, a master terminal included in a second master group, the first master group being defined as a set of master terminals, each of which has a preferred rank equal to the transmission rank and the second master group being defined as a set of master terminals, each of which has a preferred rank unequal to the transmission rank; and transmitting, to the at least one slave base station, information associated with the group in which the scheduled master terminal is included and information associated with the transmission rank.