Patent ID: 8340591

Claim:
A wireless communication system, the system comprising: a first group of relay stations being configured to receive and relay a first group of wireless communication signals; a second group of relay stations being configured to receive and relay a second group of wireless communication signals, the relay stations in the first and second groups being divided into groups based on at least a potential interference among the relay stations within the same cell and from other serving stations in at least one co-channel cell; at least one base station being configured to communicate with the first group of relay stations and the second group of relay stations, at least one base station comprising: at least one antenna for signal communications; and a communication control device coupled with the at least one antenna, the communication control device being configured to control at least one of (1) a signal transmission power of and (2) a signal communication timing of at least one antenna, wherein the communication control device being configured to divide a service period of the at least one antenna into the at least two phases, to enable communication of signals directed toward or from the first group of relay stations in a first phase, and to enable the second group of relay stations to communicate signals with the at least one of the at least one user device and the at least one base station, during at least a part of the first phase, independently from the signals directed toward or from the first group of relay stations.