Patent ID: 8582419

Claim:
A method for monitoring control channels by a relay node (RN), the method comprising: receiving a multicast/broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) configuration from a base station (BS), the MBSFN configuration indicating at least one BS-to-RN subframe among a plurality of subframes, the at least one BS-to-RN subframe being used for communication from the BS to the RN, the at least one BS-to-RN subframe including a first slot and a second slot in a time domain, wherein the first slot and the second slot are consecutive in the time domain; receiving a configuration message from the BS, the configuration message indicating a start location of a downlink (DL) control channel in the at least one BS-to-RN subframe; monitoring the DL control channel intended for the RN at the first slot of the at least one BS-to-RN subframe based on the configuration message, the DL control channel including a downlink resource assignment and being demodulated using a dedicated reference signal (RS) transmitted in the first slot of the at least one BS-to-RN subframe; receiving downlink data on a DL data channel indicated by the downlink resource assignment at the second slot of the at least one BS-to-RN subframe when the downlink resource assignment is detected on the DL control channel.