Patent ID: 7986660

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a receiver of a second area configured to receive channel allocation information in cells corresponding to a first plurality of base stations in a first area controlled by a first plurality of base station controllers of the first area, wherein the channel allocation information comprises at least one of channel status information or cell status information; a base station controller of the second area being configured to: control channel allocation in cells corresponding to a second plurality of base stations in the second area, wherein each cell in the first area is sufficiently close to a respective one of the cells in the second area to cause interference; and take into account the received channel allocation information in the cells in the first area when controlling channel allocation in the cells in the second area to limit interference; wherein the base station controller of the second area is further configured to take into account the received channel allocation information by selecting a channel assignment to establish a new call based on the received channel allocation information to reduce interference with connections corresponding to the received channel allocation information; and a co-ordinator to receive the channel allocation information from the first plurality of base station controllers of the first area; wherein the co-ordinator is provided in a network element separate from the first plurality of base station controllers or the base station controller of the second area.