Patent ID: 8792434

Claim:
A method of operating a node of a telecommunications system, the method comprising: constructing a subframe of information for transmission over a radio interface, wherein symbols of the subframe are to be transmitted on subcarriers in a frequency domain, wherein one symbol on one subcarrier in the subframe defines a resource element, wherein a predetermined number of resource elements define a control channel element; and selecting one or more control channel elements to use for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) comprising the subframe according to criteria that improves performance of the telecommunications system, wherein selecting comprises, for valid combinations of the control channel elements: evaluating a cost function C(j) for each valid combination (j) of the control channel elements over ones of the symbols comprising a control portion of the subframe; and using evaluations of the cost function C(j) to select one of the valid combinations of the control channel elements according to the criteria that improves the performance.