Patent ID: 8442545

Claim:
A method of reducing interference in a wireless communication network comprising a plurality of sub-cells, the sub-cells grouped into two or more Coordinated MultiPoint (CoMP) cells wherein each CoMP cell comprises a plurality of contiguous sub-cells and a controller operative to manage transmissions within the sub-cells of the CoMP cell to minimize intra-CoMP cell interference, the method comprising the steps of: scheduling, by a first CoMP cell controller, transmissions to and from user equipments (UEs) within a first CoMP cell; transmitting, from the first CoMP cell controller to a second controller of a neighboring second CoMP cell, scheduling information regarding transmissions scheduled to and from UEs in sub-cells at the border of the first CoMP cell, in advance of the transmissions; and scheduling, by the second CoMP cell controller, transmissions to and from UEs within the second CoMP cell utilizing the scheduling information transmitted by the first CoMP cell controller to minimize inter-CoMP cell interference between the first and second CoMP cells.