MAPPING USER DATA ONTO A TIME-FREQUENCY RESOURCE GRID IN A COORDINATED MULTI-POINT WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

摘要

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for receiving user data in a wireless communication system (300) that employs coordinated multi-point transmission of the user data from a first cell serving a wireless terminal (635) and a second cell site neighboring the first cell site. In an exemplary system, the first cell site maps control signals (110, 230, 240) and user data to a time-frequency resources (220) according to a first mapping pattern, while the second cell site maps control data (110, 230, 240) and traffic data to the time-frequency resources (220) according to a second mapping pattern. An exemplary method comprises extracting (520) user data, according to the first mapping pattern, from time-frequency resources (220) of a first transmission for the wireless terminal (635) transmitted from the first cell site; detecting (540) a control element transmitted by one of the first and second cell sites, the control element indicating that user data associated with the control element is mapped to the time-frequency resources (220) according to the second mapping pattern; and, responsive to said detecting, extracting (550) user data according to the second mapping pattern from time-frequency resources (220) of a second transmission for the wireless terminal (635) transmitted from the second cell site.