System and method for a virtual carrier for multi-carrier and coordinated multi-point network operation

A wireless communications system, comprising:

• a first base station including a first transmission channel, the first transmission channel being physically transmitted by the first base station, and a second transmission channel, the second transmission channel not being physically transmitted by the first base station;
• and
• a second base station including a third transmission channel, the third transmission channel being physically transmitted by the second base station, the third transmission channel corresponding to the second transmission channel of the first base station, wherein the first base station is configured to transmit control information using the first transmission channel, the control information allocating a resource on the second transmission channel.

A wireless communication system for implementing coordinated multi-point (CoMP), including:

• a first network node including a first transmission channel, the first transmission channel being used for downlink (DL) transmission to an access device;
• and
• a second network node including a second transmission channel, the second transmission channel being used for uplink (UL) transmission from the access device, wherein the first network node is configured to transmit control information using the first transmission channel, the control information allocating a resource on the second transmission channel.

A user agent (UA) for communicating with a wireless communication system implementing coordinated multi-point (CoMP), the wireless communication system including a first network node and a second network node, the UA including:

• a processor, the processor being configured to:
• receive downlink (DL) transmissions from an access device using a first transmission channel on a first network node, and
• transmit uplink (UL) transmissions to the access device using a second transmission channel on a second network node, wherein the processor is configured to received control information using the first transmission channel, the control information allocating a resource on the second transmission channel.