Determining a cluster set of mobile devices

A method for providing a channel indicator to a controller node comprising:

• receiving, by an eligible assistant (EA) mobile device from a controller node, a request to determine a mobile device-to-mobile device (MD-MD) channel indicator that identifies a quality of a channel between the EA mobile device and a primary mobile device;
• in response to the request, listening to a transmission from the primary mobile device;
• determining the MD-MD channel indicator based on the transmission;
• and
• sending the MD-MD channel indicator to the controller node.

A method for determining a cluster set of mobile devices, comprising:

• receiving, from each controller node of a plurality of controller nodes, cluster determination information that identifies at least one primary mobile device that has a scheduled transmission for the each controller node at a scheduled time, and at least one eligible assistant (EA) mobile device that is unscheduled for transmission at the scheduled time;
• determining a system performance metric;
• forming cluster sets based on the system performance metric, each cluster set identifying a primary mobile device and at least one EA mobile device;
• and
• sending cluster information to the plurality of controller nodes that identifies the cluster sets.

A controller node comprising:

• a communications interface configured to communicate with a plurality of mobile devices;
• and
• a controller comprising a processor and coupled to the communications interface, the controller configured to:
• identify a primary mobile device that has a scheduled transmission for the controller node at a first time;
• identify, from a plurality of mobile devices, a set of eligible assistant (EA) mobile devices from a plurality of mobile devices;
• direct each EA mobile device in the set to determine a corresponding mobile device-to-mobile device channel indicator that identifies a quality of a channel between the each EA mobile device and the primary mobile device;
• receive from at least one EA mobile device in the set the corresponding mobile device-to-mobile device channel indicator;
• and
• determine a cluster set that includes the primary mobile device and the at least one EA mobile device.

An eligible assistant mobile device comprising:

• a communications interface configured to communicate with a controller node;
• and
• a controller comprising a processor and coupled to the communications interface, the controller configured to:
• receive, from the controller node, a request to determine a mobile device-to-mobile device (MD-MD) channel indicator that identifies a quality of a channel between the EA mobile device and a primary mobile device;
• in response to the request, listen to a transmission from the primary mobile device;
• determine the MD-MD channel indicator based on the transmission;
• and
• send the MD-MD channel indicator to the controller node.