Method of forming virtual cell in heterogeneous network, macro base station and transmission point device

A method of forming a virtual cell for a terminal device in a heterogeneous network, the method comprising:

• receiving, at a transmission point of the heterogeneous network, identification information and sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration information related to terminal devices in at least a first set of devices and a second set of devices from a macro base station of the heterogeneous network, the transmission point being in the first set of devices or the second set of devices, the first set of devices and the second set of devices being divided by the macro base station based on positions of terminal devices and positions of transmission points cooperating with the macro base station, the first set of devices and the second set of devices being adjacent and non-overlapping and each including at least one of the transmission points and at least one of the terminal devices;
• receiving, based on the SRS configuration information, sounding reference signals from the terminal devices in the first set of devices and in the second set of devices;
• estimating, based on the sounding reference signals, channel state information between the transmission point and the terminal devices in the first set of devices and in the second set of devices;
• and
• transmitting the channel state information and the identification information of the corresponding terminal devices to the macro base station.

A macro base station operating in a heterogeneous network, comprising:

• a controller;
• and
• a memory coupled to the controller and cooperating with the controller to cause the macro base station to execute actions including:
• dividing, based on positions of terminal devices and positions of transmission points cooperating with the macro base station, the terminal devices and the transmission points in a macro cell of the macro base station into at least a first set of devices and a second set of devices, the first set of devices and the second set of devices being adjacent and non-overlapping and each including at least one of the transmission points and at least one of the terminal devices;
• and
• for a target terminal device in the first set of devices,
• acquiring channel state information between the target terminal device and the transmission points in the first set of devices and in the second set of devices;
• determining a power constraint for the transmission points based on the channel state information;
• and
• selecting, based on the power constraint, at least one of the transmission points from the first set of devices for the target terminal device to construct a virtual cell for the target terminal device.

A transmission point device operating in a heterogeneous network, comprising:

• a controller;
• and
• a memory coupled to the controller and cooperating with the controller to cause the transmission point device to execute actions including:
• receiving, from a macro base station of the heterogeneous network, identification information and sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration information related to terminal devices in at least a first set of devices and a second set of devices, the transmission point device being in the first set of devices or the second set of devices, the first set of devices and the second set of devices being divided by the macro base station based on positions of terminal devices and positions of transmission point devices cooperating with the macro base station, the first set of devices and the second set of devices being adjacent and non-overlapping and each including at least one of the transmission point devices and at least one of the terminal devices;
• receiving, based on the SRS configuration information, sounding reference signals from the terminal devices in the first set of devices and in the second set of devices;
• estimating, based on the sounding reference signals, channel state information between the transmission point device and the terminal devices in the first set of devices and in the second set of devices;
• and
• transmitting the channel state information and the identification information of the corresponding terminal devices to the macro base station.