Transmission point indication in coordinated multi-point system

An apparatus to be employed by a serving evolved Node B (eNB), the apparatus including:

• communications circuitry;
• and
• coordinated multipoint (CoMP) management circuitry coupled to the communications circuitry, the CoMP management circuitry to:
• transmit, to a user equipment (UE) via the communications circuitry using radio resource control (RRC) signaling, common reference signal (CRS) parameters associated with individual eNBs of a CoMP measurement set including a plurality of eNBs, wherein the plurality of eNBs in the CoMP measurement set include the serving eNB and a first eNB, wherein the eNBs of the CoMP measurement set are associated with respective transmission point indexes, and wherein the CRS parameters include a number of CRS antenna ports, a CRS frequency shift of the individual eNBs and a transmission point index of the individual eNBs;
• and
• transmit, to the UE via the communications circuitry, a downlink control information (DCI) message to indicate, based on a first transmission point index associated with the first eNB of the CoMP measurement set, that the first eNB is selected to communicate with the UE.

A method, comprising:

• receiving, by a user equipment (UE) via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, common reference signal (CRS) parameters associated with individual transmission points of a coordinated multipoint (CoMP) measurement set including a plurality of transmission points, wherein the CRS parameters include a number of CRS antenna ports, a CRS frequency shift, and a transmission point index of the individual transmission points;
• receiving, by the UE via a downlink control information (DCI) transmission, a transmission point index corresponding to a first transmission point of the coordinated multipoint measurement set, wherein the CRS parameters are received from a second transmission point and the DCI transmission is received from the first transmission point or the second transmission point;
• and
• determining a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) mapping pattern based on the CRS parameters associated with the first transmission point.

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having instructions, stored thereon, that, when executed case a user equipment to:

• obtain, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, common reference signal (CRS) parameters associated with individual transmission points of a coordinated multipoint (CoMP) measurement set including a plurality of transmission points, the CRS parameters including a number of CRS antenna ports, a CRS frequency shift, and a transmission point index of the individual transmission points;
• obtain, via a downlink control information (DCI) message, a transmission point index corresponding to a first transmission point of the coordinated multipoint measurement set, wherein the CRS parameters are obtained from a second transmission point and the DCI message is obtained from the first transmission point or the second transmission point;
• and
• determine a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) mapping pattern based on the CRS parameters associated with the first transmission point.