System and method for virtual multi-point transceivers

A first network device comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to:
• transmit, to a second network device, a cooperation candidate set (CCS), the CCS being for a target user equipment (TUE) and comprising a plurality of potential cooperating user equipment (CUEs), wherein the plurality of potential CUEs is from a plurality of user equipment (UEs) in a network;
• and
• receive, from the second network device, a cooperation active set (CAS), the CAS being a set of CUEs from the plurality of potential CUEs in the CCS, wherein the TUE and the set of CUEs in the CAS form a virtual multipoint transceiver.

A method for forming a virtual multipoint transceiver, the method comprising:

• compiling, by a first network device, a cooperating candidate set (CCS) comprising a plurality of potential cooperating user equipment (CUEs), wherein the plurality of potential CUEs operate in a half-duplex mode or in a full-duplex mode;
• compiling a cooperating active set (CAS) from the CCS, wherein the CAS is a set of CUEs selected from the CCS, and wherein a target user equipment (TUE) and the set of CUEs form the virtual multipoint transceiver;
• and
• estimating long-term end-to-end average capacity in accordance with one or more end-to-end average capacity metrics for the half-duplex mode, or estimating the long-term end-to-end average capacity in accordance with one or more end-to-end average capacity metrics for the full-duplex mode.