Methods providing configuration parameters for inter base station coordinated multipoint communications

A first base station of a radio access network, the first base station comprising:

• a transceiver configured to provide radio communications with a plurality of wireless terminals;
• a network interface configured to provide communications with other base stations of the radio access network;
• and
• a processor coupled to the transceiver and the network interface, wherein the processor is adapted to:
• communicate a message through the network interface between the first base station and another node of the radio access network wherein the message includes a Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) hypothesis field, a benefit metric field, and a cell identification field,
• wherein the CoMP hypothesis field includes CoMP hypothesis data and wherein the CoMP hypothesis data identifies downlink resources for interference protection,
• wherein the cell identification field includes cell identification data that identifies a cell served by a second base station, and
• wherein the benefit metric field includes benefit metric data that identifies the CoMP hypothesis data as indicating a resource allocation that is mandated for the cell served by the second base station without considering a benefit to the first base station and/or other nodes of the network.

A method of operating a first base station in a radio access network (RAN) including the first base station, the method comprising:

• communicating a message between the first base station and another node of the radio access network wherein the message includes a Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) hypothesis field, a benefit metric field, a cell identification field, and a measurement list,
• wherein the CoMP hypothesis field includes CoMP hypothesis data,
• wherein the cell identification field includes cell identification data that identifies a cell served by a second base station,
• wherein the benefit metric field includes benefit metric data that identifies the CoMP hypothesis data as indicating a resource allocation that is mandated for the cell served by the second base station, and
• wherein the measurement list provides measurements collected by wireless terminals in a cell or cells associated with at least one of the first and second base stations.