8752/CHENP/2013
Revised claims dated 04-Oct-2019 Clean copy
We Claim:
1. A method for operating a transmission point in a telecommunications cell, comprising:
a set of transmissions points (1210) associated with an eNodeB,(eNB), in the
cell, the set of transmission points comprising a subset of
transmission points transmitting a unicast physical downlink control channel, ’PDCCH’, intended only for a specific user equipment ,’UE’, in the cell ,
wherein the unicast PDCCH has allocated to it a plurality of resource element groups, wherein the unicast PDCCH contains at least one resource element in each resource element group, and
wherein the at least one resource element in each resource element group -contains a UE-specific demodulation reference signal 'DMRS' to be used for decoding the unicast PDCCH, and wherein the decoding occurs -without the use of a cell-specific reference signal broadcast by the eNB, and wherein remainder of the set of transmission points other than the subset of transmission points does not transmit the unicast PDCCH; in which the subset of transmission points are those close to the UE.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one resource element is not allocated for a cell-specific reference signal being broadcast in the cell.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE-specific DMRS comprises a sequence of symbols carrying a bit sequence that allows the specific UE to decode the unicast PDCCH correctly.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE-specific DMRS is derived from at least one of: a radio network temporary identifier assigned to the specific UE;
an identifier for the cell; or a subframe index.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein a beamforming type of precoded transmission is used for the unicast
PDCCH, and wherein the PDCCH is weighted and transmitted from a plurality of antenna ports such that
signals from the plurality of antenna ports are coherently combined at the specific UE.

8752/CHENP/2013
Revised claims dated 04-Oct-2019 Clean copy
6. The method of claim 5, wherein a precoding vector for the precoded transmission is obtained from at
least one of:
feedback from the specific UE regarding at least one downlink wideband channel; or an uplink channel measurement based on channel reciprocity.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein a set of precoding vectors is predefined, and wherein each resource
element group of the unicast PDCCH is precoded with one of the precoding vectors.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein a mapping from precoding vector to resource element group is
performed in a cyclic manner.
9. A transmission point (TP) in a telecommunications cell, comprising:
a processor configured such that the transmission point transmits a unicast physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) intended only for a specific user equipment (UE) in the cell, wherein the unicast PDCCH contains at least one resource element in each resource element group, and wherein at least one resource element containing a UE-specific demodulation reference signal (DMRS) to be used for decoding the unicast PDCCH without the cell-specific reference signal.
10. The TP of claim 9, wherein the at least one resource element is not allocated for a cell-specific reference signal being broadcast in the cell
11. The TP of claim 9, wherein the UE-specific DMRS comprises a sequence of symbols carrying a bit sequence that allows the specific UE to decode the unicast PDCCH correctly.
12. The TP of claim 9, wherein the UE-specific DMRS is derived from at least one of: a radio network temporary identifier assigned to the specific UE;
an identifier for the cell; or
a subframe index.
13. The TP of claim 9, wherein a beamforming type of precoded transmission is used for the unicast PDCCH, and wherein the PDCCH is weighted and transmitted from a plurality of antenna ports such that signals from the plurality of antenna ports are coherently combined at the specific UE.
14. The TP of claim 13, wherein a precoding vector for the precoded transmission is obtained from at least one of:

8752/CHENP/2013
Revised claims dated 04-Oct-2019 Clean copy
feedback from the specific UE regarding at least one downlink wideband channel; or an uplink channel measurement based on channel reciprocity.
15. The TP of claim 14, wherein a set of precoding vectors is predefined, and wherein each resource element group of the unicast PDCCH is precoded with one of the precoding vectors.
16. The TP of claim 15, wherein a mapping from precoding vector to resource element group is performed in a cyclic manner.
17. A user equipment (UE), comprising:
a processor configured such that the UE receives a unicast physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) that contains at least one resource element in each resource element group, wherein the at least one resource element contains a UE-specific demodulation reference signal (DMRS) that the UE can use to decode the unicast PDCCH without the cell-specific reference signal.
18. The UE of claim 17, wherein the at least one resource element is not allocated for a cell-specific reference signal
19. The UE of claim 17, wherein the UE-specific DMRS comprises a sequence of symbols carrying a bit sequence that allows the specific UE to decode the unicast PDCCH correctly.
20. The UE of claim 17, wherein the UE-specific DMRS is derived from at least one of: a radio network temporary identifier assigned to the specific UE;
an identifier for the cell; or
a subframe index.
21 . A method for operating a transmission point in a telecommunications cell, the method comprising:
transmitting, by the transmission point, at least one reference signal solely for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) demodulation.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein the existence of the at least one reference signal is signaled to
advanced user equipment (UE) by a macro-eNB.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein advanced UEs use the reference signal to perform PDCCH
demodulation.

8752/CHENP/2013
Revised claims dated 04-Oct-2019 Clean copy
24. The method of claim 21, wherein resources used for transmitting the at least one reference signal are
resources that are otherwise usable for transmissions over at least one of:
cell-specific reference signal (CRS) port 2 and CRS port 3; or
a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) port.
25. The method of claim 24, wherein the at least one of the CRS port 2 and CRS port 3 or the DMRS port is not transmitted on resource elements reserved for one of CRS port 0 and CRS port 1 transmissions intended for legacy UEs.
26. The method of claim 24, wherein the at least one of the CRS port 2 and CRS port 3 or the DMRS port is transmitted on an antenna that contains transmissions of one of CRS port 0 and CRS port 1 .
27. The method of claim 25, wherein legacy UEs use CRS port 0 and CRS port 1 for channel estimation.
28. A transmission point (TP) in a telecommunications cell, comprising:
a processor configured such that the TP transmits at least one reference signal solely for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) demodulation.
29. The TP of claim 28, wherein the existence of the at least one reference signal is signaled to advanced
user equipment (UE) by a macro-eNB.
30. The TP of claim 29, wherein the advanced UEs use the reference signal to perform PDCCH
demodulation.
31. The TP of claim 28, wherein resources used for transmitting the at least one reference signal are
resources that are otherwise usable for transmissions over at least one of:
cell-specific reference signal (CRS) port 2 and CRS port 3; or
a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) port.
32. The TP of claim 31 , wherein the at least one of the CRS port 2 and CRS port 3 or the DMRS port is not transmitted on resource elements reserved for one of CRS port 0 and CRS port 1 transmissions intended for legacy UEs.
33. The TP of claim 31 , wherein the at least one of the CRS port 2 and CRS port 3 or the DMRS port is transmitted on an antenna that contains transmissions of one of CRS port 0 and CRS port 1 .

8752/CHENP/2013
Revised claims dated 04-Oct-2019 Clean copy
34. The TP of claim 32, wherein legacy UEs use CRS port 0 and CRS port 1 for channel estimation.
35. A user equipment (UE), comprising:
a processor configured such that the UE receives from a transmission point (TP) in the same cell as the UE at least one reference signal solely for physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) demodulation.
36. The UE of claim 35, wherein the existence of the at least one reference signal is signaled to an advanced UE by a macro-eNB.
37. The UE of claim 36, wherein the advanced UE uses the reference signal to perform PDCCH demodulation.
38. The UE of claim 35, wherein resources used for transmitting the at least one reference signal are resources that are otherwise usable for transmissions over at least one of:
cell-specific reference signal (CRS) port 2 and CRS port 3; and
a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) port.
39. The UE of claim 38, wherein the at least one of the CRS port 2 and CRS port 3 and the DMRS port is not transmitted on resource elements reserved for one of CRS port 0 and CRS port 1 transmissions intended for legacy UEs.
40. The UE of claim 38, wherein the UE additionally receives one of CRS port 0 and CRS port 1 for PDCCH demodulation.
41. The UE of claim 39, wherein legacy UEs use CRS port 0 and CRS port 1 for channel estimation.
Archana Shanker
Of Anand and Anand Advocates
Agents for the Applicant
IN/PA- 149
Dated this 31st day of October, 2013