Claims

[Claim 1]
[Claim 2]
[Claim 3]
[Claim 4] [Claim 5]
[Claim 6]
[Claim 7]

A method comprising:
with a processor of a base station, determining an interference protection status of a frame based at least in part on information in-dicating configurations of base stations, wherein afirstofthe config-urations differs from at least a second of the configurations, and wherein aportion of the information indicating the second of the con-figurations is received from a second base station. The method of claim 1, wherein the first configuration indicates a first pattern of one or more frames of a first type, and/or the second con-figuration indicates a second pattern of one or more frames of the first type.
The method of claim 2, wherein the first type of frame is a transmission limit frame type, which indicates that transmission is limited other than areference signal.
The method of claim 2, wherein the first type comprises an Almost Blank Subframe (ABS) type. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
with a communication unit, sending the interference protection status of the frame to a communication control device.
The method of claim 5, wherein determining the interference protection status of the frame comprises:
determining the frame's interference protection status to be an un-protected status if the first configuration does not associate the frame with a frame of the first type;
determining the frame's interference protection status to be a protected status if each of the configurations associates the frame with a frame of the first type; and
determining the frame's interference protection status to be a partially protected status if the first configuration associates the frame with a frame of the first type and at least another of the configurations does not associate the frame with a frame of the first type. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the interference protection status of the frame comprises:
determining the frame's interference protection status to be a protected status if each of the configurations associates the frame with a frame of the first type;

[Claim 8]
[Claim 9]
[Claim 10] [Claim 11]
[Claim 12]

determining the frame's interference protection status to be a partially protected status if at least one of the configurations associates the frame with a frame of the first type and at least another of the configurations does not associate the frame with a frame of the first type; and determining the frame's interference protection status to be an un-protected status if the none of the configurations associates the frame with a frame of the first type.
The method of claim 5, wherein the determining of the interference protection status of the frame for the communication control device is further based at least in part on a position of the communication control device.
The method of claim 8, wherein determining the interference protection status of the frame for the communication control device based at least in part on the position of the communication control device comprises determining the interference protection status of the frame based at least in part on whether the communication control device is within a predetermined distance of the base station.
The method of claim 9, wherein the communication control device is positioned within a cell of the base station.
The method of claim 8, wherein determining the interference protection status of the frame comprises:
determining the frame's interference protection status to be an un-protected status if the first configuration does not associate the frame with a frame of the first type;
determining the frame's interference protection status to be a protected status if each of the configurations associates the frame with a frame of the first type, or if the first configuration associates the frame with a frame of the first type and the communication control device is po¬sitioned within a range of a first of the base stations; and determining the frame's interference protection status to be an un-protected status if the first configuration associates the frame with a frame of the first type and at least another of the configurations does not associate the frame with a frame of the first type and the commu-nication control device is not positioned within the range of the first base station,
wherein the first configuration is a configuration of the first base station. The method of claim 5, wherein:

[Claim 13]
[Claim 14] [Claim 15] [Claim 16]
[Claim 17]
[Claim 18]

the first configuration is a configuration of the base station, the second configuration is a configuration of the second base station, and
the portion of the information indicating the second configuration is received by the base station.
The method of claim 5, wherein a plurahty of the configurations of a plurahty of the base stations do not differ from each other, the plurahty of the configurations corresponding to one or more cells that are centrally located with respect to the plurahty of the base stations. The method of claim 1, further comprising associating the interference protection status with the frame.
The method of claim 1, wherein the frame is a subframe of a radio frame.
A base station comprising:
an interference determination unit configured to determine an in-terference protection status of a frame based at least in part on in-formation indicating configurations of two or more base stations, wherein a first of the configurations differs from at least a second of the configurations, and wherein a portion of the information indicating the second of the configurations is received from a second base station. The base station of claim 16, wherein the interference determination unit is configured to determine the interference protection status of the frame by:
determining the frame's interference protection status to be an un-protected status if the first configuration does not associate the frame with a frame of a first type;
determining the frame's interference protection status to be a protected status if each of the configurations associates the frame with a frame of the first type; and
determining the frame's interference protection status to be a partially protected status if the first configuration associates the frame with a frame of the first type and at least another of the configurations does not associate the frame with a frame of the first type. The base station of claim 17, further comprising: a communication unit configured to send the interference protection status of the frame to a communication control device; and an associating unit configured to associate the interference protection status with the frame,

wherein the first configuration indicates a first pattern of one or more frames of a first type, and/or the second configuration indicates a second pattern of one or more frames of the first type, and wherein the first type comprises an Almost Blank Subframe (ABS) type.
[Claim 19] The base station of claim 16, wherein the interference determination
unit is configured to determine the interference protection status of the frame by:
determining the frame's interference protection status to be a protected status if each of the configurations associates the frame with a frame of a first type;
determining the frame's interference protection status to be a partially protected status if at least one of the configurations associates the frame with a frame of the first type and at least another of the configurations does not associate the frame with a frame of the first type; and determining the frame's interference protection status to be an un-protected status if none of the configurations associates the frame with a frame of the first type.
[Claim 20] The base station of claim 19, further comprising:
a communication unit configured to send the interference protection
status of the frame to a communication control device; and
an associating unit configured to associate the interference protection
status with the frame,
wherein the first configuration indicates a first pattern of one or more
frames of a first type, and/or the second configuration indicates a
second pattern of one or more frames of the first type, and
wherein the first type comprises an Almost Blank Subframe (ABS)
type.
[Claim 21] The base station of claim 16, wherein the interference determination
unit is further configured to determine the interference protection status of the frame based at least in part on a position of a communication control device.
[Claim 22] The base station of claim 21, further comprising:
a communication unit configured to send the interference protection
status of the frame to a communication control device; and
an associating unit configured to associate the interference protection
status with the frame,
wherein the first configuration indicates a first pattern of one or more

frames of a first type, and/or the second configuration indicates a second pattern of one or more frames of the first type, and wherein the first type comprises an Almost Blank Subframe (ABS) type.
[Claim 23] The base station of claim 16, wherein:
the first configuration is a configuration of the base station,
the second configuration is a configuration of the second base station,
and
the portion of the information indicating the second configuration is
received by the base station.
[Claim 24] A computer-readable medium having recorded thereon a computer
program which, when executed by at least one processing unit, performs a method comprising:
determining an interference protection status of a frame based at least in part on information indicating configurations of base stations, wherein afirst of the configurations differs from at least a second of the configurations, and wherein a portion of the information indicating the second of the configurations is received from a second base station.
[Claim 25] The computer-readable medium of claim 24, wherein the first con-
figuration indicates a first pattern of one or more frames of a first type, and/or the second configuration indicates a second pattern of one or more frames of the first type.
[Claim 26] The computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the method
further comprises: with a communication unit, sending the interference protection status of the frame to a communication control device.
[Claim 27] A wireless communication system comprising:
a first base station including an interference determination unit; and
a second base station,
wherein:
the first base station is configured to store information indicating a first
configuration,
the second base station is configured to store information indicating a
second configuration,
the interference determination unit of the first base station is configured
to determine an interference protection status of a frame based at least
in part on the information indicating the first configuration of the first
base station and the information indicating the second configuration of
the second base station, and

the first configuration differs from the second configuration.
[Claim 28] The system of claim 27, wherein the first configuration indicates a first
pattem of one or more frames of a first type, and/or the second con-figuration indicates a second pattem of one or more frames of the first type.
[Claim 29] The system of claim 27, further comprising a third base station,
wherein:
the first, second, and third base stations are configured to store in-formation indicating a third configuration,
the third configuration corresponds to a cell that is centrally located with respect to the first, second, and third base stations, and the first, second, and third base stations each transmit signals in the cell according to the third configuration.