A method includes receiving signaling from a base station, where the signaling includes information descriptive of a muted resource element pattern configuration when operating in a cell that is associated with at least one multi-cell cooperation area. The method further includes making at least one measurement according to the received information for at least one of the cooperation areas for making an interference estimate and transmitting measurement results to the base station. Another method includes transmitting signaling that contains information descriptive of a muted resource element pattern configuration to a user equipment operating in a cell that is associated with at least one multi-cell cooperation area. This method further includes muting resource element transmissions in accordance with the information descriptive of the muted resource element pattern configuration; and receiving from the user equipment at least one measurement made according to the transmitted signaling for at least one of the cooperation areas. In these methods different cooperation areas are associated with mutually orthogonal muted resource elements. Corresponding apparatus and computer programs stored on non-transitory computer readable medium are also disclosed.