Methods and apparatus for facilitating inter-cell interference coordination via over the air load indicator and relative narrowband transmit power

Abstract

Systems and methods for facilitating inter-cell interference coordination using resource partitioning are described. A UE may receive or determine information related to received interference and/or future scheduling. The information may be communicated to a serving base station, which may use the information to allocate uplink or downlink resources between cells. The uplink and/or downlink resource may be partitioned in subbands to mitigate interference from adjacent network nodes. The eNBs may communicate, such as directly, via a backhaul connection, and/or between UEs to configure interference coordination and signaling.

1 . A method for facilitating interference mitigation in a multi-cell environment, the method comprising:
 receiving interference information, wherein the interference information relates to one or more of: a signal transmission from at least one neighbor cell, uplink interference at a serving cell, downlink interference at a user terminal served by the serving cell, or a combination thereof;   determining a parameter based at least in part upon the interference information; and   transmitting the parameter to a serving network node of the serving cell.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the interference information relates to one or more load indicator (LI) signals, and receiving includes receiving the one or more load indicator signals from a corresponding one or more network nodes operating in one or more neighbor cells. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the parameter comprises a transmit power metric, the determining including determining the transmit power metric based at least in part on the one or more load indicator signals. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the interference information relates to future scheduling information (FSI) including information regarding planned future downlink transmissions in one or more subbands. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the FSI comprises relative narrowband transmit power (RNTP) information related to a planned downlink transmission in the neighbor cell. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the FSI comprises power per antenna information related to a planned downlink transmission in a neighbor cell. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the FSI comprises phase offset per antenna information related to a planned downlink transmission in a neighbor cell. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the parameter comprises adjusted channel state information (CSI). 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the adjusted CSI includes Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) information adjusted based at least in part on the FSI. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the adjusted CSI comprises one or more of Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) information, a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) information, a Rank Indicator (RI) information, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         11 . A communication device, comprising:
 a receiver module configured to receive interference information, wherein the interference information relates to one or more of a signal transmission from at least one neighbor cell, an uplink interference at a serving cell, a downlink interference at a user terminal served by the serving cell, or a combination thereof;   a processor module configured to determine a parameter based at least in part upon the interference information; and   a transmitter module configured to send the parameter to a serving network node of the serving cell.   
     
     
         12 . The communication device of  claim 11 , wherein the interference information relates to one or more load indicator (LI) signals, and the receiver module is further configured to receive the one or more load indicator signals from a corresponding one or more network nodes operating in one or more neighbor cells. 
     
     
         13 . The communication device of  claim 11 , wherein the parameter comprises a transmit power metric, and the processor module is further configured to determine the transmit power metric based at least in part on the one or more load indicator signals. 
     
     
         14 . The communication device of  claim 11 , wherein the interference information relates to future scheduling information (FSI) including information regarding planned future downlink transmissions in one or more subbands. 
     
     
         15 . The communication device of  claim 14 , wherein the FSI comprises relative narrowband transmit power (RNTP) information related to a planned downlink transmission in the neighbor cell. 
     
     
         16 . The communication device of  claim 14 , wherein the FSI comprises power per antenna information related to a planned downlink transmission in a neighbor cell. 
     
     
         17 . The communication device of  claim 14 , wherein the FSI comprises phase offset per antenna information related to a planned downlink transmission in a neighbor cell. 
     
     
         18 . The communication device of  claim 11 , wherein the parameter comprises adjusted channel state information (CSI). 
     
     
         19 . The communication device of  claim 18 , wherein the adjusted CSI includes Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) information adjusted based at least in part on the FSI. 
     
     
         20 . The communication device of  claim 18 , wherein the adjusted CSI comprises one or more of Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) information, a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) information, a Rank Indicator (RI) information, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         21 . A communication device, comprising:
 means for receiving interference information, wherein the interference information relates to at one or more of a signal transmission from at least one neighbor cell, an uplink interference at a serving cell, a downlink interference at a user terminal served by the serving cell, or a combination thereof;   means for determining a parameter based at least in part upon the interference information; and   means for transmitting the parameter to a serving network node of the serving cell.   
     
     
         22 . The communication device of  claim 21 , wherein the interference information relates to one or more load indicator (LI) signals, and the means for receiving is further configured to receive the one or more load indicator signals from a corresponding one or more network nodes operating in one or more neighbor cells. 
     
     
         23 . The communication device of  claim 21 , wherein the parameter comprises a transmit power metric, and the means for determining is further configured to determine the transmit power metric based at least in part on the one or more load indicator signals. 
     
     
         24 . The communication device of  claim 21 , wherein the interference information relates to future scheduling information (FSI) including information regarding planned future downlink transmissions in one or more subbands. 
     
     
         25 . The communication device of  claim 24 , wherein the FSI comprises one or more of a relative narrowband transmit power (RNTP) information, a power per antenna information, a phase offset per antenna information, or a combination thereof, each related to a planned downlink transmission in the neighbor cell. 
     
     
         26 . The communication device of  claim 21 , wherein the parameter comprises adjusted channel state information (CSI). 
     
     
         27 . The communication device of  claim 26 , wherein the adjusted CSI includes Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) information adjusted based at least in part on the FSI. 
     
     
         28 . The communication device of  claim 26 , wherein the adjusted CSI comprises one or more of a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) information, a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) information, a Rank Indicator (RI) information, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         29 . A computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium including codes for causing a computer to:
 receive interference information, wherein the interference information relates to one or more of a signal transmission from at least one neighbor cell, an uplink interference at a serving cell, a downlink interference at a user terminal served by the serving cell, or a combination thereof;   determine a parameter based at least in part upon the interference information; and   send the parameter to a serving network node of the serving cell.   
     
     
         30 . The computer program product of  claim 29 , wherein the interference information relates to one or more load indicator (LI) signals, and the codes for causing the computer to receive interference information are further configured for causing the computer to receive the one or more load indicator signals from a corresponding one or more network nodes operating in one or more neighbor cells. 
     
     
         31 . The computer program product of  claim 29 , wherein the parameter comprises a transmit power metric, and the codes for causing the computer to determine the parameter are further configured for causing the computer to determine the transmit power metric based at least in part on the one or more load indicator signals. 
     
     
         32 . The computer program product of  claim 29 , wherein the interference information relates to future scheduling information (FSI) including information regarding planned future downlink transmissions in one or more subbands. 
     
     
         33 . The computer program product of  claim 32 , wherein the FSI comprises one or more of a relative narrowband transmit power (RNTP) information, a power per antenna information, a phase offset per antenna information, or a combination thereof, each related to a planned downlink transmission in the neighbor cell. 
     
     
         34 . The computer program product of  claim 29 , wherein the parameter comprises adjusted channel state information (CSI). 
     
     
         35 . The computer program product of  claim 34 , wherein the adjusted CSI includes Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) information adjusted based at least in part on the FSI. 
     
     
         36 . The computer program product of  claim 34 , wherein the adjusted CSI comprises one or more of a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) information, a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) information, a Rank Indicator (RI) information, or a combination thereof.