System and Method for Interference Management in Cellular Networks

Abstract

Notifying served user equipments (UEs) of the presence or absence of cell-specific reference signal (CRS) symbols transmitted by neighboring base stations in the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) region of a subframe can be achieved through various of signaling techniques. The served UE may be notified by communicating a one or multi-bit indicator in a physical layer signaling channel of the serving cell, such as the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the subframe. Alternatively, the served UE may be notified through higher layer signaling.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for operating a first network controller, the method comprising:
 transmitting, by the first network controller, an indicator to a served user equipment (UE), wherein the indicator specifies whether cell-specific reference signal (CRS) symbols transmitted by a second network controller are present in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) region of a subframe.