Abstract: A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include generating feedback information by a small cell radio and a macro cell radio; setting a high mobility handover threshold for the macro cell radio based, at least in part, on the feedback information, wherein the high mobility handover threshold is used to trigger handover of one or more high mobility user equipment (UE) associated with the macro cell radio to the small cell radio; and setting a maximum downlink transmit power for the small cell radio based, at least in part, on the feedback information and the high mobility handover threshold.

Abstract: A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include determining for each of one or more macro cell radios, a corresponding set of one or more small cell radios that are under a coverage area of each of the one or more macro cell radios, wherein each corresponding set is associated with a corresponding macro cell radio; calculating interference coordination parameters for each small cell radio belonging to each corresponding set, wherein the interference coordination parameters for each small cell radio belonging to each corresponding set comprises an uplink interference budget for each small cell radio; and communicating the interference coordination parameters to each small cell radio belonging to each corresponding set.

Abstract: A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include calculating, by one or more of a plurality of small cell radios, one or more sets of candidate power control parameters using a first interference constraint for uplink user equipment (UE) transmissions for UE served by the one or more of the plurality of small cell radios; determining, at a central management entity, whether an average of a sum of an expected interference for UE associated with the plurality of small cell radios violates a second interference constraint for any of the one or more sets of candidate power control parameters; and generating one or more messages for each of the plurality of small cell radios identifying one or more particular sets of power control parameters that provide for meeting the second interference constraint.

Abstract: A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include generating feedback information by a small cell radio and a macro cell radio; setting a high mobility handover threshold for the macro cell radio based, at least in part, on the feedback information, wherein the high mobility handover threshold is used to trigger handover of one or more high mobility user equipment (UE) associated with the macro cell radio to the small cell radio; and setting a maximum downlink transmit power for the small cell radio based, at least in part, on the feedback information and the high mobility handover threshold.

Abstract: A method is provided in one example embodiment and includes generating feedback information at a first remote access point (AP), wherein the feedback information is associated with one or more user equipment served by the first remote AP; determining constraints for the first remote AP at a central controller based on the feedback information received from the first remote AP and feedback information received from one or more other remote APs that neighbor the first remote AP, wherein the constraints are determined for a plurality of transmission time intervals (TTIs); and scheduling resource blocks (RBs) for the one or more user equipment served by the first remote AP for one or more of the plurality of TTIs based, at least in part, on constraints received from the central controller.

Abstract: A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include ranking a plurality of downlink control information (DCI) messages according to a first rank criterion; ranking a plurality of allowable resource sets for each ranked DCI message according to a second rank criterion; and allocating resources for each ranked DCI message based, at least in part, on whether particular resources, which are to be allocated for a particular ranked DCI message, are collided, at least in part, with previously allocated resources for one or more other DCI messages.

Abstract: A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include determining for each of one or more macro cell radios, a corresponding set of one or more small cell radios that are under a coverage area of each of the one or more macro cell radios, wherein each corresponding set is associated with a corresponding macro cell radio; calculating interference coordination parameters for each small cell radio belonging to each corresponding set, wherein the interference coordination parameters for each small cell radio belonging to each corresponding set comprises an uplink interference budget for each small cell radio; and communicating the interference coordination parameters to each small cell radio belonging to each corresponding set.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides a fine-grained link adaptation mechanism that allows for link adaptation at a resource block granularity. To this end, the fine-grained link adaptation mechanism can determine the effective signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio for individual user equipment in a particular cell at the resource block granularity. This way, the transmitter can use the effective signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio to adapt the modulation and coding scheme at the resource block granularity. The fine-grained link adaptation mechanism can be introduced to a long term evolution (LTE) network without substantial redesign of the LTE network.

Abstract: A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include calculating, by one or more of a plurality of small cell radios, one or more sets of candidate power control parameters using a first interference constraint for uplink user equipment (UE) transmissions for UE served by the one or more of the plurality of small cell radios; determining, at a central management entity, whether an average of a sum of an expected interference for UE associated with the plurality of small cell radios violates a second interference constraint for any of the one or more sets of candidate power control parameters; and generating one or more messages for each of the plurality of small cell radios identifying one or more particular sets of power control parameters that provide for meeting the second interference constraint.

Abstract: An apparatus includes an interference rejection combining module, at least partially implemented in hardware. The interference rejection combining module determines a covariance based on a Hermitian transpose of a signal received on a subcarrier of a symbol that is not a pilot symbol.

Abstract: An example method is provided in one example embodiment and includes receiving performance metric information from a plurality of small cell radios, wherein the performance metric information includes, at least in part, a number of user equipment that are to be scheduled on a first type and a second type of subframes for each small cell radio; determining resource allocation parameters for the plurality of small cell radios; exchanging interference information between two or more small cell radios of the plurality of small cell radios that includes an indication of whether a particular small cell radio is interfering with or is interfered by another small cell radio of the two or more small cell radios; and scheduling downlink resource transmissions on the first type and the second type of subframes for user equipment served by the two or more small cell radios.

Abstract: An example method is provided in one example embodiment and includes receiving performance metric information from a plurality of small cell radios, wherein the performance metric information includes, at least in part, a number of user equipment that are to be scheduled on a first type and a second type of subframes for each small cell radio; determining resource allocation parameters for the plurality of small cell radios; exchanging interference information between two or more small cell radios of the plurality of small cell radios that includes an indication of whether a particular small cell radio is interfering with or is interfered by another small cell radio of the two or more small cell radios; and scheduling downlink resource transmissions on the first type and the second type of subframes for user equipment served by the two or more small cell radios.

Abstract: An example method is provided in one example embodiment and includes receiving feedback information from at least one controlled cell indicative of interference received at one or more user equipment devices served by the at least one cell. The at least one controlled cell is controlled by an operator associated with the at least one controlled cell. The method further includes selecting one or more user equipment devices that is determined to have received interference from at least one non-controlled cell that is greater than a predetermined threshold. The at least one non-controlled cell is not controlled by the operator associated with the at least one controlled cell. The method still further includes determining a power level for a subset of common resources from among a set of common resources shared among the at least one controlled cell based upon the received feedback information.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides a fine-grained link adaptation mechanism that allows for link adaptation at a resource block granularity. To this end, the fine-grained link adaptation mechanism can determine the effective signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio for individual user equipment in a particular cell at the resource block granularity. This way, the transmitter can use the effective signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio to adapt the modulation and coding scheme at the resource block granularity. The fine-grained link adaptation mechanism can be introduced to a long term evolution (LTE) network without substantial redesign of the LTE network.

Abstract: An example method is provided in one example embodiment and includes receiving an indication of an average signal power for a downlink connection between a cell and each of a plurality of user equipment devices associated with the cell, receiving an indication of an average interference measurement on the downlink connection between the cell and each of the plurality of user equipment devices associated with the cell, and computing an average spectral efficiency for each of the plurality of user equipment devices based upon the respective average signal power and average interference measurement. The method further includes determining a transmission power level from among a plurality of available transmission power levels for one or more downlink resources for each of the plurality of user equipment devices based upon the computed average spectral efficiency for each of the plurality of user equipment devices.

Abstract: An example method is provided in one example embodiment and includes receiving a first message indicative of whether a first cell is non-interfering to at least one neighboring cell, determining whether the first cell is non-interfering to the at least one neighboring cell based upon the first message, and responsive to a determination that the first cell is not non-interfering to the at least one neighboring cells, reducing a power level of one or more downlink resources of a fractional frequency reuse portion of a frequency spectrum associated with the first cell.

Abstract: An example method is provided in one example embodiment and includes receiving at least one performance metric from each of a plurality of cells, the at least performance metric associated with a downlink transmission from the cell to one or more user equipment devices associated with the cell. The method further includes determining a fraction of resources for allocation within a fractional frequency reuse portion of a frequency spectrum based upon the received at least one performance metric, and determining a fraction of the resources for allocation within a reuse one portion of the frequency spectrum based upon the determined fraction of resources for allocation within the fractional frequency reuse portion of the frequency spectrum.

Abstract: A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include calculating, by one or more of a plurality of small cell radios, one or more sets of candidate power control parameters using a first interference constraint for uplink user equipment (UE) transmissions for UE served by the one or more of the plurality of small cell radios; determining, at a central management entity, whether an average of a sum of an expected interference for UE associated with the plurality of small cell radios violates a second interference constraint for any of the one or more sets of candidate power control parameters; and generating one or more messages for each of the plurality of small cell radios identifying one or more particular sets of power control parameters that provide for meeting the second interference constraint.

Abstract: A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include calculating, by one or more of a plurality of small cell radios, one or more sets of candidate power control parameters using a first interference constraint for uplink user equipment (UE) transmissions for UE served by the one or more of the plurality of small cell radios; determining, at a central management entity, whether an average of a sum of an expected interference for UE associated with the plurality of small cell radios violates a second interference constraint for any of the one or more sets of candidate power control parameters; and generating one or more messages for each of the plurality of small cell radios identifying one or more particular sets of power control parameters that provide for meeting the second interference constraint.

Abstract: A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include determining one or more uplink inter cell interference coordination (ICIC) parameters for a plurality of cells based, at least in part, on feedback information associated with the plurality of cells; exchanging interference information between neighboring cells; and scheduling uplink transmissions for user equipment served by the neighboring cells based, at least in part, on the uplink ICIC parameters and the interference information exchanged between neighboring cells. A method is provided in another example embodiment and may include determining a ratio relating a first portion of a frequency spectrum for assigning fractional frequency re-use resources to a second portion of the frequency spectrum for assigning re-use one resources; and updating the ratio relating the first portion and the second portion of the frequency spectrum to optimize throughput rates for the plurality of user equipment across the plurality of cells.