Enhanced inter-cell interference control

1. A method of scheduling a physical resource block (PRB) for serving one of a plurality of user equipments (UEs), the method comprising:

measuring interference on the PRB at a serving cell, the serving cell configured to serve the plurality of UEs;

receiving measurements of interference on the PRB from neighbor cells of the serving cell;

estimating a contribution from each UE of the plurality of UEs to each of the neighbor-cell interference measurements;

determining, for each UE of the plurality of UEs, a respective enhanced priority ratio as a function of the interference measurement at the serving cell, the interference measurements received from the neighbor cells and the respective estimated contribution of the UE; and

assigning the PRB to one of the plurality of UEs based on the determined enhanced priority ratios.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting the interference measurement at the serving cell to the neighbor cells.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the interference measurements received from the neighbor cells are a time averaged measurement of interference on the PRB at the neighbor cells.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, at the serving cell, transmit power and noise floor measurements from the neighbor cells; and

receiving, at the serving cell, received power measurements from the plurality of UEs, wherein

estimating the contribution of each of the plurality of UEs is performed using the transmit power and noise floor measurements from the neighbor cells and the respective received power measurements from the UE.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein, for each UE of the plurality of UEs, the received power measurements include a power measurement of a signal received from the serving cell and power measurements of signals received from the neighbor cells.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

deter mining a target signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR);

determining, for each UE of the plurality of UEs, a respective serving pathloss between the serving cell and the respective UE;

determining, for each UE of the plurality of UEs, neighbor pathlosses between respective UE and each of the neighbor cells;

determining, for each UE of the plurality of UEs, pathloss differences between the respective determined serving pathloss and each of the respective determined neighbor pathlosses; and

estimating the contribution from each UE of the plurality of UEs to the neighbor-cell interference measurements using the respective determined pathloss differences for the UE, the received noise floor measurements and the determined target SINR.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the interference measurement at the serving cell and the interference measurements from the neighbor cells are measurements of interference over thermal noise (IoT) on the PRB.

8. A serving cell configured to serve a plurality of user equipments (UEs), the serving cell comprising:

a detector configured to measure interference on a physical resource block (PRB) at the serving cell;

a receiver configured to receive measurements of interference on the PRB from neighbor cells of the serving cell; and

a processor configured to,

estimate a contribution from each UE of the plurality of UEs to each of the interference measurements received from the neighbor cells,

determine for each UE of the plurality of UEs a respective enhanced priority ratio as a function of the interference measurement at the serving cell, the interference measurements received from the neighbor cells and the respective estimated contribution of the UE, and

assign the PRB to one of the plurality of UEs based on the determined enhanced priority ratios.

9. The serving cell of claim 8 , further comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit the interference measurement at the serving cell to the neighbor cells.

10. The serving cell of claim 8 , wherein the interference measurements received from the neighbor cells are a time averaged measurement of interference on the PRB at the neighbor cells.

11. The serving cell of claim 8 , wherein

the receiver is further configured to,

receive transmit power and noise floor measurements from the neighbor cells; and

receive received power measurements from the plurality of UEs, and

the processor is further configured to estimate the estimated contributions using the transmit power and noise floor measurements from the neighbor cells and the respective received power measurements from the UE.

12. The serving cell of claim 11 , wherein, for each UE of the plurality of UEs, the received power measurements include a power measurement of a signal received from the serving cell and power measurements of signals received from the neighbor cells.

13. The serving cell of claim 8 , wherein the interference measurement at the serving cell and the interference measurements received from the neighbor cells are measurements of interference over thermal noise (IoT) on the PRB.

14. A wireless cellular network comprising:

a serving cell and neighbor cells of the serving cell, the neighbor cells configured to provide, to the serving cell, a measurement of interference on a physical resource block (PRB),

the serving cell configured to serve a plurality of user equipments (UEs), the serving cell including,

a detector configured to measure the interference on the PRB at the serving cell, and

a processor configured to,

estimate a contribution from each UE of the plurality of UEs to each of the neighbor-cell interference measurements;

determine for each UE of the plurality of UEs a respective enhanced priority ratio as a function of the interference measurement at the serving cell, the interference measurements received from the neighbor cells and the respective estimated contribution of the UE; and

assign the PRB to one of the plurality of UEs based on the determined enhanced priority ratios.

15. The wireless cellular network of claim 14 , wherein the serving cell further includes,

a transmitter configured to transmit the interference measurement at the serving cell to the neighbor cells.

16. The wireless cellular network of claim 14 , wherein the interference measurements received from the neighbor cells are a time averaged measurement of interference on the PRB at the neighbor cells.

17. The wireless cellular network of claim 14 , wherein the serving cell further includes,

a receiver configured to,

receive transmit power and noise floor measurements from the neighbor cells; and

receive received power measurements from the plurality of UEs, and

the processor is further configured to estimate the estimated contributions of each of the plurality of UEs using the transmit power and noise floor measurements from the neighbor cells and the respective received power measurements from the UE.

18. The wireless cellular network of claim 17 , wherein, for each UE of the plurality of UEs, the received power measurements include a power measurement of a signal received from the serving cell and power measurements of signals received from the neighbor cells.

19. The wireless cellular network of claim 18 , wherein the processor is further configured to,

determine a target signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR);

determine, for each UE of the plurality of UEs, a respective serving pathloss between the serving cell and the respective UE;

determine, for each UE of the plurality of UEs, neighbor pathlosses between respective UE and each of the neighbor cells;

determine, for each UE of the plurality of UEs, pathloss differences between the respective determined serving pathloss and each of the respective determined neighbor pathlosses; and

estimate the contribution from each UE of the plurality of UEs to the neighbor-cell interference measurements using the respective determined pathloss differences for the UE, the received noise floor measurements and the determined target SINR.

20. The wireless cellular network of claim 14 , wherein the interference measurement at the serving cell and the interference measurements received from the neighbor cells are measurements of interference over thermal noise (IoT) on the PRB.