Methods for in-band overlay of small cells in macro cells

A method, comprising:

• detecting, by a small cell, a first frame associated with a macro cell;
• determining, by the small cell, a binary sequence based on a number of symbols in the first frame;
• performing, by the small cell, a cross-correlation of the binary sequence with itself;
• determining, by the small cell, a time offset based on minimum values of the cross-correlation calculation, the time offset being associated with a first plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols upon a physical control channel associated with both the first frame and a second frame of the small cell occupying a second plurality of OFDM symbols, upon the binary sequence having a length equal to a first threshold and upon each element of the binary sequence representing an OFDM symbol;
• determining, by the small cell, a start time of the first frame;
• and
• transmitting, by the small cell, the second frame synchronized with the first frame and offset in time by the time offset.