Control channel interference management and extended PDCCH for heterogeneous network

A method for operating an access node in a wireless communications network, the method comprising:

• performing, by an access node, at least one of blanking and transmitting at lower than nominal transmit power on at least a portion of a control channel comprising a control region;
• applying, by the access node, the at least one of blanking and transmitting at lower than nominal transmit power only on the control region of chosen subframes of a first component carrier of a plurality of component carriers of the access node;
• and
• when the at least one of blanking and transmitting at lower than nominal transmit power is applied to the control region of chosen subframes of the first component carrier, transmitting, by the access node, the control region on a second component carrier of the plurality of component carriers,
• wherein the access node is configured to receive a subframe configuration for the chosen subframes from another access node.