Rank indicator inheritance for subframe restricted channel state information reporting

User Equipment (UE) to mitigate inter-cell interference, comprising:

• Rank Indicator (RI) generation circuitry to generate one or more RIs based on a received Channel State Information (CSI) configuration from an evolved Node B (eNB) of a serving cell of said UE;
• RI Reference Process CSI generation circuitry to generate a reference CSI comprising a selected RI of said one or more RIs;
• Linked Process CSI generation circuitry to periodically generate a first linked CSI, associated with a first subframe set of said received CSI configuration, comprising an inherited RI from said reference CSI, and to generate a second linked CSI, associated with a second subframe set of said received CSI configuration, comprising said inherited RI from said reference CSI, said Linked Process CSI generation circuitry further comprising Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) generation circuitry to measure channel quality and signal strength, relative to interference plus noise, associated with received signals and generate a CQI based on said signal measurements and said inherited RI;
• and
• a transmission circuit to transmit at least said RI, first linked CSI, second linked CSI and CQI to a network controller for a network including at least said UE for use in mitigating said inter-cell interference.

User Equipment (UE) to mitigate inter-cell interference, comprising:

• Rank Indicator (RI) generation circuitry to generate one or more RIs based on a received Channel State Information (CSI) configuration from an evolved Node B (eNB) of a serving cell of said UE;
• RI Reference Process CSI generation circuitry to generate a first reference CSI comprising a first selected RI of said one or more RIs, said first selection based on a first subframe set of said received CSI configuration, and to generate a second reference CSI comprising a second selected RI of said one or more RIs, said second selection based on a second subframe set of said received CSI configuration;
• Linked Process CSI generation circuitry to periodically generate a first linked CSI, associated with said first subframe set of said received CSI configuration, comprising an inherited RI from said first reference CSI, and to generate a second linked CSI, associated with said second subframe set of said received CSI configuration, comprising an inherited RI from said second reference CSI, said Linked Process CSI generation circuitry further comprising Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) generation circuitry to measure channel quality and signal strength, relative to interference plus noise, associated with received signals and generate a CQI based on said signal measurements and said inherited RI;
• and
• a transmission circuit to transmit at least said RI, first linked CSI, second linked CSI and CQI to a network controller for a network including at least said UE for use in mitigating said inter-cell interference.

A method to mitigate inter-cell interference, comprising:

• receiving a signal from one or more evolved Node Bs (eNBs), said signal comprising a Channel State Information (CSI) configuration;
• calculating one or more Rank Indicators (RIs) based on said received signals and said CSI configuration;
• generating one or more reference CSIs, each reference CSI comprising a selected RI of said one or more RIs, said selection based on an associated subframe set and further based on said received signals;
• periodically generating one or more linked CSIs, each linked CSI corresponding to one of said reference CSIs and comprising an inherited RI from said corresponding reference CSI;
• measuring channel quality and signal strength, relative to interference plus noise, associated with received signals;
• generating a CQI based on said signal measurements and said inherited RI;
• and
• transmitting at least said RI, one or more linked CSIs and CQI for use in mitigating said inter-cell interference.