Synchronous TDM-based communication in dominant interference scenarios

An apparatus for wireless communication at a relay station communicating using a set of uplink subframes and a set of downlink subframes, comprising:

• means for determining, at the relay station, a first set of backhaul downlink subframes in which the relay station is listening to a macro base station;
• means for determining, at the relay station, a second set of relay downlink subframes in which the relay station is transmitting data to user equipments (UEs)), wherein the first set of backhaul downlink subframes comprise a first subset of the set of downlink subframes and the second set of relay downlink subframes comprise a second subset of the set of downlink subframes;
• means for transmitting to the UEs, by the relay station, in a multicast/broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) mode on a frequency channel or bandwidth during each of the first set of backhaul downlink subframes in which the relay station is listening to the macro base station, wherein the relay station transmits to the UEs in the MBSFN mode in place of receiving a first set of time division multiplexed (TDM) control symbols of a plurality of TDM control symbols from the macro base station in the first set of backhaul downlink subframes, and wherein the relay station derives control information from a second set of the plurality of TDM control symbols received from the macro base station not overlapping the first set of TDM control symbols;
• means for listening to the macro base station, by the relay station, on the same frequency channel or bandwidth during each of the first set of backhaul downlink subframes;
• and
• means for transmitting to the UEs, by the relay station, in a regular mode on the same frequency channel or bandwidth during each of the second set of relay downlink subframes in which the relay station is transmitting data to the UEs.

An apparatus for wireless communication at a relay station communicating using a set of uplink subframes and a set of downlink subframes, comprising:

• a memory;
• at least one processor coupled to the memory, and configured to:
• determine, at the relay station, a first set of backhaul downlink subframes in which the relay station is listening to a macro base station and a second set of relay downlink subframes in which the relay station is transmitting data to user equipments (UEs), wherein the first set of backhaul downlink subframes comprise a first subset of the set of downlink subframes and the second set of relay downlink subframes comprise a second subset of the set of downlink subframes;
• transmit to the UEs, by the relay station, in a multicast/broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) mode on a frequency channel or bandwidth during each of the first set of backhaul downlink subframes in which the relay station is listening to the macro base station, wherein the relay station transmits to the UEs in the MBSFN mode in place of receiving a first set of time division multiplexed (TDM) control symbols of a plurality of TDM control symbols from the macro base station in the first set of backhaul downlink subframes, and wherein the relay station derives control information from a second set of the plurality of TDM control symbols received from the macro base station not overlapping the first set of TDM control symbols;
• listen to the macro base station, by the relay station, on the same frequency channel or bandwidth during each of the first set of backhaul downlink subframes;
• and
• transmit to the UEs, by the relay station, in a regular mode on the same frequency channel or bandwidth during each of the second set of relay downlink subframes in which the relay station is transmitting data to the UEs.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable code for wireless communication at a relay station communicating using a set of uplink subframes and a set of downlink subframes, comprising code for:

• determining, at the relay station, a first set of backhaul downlink subframes in which the relay station is listening to a macro base station and a second set of relay downlink subframes in which the relay station is transmitting data to user equipments (UEs), wherein the first set of backhaul downlink subframes comprise a first subset of the set of downlink subframes and the second set of relay downlink subframes comprise a second subset of the set of downlink subframes;
• transmitting to the UEs, by the relay station, in a multicast/broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) mode on a frequency channel or bandwidth during each of the first set of backhaul downlink subframes in which the relay station is listening to the macro base station, wherein the relay station transmits to the UEs in the MBSFN mode in place of receiving a first set of time division multiplexed (TDM) control symbols of a plurality of TDM control symbols from the macro base station in the first set of backhaul downlink subframes, and wherein the relay station derives control information from a second set of the plurality of TDM control symbols received from the macro base station not overlapping the first set of TDM control symbols;
• and
• listening to the macro base station, by the relay station, on the same frequency channel or bandwidth during each of the first set of backhaul downlink subframes;
• and
• transmitting to the UEs, by the relay station, in a regular mode on the same frequency channel or bandwidth during each of the second set of relay downlink subframes in which the relay station is transmitting data to the UEs.