User equipment and method for estimating an inter cell interference

A method for estimating an inter cell interference (ICI) in a cellular wireless network comprising cells, wherein each cell comprises a base station, the method comprising:

• exchanging precoding matrix indicators (PMIs) of precoding matrices (PMs) among an anchor cell base station of an anchor cell and base stations of neighboring cells, where the exchanged PMIs from the base stations of the neighbouring cells are a configuration of PMIs to be maintained by the base stations of the neighbouring cells for a duration of time;
• supplying, by the anchor call base station, the configuration of PMIs to a user equipment (UE) registered with the anchor cell base station;
• predicting, by the UE, an inter cell interference (ICI) at the UE caused by the base stations of the neighbouring cells, according to the configuration of PMIs supplied by the anchor cell base station;
• and
• sending, by the UE, the predicted ICI to the anchor cell base station for (a) selecting a PMI of a PM and (b) informing the base stations of the neighbouring cells of the selection and the duration of time.

A base station of an anchor cell of a cellular wireless network, the base station comprising:

• a processor and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium containing instructions for execution by the processor such that when the instructions are executed by the processor, the processor is configured to provide the following:
• exchange with base stations of cells neighbouring the anchor cell precoding matrix indicators (PMIs) of precoding matrices (PMs), where the exchanged PMIs are a configuration of PMIs to be maintained by the base stations of the neighbouring cells for a duration of time;
• send the configuration of PMIs to a user equipment (UE) in the anchor cell;
• receive, from the UE, an inter cell interference (ICI) caused by the base stations of the neighbouring cells as predicted by the UE from the configuration of PMIs;
• select a PMI of a matching PM that maximizes a signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio of a reception signal received by the UE;
• and
• inform the base stations of the neighbouring cells of the selection and the duration of time.

A wireless cellular network comprising:

• a plurality of cells, each comprising a base station configured to exchange precoding matrix indicators (PMIs) of precoding matrices (PMs) among the base stations of neighbouring cells, where the exchanged PMIs are a configuration of PMIs to be maintained by the base stations of the neighbouring cells for a duration of time;
• a user equipment (UE) configured to be registered with an anchor cell base station of one of the cells and configured to predict an inter cell interference (ICI) at the UE, caused by the base stations of the neighbouring cells, according to the configuration of PMIs and (b) sending the predicted ICI to the anchor cell base station;
• and
• the anchor cell base station configured to (a) select a PMI of a PM based on the predicted ICI and (b) inform the base stations of the neighbouring cells of the selection and the duration of time.