Patent ID: 8805394

Claim:
A method for interference mitigation in a heterogeneous network including one or more femto cells within a macro cell coverage area, the method comprising: transmitting, at a femto station, wireless communication signals using a plurality of femto station resources to communicate with at least one femto user equipment (UE) within a femto coverage area of the femto station, wherein the plurality of femto station resources are divisions of a shared medium available to the femto station; detecting, at the femto station, that a macro UE is operating within the femto coverage area, wherein the macro UE is coupled to a macro station; in response to detecting the macro UE, shutting off a first portion of the femto station resources and transmitting the wireless communication signals using a second portion of the femto station resources, wherein the first portion of the femto station resources are a source of interference to the macro UE, wherein detecting the macro UE operating within the coverage area of the femto station comprises: measuring a first power of a first signal received at the femto station from the macro UE: receiving, at the femto station, a message from a macro station indicating a second power of a second signal received at the macro station from the macro UE; and determining that the first signal is greater than the second signal, the determination indicating that the macro UE is detected within the coverage area of the femto station.