Aperiodic ICIC-Oriented CSI Reporting for LTE Networks

Interference mitigation has been identified as an important challenge for cellular technologies based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) such as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In this context, Intercell Interference Coordination (ICIC) techniques have received much attention by the research community, as they are a good approach to address this issue. In particular, static solutions enjoy acceptance due to their low complexity and ease of implementation. ICIC mechanisms are not standardized in LTE, which just provides certain support so that every vendor/operator configures its particular ICIC option. Hence, their interworking with other important network functionalities such as Channel State Information (CSI) feedback must be carefully considered. This chapter provides an overview on the relationship between ICIC and CSI in LTE and introduces a novel mechanism to improve such interworking. The novel scheme is feasible and easy-to-implement and it is especially effective for Non-Real Time services. It provides gains in terms of system capacity, cell edge performance, and energy efficiency with respect to 3GPP LTE mechanisms and previous proposals.