摘要 |
Among other advantageous aspects, the teachings herein provide network-side and device-side apparatuses and methods that preserve normal Resource Element (RE) aggregation levels for the transmission of Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channels (EPDCCHs) in “constrained” subframes, where “constrained” refers to any subframe having fewer REs available for EPDCCH usage within a base set of PRB pairs than are available in a “non-constrained” or “normal” subframe. Non-limiting examples of “constrained” subframes include special subframes in Time Division Duplex, TDD, operation, which comprise a downlink portion that is abbreviated to accommodate an included uplink portion, along with a guard portion between them. Multimedia Broadcast Single Frequency Network, MBSFN, subframes represent another example of a constrained subframe, where only the first two OFDM symbols within the subframe are available for EPDCCH transmissions. |