METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ENABLING ENHANCEMENTS TO FLEXIBLE SUBFRAMES IN LTE HETEROGENEOUS NETWORKS

A method a network element in a first cell of a wireless telecommunication network, comprising:providing uplink and downlink grants in the first cell being a low-power cell acting as a secondary cell within the coverage area of a second, high-power cell, acting as a primary cell in a carrier aggregation mode the uplink and downlink grants being scheduled based on information received from the second cell via an X2 interface between the first and second cells, and at least one uplink control signal being received by one of only the first cell or both the first and second cells; andreceiving a buffer status report independently from a buffer status report sent to the second cell;wherein, when dynamic TDD with slow adaptation is used in the first cell, the network element notifies the second cell about the actual TDD configuration used in the first cell, and when dynamic TDD with fast adaptation is used in the first cell, the network element notifies the second cell that dynamic TDD with fast adaptation is used in the first cell.