1. A system comprising a first network element and a second network element, the first network element comprising a processor configured to: synchronize with the second network element; and maintain synchronization with the second network element; wherein the first network element is a small cell enhanced node-B (eNB), and the second network element is one of a macro cell eNB or a small cell eNB, wherein the first network element and the second network element both communicate on a same frequency band; and wherein the processor of the first network element is configured to: transmit only on a first portion in time of a Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) subframe and listen to a downlink subframe from the second network element on a remaining second portion in time of the MBSFN subframe to maintain synchronization, wherein the second network element is a macro cell eNB, and when the first network element is unable to synchronize with the second network element, the processor of the first network element is configured to synchronize with a neighbouring small cell eNB, different from the small cell eNB, and wherein the neighbouring small cell eNB is unable to synchronize with the second network element and is configured as a timing reference to broadcast a sync rank status to indicate a timing accuracy of the neighboring small cell eNB.