A method for a user equipment (UE) to determine locations for M candidate physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs) in a set of N physical resource blocks (PRBs) in a transmission time interval (TTI) is provided. The method includes determining a location for each of M candidate PDCCHs in a different PRB if N is greater than or equal to M and determining a location for each of N candidate PDCCHs in a different PRB and determining a location for each of remaining M-N candidate PDCCHs in a different PRB if M is greater than N and 2N is greater than or equal to M.