Methods, systems, and devices for network-provided autonomous handover

An apparatus to be implemented in a user equipment (UE), comprising:

• handover control circuitry to:
• generate a measurement report based on a connection with a source evolved node B (eNB);
• process an autonomous handover grant transmitted from the source eNB, that includes one or more parameters that correspond to a target cell provided by a target eNB, the one or more parameters to include a handover timer value;
• identify a target eNB which will receive a context for the UE;
• start a timer with the handover timer value;
• if a handover command is received before expiration of the timer, initiate a non-contention-based random access channel (RACH) process;
• and
• if a handover command is not received before expiration of the timer, initiate a contention-based RACH process;
• and
• radio frequency (RF) control circuitry to control RF circuitry to transmit the measurement report to the source eNB and receive the autonomous handover grant from the source eNB.