Communication device and method for low-latency initial access to non-standalone 5G new radio network

A method, comprising:

• in a communication device that includes a digital signal processor:
• initiating, by the digital signal processor, beam acquisition in a receive-only mode;
• retrieving, by the digital signal processor, control information directly from a first base station over a long-term evolution (LTE) control plane link, or from at least one of a user equipment (UE) or a customer premise equipment (CPE) that is in a specified proximal range of the communication device, wherein the UE or the CPE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state over a LTE network;
• setting, by the digital signal processor, beam reception at the communication device to an omni-mode in which a plurality of different beams of RF signals are receivable at the communication device from a plurality of different directions;
• executing, by the digital signal processor, a primary signal synchronization (PSS) search from each signal synchronization block (SSB) location of a plurality of SSB locations based on the control information;
• detecting, by the digital signal processor, the PSS for at least one SSB location based on the executed PSS search;
• measuring, by the digital signal processor, a received signal strength for each beam of the plurality of different beams of RF signals for each SSB location of the plurality of SSB locations in accordance with a PSS timing of the detected PSS;
• switching, by the digital signal processor, to a beam of RF signals that has a highest received signal strength of the received plurality of different beams of RF signals for the beam reception;
• and
• activating, by the digital signal processor, communication of the beam of RF signals that has the highest received signal strength in a new radio (NR) frequency band to the UE or the CPE for non-standalone access to the beam of RF signals in the NR frequency band at the UE or the CPE.

A method, comprising:

• in a communication device that includes a digital signal processor:
• initiating, by the digital signal processor, beam acquisition in a receive-only mode;
• establishing, by the digital signal processor, a short-range wireless communication link with a user equipment (UE) or a customer premise equipment (CPE) that is in a specified proximal range of the communication device;
• retrieving, by the digital signal processor, control information directly from a first base station over a long-term evolution (LTE) control plane link or from the UE or the CPE based on the established short-range wireless communication link, wherein the UE or the CPE is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state over a LTE network;
• setting, by the digital signal processor, beam reception at the communication device to an omni-mode in which a plurality of different beams of RF signals are receivable at the communication device from a plurality of different directions;
• executing, by the digital signal processor, a primary signal synchronization (PSS) search from each signal synchronization block (SSB) location of a plurality of SSB locations based on the control information;
• detecting, by the digital signal processor, the PSS for at least one SSB location based on the executed PSS search;
• activating, by the digital signal processor, reception of a beam of RF signals from a (new radio (NR)-enabled base station in a new radio (NR) frequency that has the highest received signal strength in comparison to other beams of the plurality of different beams of RF signals and subsequent communication of the beam of RF signals in the NR frequency that has the highest received signal strength to the UE or the CPE;
• retrieving, by the digital signal processor, a physical cell identity (PCI) of a NR-enabled base station and additional carrier information from the UE or the CPE over the established short-range wireless communication link;
• and
• validating, by the digital signal processor, the beam acquisition at the UE or the CPE for a non-standalone access to the beam of RF signals in the NR frequency band as successful based on a match of the PCI of the NR-enabled base station acquired from the UE or the CPE with the PCI associated with the beam of RF signals that has the highest received signal strength.