Mobile radio device and method for selecting candidate base stations

A method of operating a mobile radio device comprising:

• storing location information defining locations of a first plurality of base stations;
• determining a direction of a candidate base station of the first plurality of base stations using the location information, and attempting to connect to the candidate base station of the first plurality of base stations using an antenna array configured to transmit a beam steered in the direction of the candidate base station, and to receive signals from the direction of the candidate base station;
• generating, based on the received signals obtained while making the attempt to connect to the candidate base station, status information defining a connectivity characteristic of each of a second plurality of base stations, and to calculate a ranked list of candidate base stations from the first plurality of base stations and the second plurality of base stations;
• and
• selecting a next candidate base station to attempt to connect to based on the ranked list of candidates.

A mobile radio device comprising:

• means for storing location information defining locations of a first plurality of base stations;
• means for determining a direction of a candidate base station of the first plurality of base stations using the location information, and attempting to connect to the candidate base station of the first plurality of base stations using an antenna array configured to transmit a beam steered in the direction of the candidate base station, and to receive signals from the direction of the candidate base station;
• means for generating, based on the received signals obtained while making the attempt to connect to the candidate base station, status information defining a connectivity characteristic of each of a second plurality of base stations, and to calculate a ranked list of candidate base stations from the first plurality of base stations and the second plurality of base stations;
• and
• means for selecting a next candidate base station to attempt to connect to based on the ranked list of candidates.