Wireless base station neighbor discovery in a communication system, such as a system employing a short-range frequency hopping scheme

A method of creating a list of neighboring base station units in a wireless communications network, wherein at least one mobile unit communicates with at least a portion of the network, the method of creating the list of neighboring base station units comprising:

• at a stationary base station unit in the communications network, wirelessly sending at least one inquiry signal to neighboring wireless devices;
• at the stationary base station unit in the communications network, wirelessly receiving at least one response signal from at least one neighboring base station unit in the communications network, wherein the one neighboring base station unit is stationary;
• at the stationary base station unit in the communications network, identifying the one neighboring base station unit based in part on the received response signal, wherein identifying the at least one neighboring base station unit is done without involvement of the mobile unit system controller and without involvement of a system controller for the communications network;
• and
• at the stationary base station unit in the communications network, providing a stored neighbor list that identifies the one neighboring base station unit in the communications network.

The method of 4, further comprising updating the stored neighbor list to reflect changes in the one neighboring base station unit, wherein updating the stored neighbor list comprises:

• wirelessly sending periodic signals to neighboring base station units, wherein the periodic signals include information identifying the base station unit;
• wirelessly receiving periodic signals from the one neighboring base station unit and another neighboring base station unit;
• determining an identity of the another neighboring base station unit based on the received periodic signals;
• and
• updating the stored neighbor list based on the received signal from the another neighboring base station.

In a picocellular communications network, wherein at least one mobile unit communicates with at least a portion of the network, an apparatus comprising:

• a stationary wireless network access point coupled to the picocellular communications network, wherein the base station unit includes a memory and is configured to:
• wirelessly send at least one inquiry signal to neighboring wireless devices;
• wirelessly receive at least one response signal from at least one neighboring network access pointin the picocellular communications network;
• identify the one neighboring network access pointbased in part on the received response signal, wherein identifying the at least one neighboring network access point is done without involvement of the mobile unit and without involvement of a system controller for the picocellular communications network, and wherein the at least one neighboring network access point is stationary;
• and
• provide a neighbor list stored in the memory, wherein the neighbor list identifies the one neighboring network access point in the picocellular communications network.

In a short-range wireless communications network, wherein at least one mobile unit communicates with at least a portion of the network, an apparatus comprising:

• fixed means for providing short-range wireless communications within the communications network, wherein the means for providing short-range wireless communications comprises:
• means for wirelessly sending at least one signal to neighboring wireless devices, wherein sending the signal is done without assistance of the mobile unit and without the assistance of a system controller for the communications network;
• means for wirelessly receiving a response signal from at least one neighboring short-range wireless network node;
• means, coupled to the means for receiving, for identifying the one neighboring short-range wireless network node based on the received response signal, wherein identifying the one neighboring short-range network node is done without assistance of the mobile unit or system controller, and wherein the neighboring short-range network node is fixed;
• and
• means for providing a neighbor list that identifies the one neighboring short-range network node.