Measurement Termination of Higher-Prioritized Layers for Priority-Based Cell Reselection Algorithms in Cellular Communication Systems

An apparatus for operating a user equipment in a cellular communication system in which radiofrequency resources are partitioned into layers, each layer being associated with one of a set of hierarchical priority levels, the apparatus comprising:

• circuitry configured to, while camped on a serving cell whose signals are transmitted on a first layer associated with a first priority level, repeatedly measure a characteristic of a second layer that is present within the surroundings of the user equipment and to generate from these measurements a plurality of measured surroundings data, wherein the second layer is associated with a second priority level that is higher than the first priority level;
• and
• circuitry configured to cause a cessation of measuring the characteristic of the second layer that is present within the surroundings of the user equipment in response to detecting both that at least one of the measured surroundings data is less than a predetermined threshold level and that a trend of the plurality of measured surroundings data is negative.