Methods and apparatus for hetergeneous network handover

The method in claim 8, further comprising deciding to not send a handover request of the one or more reporting UEs to the second base station having recently been handed over from the second base station to a CRE area of the first cell.

A method for a second base station that provides radio communication service to user equipments, UEs, in a second cell service area within or adjacent to a first cell service area served by a first base station that provides radio communication service to UEs in a first cell service area, the second base station having a set of handover candidate base stations and performing the following steps:

• determining cell range expansion, CRE, information for expanding the size of a first cell for at least one of the candidate base stations, and
• evaluating handover of one or more UEs with respect to the first cell based on the CRE information.

The method in any of the preceding claims, wherein the first base station has a lower output power than the second base station, and the service area of the first cell is smaller than the service area of the second cell.

A first base station that provides radio communication service to user equipments, UEs, and has a first cell service area, where the first cell service area is within or adjacent to a second cell service area of a second base station that provides radio communication service to UEs in the second cell service area, the first base station comprising:

• communications circuitry configured to receive cell range expansion, CRE, information from the second base station for expanding the size of the first cell, and
• data processing circuitry configured to evaluate handover of one or more UEs with respect to the second cell based on the CRE information.

A second base station that provides radio communication service to user equipments, UEs, in a second cell service area within or adjacent to a first cell service area, served by a first base station that provides radio communication service to UEs in the first cell service area, the second base station having a set of handover candidate first base stations and comprising data processing circuitry configured to:

• determine cell range expansion, CRE, information for expanding the size of a first cell for at least one of the candidate first base stations, and
• evaluate handover of one or more UEs with respect to the first cell based on the CRE information.