Method and device for detecting inter-frequency cell signals in a heterogeneous network

A method of assisting identification of inter-frequency cell with reduced battery power consumption for a User Equipment (UE) in a Heterogeneous Network (HetNet), the method comprising:

• transmitting an indication and at least one trigger condition to the UE on the first frequency layer about the beacon signal transmission from a non-serving cell, the non-serving cell actually transmitting and receiving data on a second frequency layer;
• providing assistance information to the UE on the first frequency layer to identify the non-serving cell, the assistance information being provided through one of a dedicated Radio Resource Control (RRC) message and system information broadcast message;
• evaluating feedback reports from the UE after decoding the beacon signal on the first frequency layer from a non-serving cell;
• activating the measurement configuration for the second frequency layer if the measurement configuration was previously provided;
• and
• configuring, if the measurement configuration was not previously provided, the UE with the measurement configuration for the second frequency layer in order to evaluate for an inter-frequency handover to the non-serving cell.

A device for detecting inter-frequency cells in a Heterogeneous Network (HetNet), comprising:

• a processor configured to detecting inter-frequency cell signals;
• a memory connected to the processor, the memory configured to store a program that when executed by the processor performs a method for detecting the inter-frequency cell signals, the method comprising:
• receiving an indication from a serving cell operating on a first frequency layer about presence of a beacon signal transmission on the first frequency layer from a non-serving cell, the non-serving cell actually transmits and receives data is on a second frequency layer along with at least one trigger condition;
• determining whether the indication satisfies at least one triggering condition to initiate signal scanning at the first frequency layer for identifying the beacon signal transmission from the non-serving cell;
• scanning, when it is determined that the indication satisfies the at least one triggering condition, the first frequency layer for identifying any beacon signal transmission and decoding the beacon signal transmission from the non-serving cell;
• and
• receiving assistance information from the serving cell to facilitate identification of at least one non-serving cell transmitting the beacon signals on the first frequency layer.