Determining location of a femtocell using a mobile device transmitting over an unlicensed band

A small cell access point within a wireless communication network, the small cell access point comprising:

• one or more processors;
• a non-transitory storage medium;
• and
• instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium, the instructions being executable by the one or more processors to:
• communicate, in response to the small cell access point powering off and then powering on, with a mobile device using an unlicensed radio frequency (RF) band radio of the small cell access point;
• receive, from the mobile device over the unlicensed RF band, location information related to a location of the mobile device;
• provide, to a gateway within the wireless communication network, the location information;
• and
• based at least in part on the location information, activating a licensed RF band radio of the small cell access point.

A system comprising a small cell access point within a wireless communication network, the small cell access point comprising:

• one or more processors;
• a non-transitory storage medium;
• and
• instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium, the instructions being executable by the one or more processors to:
• communicate, by a small cell access point within the wireless communication network and in response to power cycling of the small cell access point, with a mobile device using an unlicensed radio frequency (RF) band radio of the small cell access point;
• receive, by the small cell access point from the mobile device over the unlicensed RF band, location information related to a location of the mobile device;
• provide, by the small cell access point to a gateway within the wireless communication network, the location information;
• and
• based at least in part on the location information, activating a licensed RF band radio of the small cell access point.