Method and apparatus for femto cell deployment using neighbor list messages and its use in femto cell system selection

A method for neighbor list frequency switching in a terminal in a wireless communication system comprising:

• receiving a macro cell neighbor list message, the macro cell neighbor list message including macro cell information, the macro cell information including macro cell frequencies;
• receiving a broadcast femto cell neighbor list message from a base station in the wireless communication system, the broadcast femto cell neighbor list message including femto cell information, the femto cell information including a spectrum of dedicated femto cell frequencies reserved for closed subscriber group (CSG) femto cell deployments;
• determining a switching frequency from among the macro cell frequencies and the femto cell frequencies;
• and
• switching to the switching frequency.

A wireless communications apparatus for neighbor list frequency switching in a terminal in a wireless communication system, comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor, the at least one processor and the at least one memory being configured to:
• receive a broadcast neighbor list message, the broadcast neighbor list message including femto cell information and macro cell information, the femto cell information including a spectrum of dedicated femto cell frequencies reserved for subscriber group (CSG) femto cell deployments, the macro cell information including macro cell frequencies;
• determine a switching frequency from among the macro cell frequencies and the femto cell frequencies;
• and
• switch to the switching frequency.

An apparatus for neighbor list frequency switching in a terminal in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

• logic for receiving a broadcast neighbor list message, the broadcast neighbor list message including femto cell information and macro cell information, the femto cell information including a spectrum of dedicated femto cell frequencies reserved for closed subscriber group (CSG) femto cell deployments, the macro cell information including macro cell frequencies;
• logic for determining a switching frequency from among the macro cell frequencies and the femto cell frequencies;
• and
• logic for switching to the switching frequency;
• wherein the logic for receiving, determining, and switching includes hardware.

An apparatus for neighbor list frequency switching in a terminal in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

• means for receiving a broadcast neighbor list message, the broadcast neighbor list message including femto cell information and macro cell information, the femto cell information including a spectrum of dedicated femto cell frequencies reserved for closed subscriber group (CSG) femto cell deployments, the macro cell information including macro cell frequencies;
• means for determining a switching frequency from among the macro cell frequencies and the femto cell frequencies;
• and
• means for switching to the switching frequency.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium in a wireless communication system for neighbor list frequency switching in a terminal, comprising:

• a first set of codes for receiving a broadcast neighbor list message, the broadcast neighbor list message including femto cell information and macro cell information, the femto cell information including a spectrum of dedicated femto cell frequencies reserved for closed subscriber group (CSG) femto cell deployments, the macro cell information including macro cell frequencies;
• a second set of codes for determining a switching frequency from among the macro cell frequencies and the femto cell frequencies;
• and
• a third set of codes for switching to the switching frequency.

A method for a radio base station to facilitate neighbor list frequency switching in a terminal in a wireless communication system comprising:

• identifying femto cell information for one or more neighboring femto cells, the femto cell information including a spectrum of dedicated femto cell frequencies reserved for closed subscriber group (CSG) femto cell deployments;
• identifying macro cell information for one or more neighboring macro cells, the macro cell information including macro cell frequencies;
• building a neighbor list message that includes the femto cell information and the macro cell information;
• and
• broadcasting the neighbor list message to one or more terminals served by the radio base station.

A method for a radio base station to facilitate neighbor list frequency switching in a terminal in a wireless communication system comprising:

• identifying femto cell information for one or more neighboring femto cells, the femto cell information including a spectrum of dedicated femto cell frequencies reserved for closed subscriber group (CSG) femto cell deployments;
• identifying macro cell information for one or more neighboring macro cells, the macro cell information including macro cell frequencies;
• building a femto cell neighbor list message that includes the femto cell information;
• building a macro cell neighbor list message that includes the macro cell information;
• and
• broadcasting the femto cell neighbor list message and the macro cell neighbor list message to one or more terminals served by the radio base station.

A method for neighbor list frequency switching in a terminal in a wireless communication system comprising:

• receiving a broadcast neighbor list message, the broadcast neighbor list message including femto cell information and macro cell information, the femto cell information including a spectrum of dedicated femto cell frequencies reserved for femto cell deployments, the macro cell information including macro cell frequencies;
• determining a switching frequency from among the macro cell frequencies and the femto cell frequencies;
• and
• switching to the switching frequency.