METHOD AND SYSTEM OF PROVIDING SMALL CELL INFORMATION TO USER EQUIPMENTS IN A HETEROGENEOUS NETWORK ENVIRONMENT

摘要

The present invention provides a method and system for providing small cell information to a user equipment in a heterogeneous network environment. In one embodiment, a user equipment sends a request to a network entity for providing availability of one or more small cells in its proximity. The network entity obtains location information associated with the user equipment and retrieves a small cell map displaying the one or more small cells from a map database. Then, the network entity determines whether the one or more small cells are in the proximity of the user equipment using the small cell map. Accordingly, the network entity provides a notification indicating availability of the one or more small cells to the user equipment. Moreover, the user equipment initiates a scan for the one or more small cells based on the received notification.