METHODS AND APPARATUS TO SUPPORT BASE STATION DETECTION AND SELECTION IN MULTI-TIER WIRELESS NETWORKS

摘要

A subscriber station can efficiently determine an accessible base station by scanning a subset of base stations based on an optimized list received from a serving base station. The subscriber station includes a white list that contains information regarding a number of closed subscriber group (CSG) base stations to which the subscriber station is subscribed. The subscriber station can transmit a request message that includes one or more of: indication of whether the detected identifier of the femto base station is in the whitelist or not; and its location information. In response, the base station can send a message that includes the nearby femtocells and whether the femtocell is accessible or inaccessible to the subscriber station. The femto base station can be designed to be in transmission off mode when none of its subscribers is in its coverage. The serving base station can select a set of the accessible femtocells to the subscriber station, and request the selected femtocells to monitor an uplink signaling of the subscriber station so that the femtocell can be awaken when the femtocell is in transmission off mode or be aware that the subscriber station is in proximity, if the uplink signaling is detected.