US 11,700,074 B2
Methods and apparatuses for determining cell access during a cell search
Markus Dominik Mueck, Unterhaching (DE); Thomas Ruprich, Munich (DE); Andreas Schmidt, Braunschweig (DE); and Hyung-Nam Choi, Hamburg (DE)
Assigned to Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed by Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed on Jul. 10, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/926,619.
Application 16/926,619 is a continuation of application No. 15/585,358, filed on May 3, 2017, granted, now 10,715,268.
Application 15/585,358 is a continuation of application No. 14/615,124, filed on Feb. 5, 2015, granted, now 9,681,288, issued on Jun. 13, 2017.
Application 14/615,124 is a continuation of application No. 13/419,136, filed on Mar. 13, 2012, granted, now 8,989,748, issued on Mar. 24, 2015.
Application 13/419,136 is a continuation of application No. 12/233,119, filed on Sep. 18, 2008, granted, now 8,160,590, issued on Apr. 17, 2012.
Prior Publication US 2020/0412473 A1, Dec. 31, 2020
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H04J 11/00 (2006.01); H04W 76/27 (2018.01); H04W 56/00 (2009.01); H04W 8/02 (2009.01); H04W 48/08 (2009.01); H04W 48/20 (2009.01); H04L 69/323 (2022.01); H04L 9/40 (2022.01)
CPC H04J 11/0073 (2013.01) [H04J 11/0069 (2013.01); H04W 8/02 (2013.01); H04W 48/08 (2013.01); H04W 48/20 (2013.01); H04W 56/00 (2013.01); H04W 56/0015 (2013.01); H04W 76/27 (2018.02); H04L 63/0853 (2013.01); H04L 69/323 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a mobile communications network, the method comprising:
establishing a connection to a base station servicing a cell corresponding to a present location of the UE;
receiving, from the base station, a signaling message including system information associated with the cell;
obtaining, from the system information included in the signaling message, one or more fields that indicate an identity associated with the cell and an access condition corresponding to the cell, wherein the identity associated with the cell includes a physical layer cell identifier (PCI) of the base station and the access condition specifies a type of the base station of a plurality of known types of base stations; and
determining, based at least on applying one or more rules known to the UE, to one or more of the identity associated with the cell or the access condition corresponding to the cell, whether the UE is authorized to connect to the base station, wherein the determining comprises:
identifying, based at least on the type of the base station, that the base station operates a closed subscriber group (CSG) cell;
in response to the identifying, comparing the PCI of the base station to an approved range of PCI values assigned to base stations operating CSG cells that the UE is allowed to access;
determining, based on the comparison, that the PCI of the base station is included in the approved range of PCI values; and
in response to the determination, continuing the connection to the base station.