User Equipment Neighbor Cell List Compilation for Roaming
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Solution Overview
Problem
In wireless communication systems, users face issues when roaming, as they typically rely on operator-specific Neighbor Cell Lists that disregard user preferences, leading to inefficient cell searches, unnecessary roaming charges, and energy consumption, especially when the home network is overlapped by another operator's network.
Innovation Solution
A user equipment (UE) builds a user-specific Neighbor Cell List by analyzing radio environment information and prioritizing preferred networks based on user-preference data, allowing it to perform cell searches more efficiently and reduce unnecessary roaming fees.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a UE uses operator-specific Neighbor Cell Lists during roaming, then the cell search procedure follows standard protocols, but the UE cannot prioritize preferred networks leading to unnecessary roaming charges and energy consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The UE performs preliminary actions by storing information about preferred networks and their characteristics before actual cell search operations. This pre-stored information enables the UE to prioritize network selection during roaming without performing exhaustive searches, thereby reducing energy consumption while maintaining adaptability to user preferences
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism (the stored preferred network information) that mediates between the standard operator-specific Neighbor Cell Lists and the UE's network selection process. This intermediary layer allows the UE to filter and prioritize networks based on user preferences without deviating from standard protocols, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and energy efficiency
2Reliability
If a UE performs comprehensive cell searches on all detected cells, then the UE ensures complete network coverage detection, but the cell search time and energy consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The UE applies partial action by performing comprehensive cell searches only when necessary (e.g., when no suitable network is found or when stored information is outdated). For routine operations, the UE uses the pre-stored preferred network information to perform selective searches, thereby maintaining detection reliability while significantly reducing average cell search time
Solution Approach 2:
By pre-storing information about preferred networks and their characteristics, the UE has preliminary data available that guides the cell search process. This allows the UE to focus searches on relevant networks first, ensuring reliable detection of suitable networks while minimizing overall search time through intelligent prioritization
3Ease of operation
If a UE relies on broadcast Neighbor Cell Lists from current serving cell, then the cell search follows standard procedures, but the UE cannot efficiently return to home network when overlapped by other operator's network
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer of stored preferred network information that works alongside the broadcast Neighbor Cell Lists. This intermediary mechanism enables the UE to automatically prioritize home network or preferred operator networks during cell reselection without manual intervention, maintaining ease of operation while enhancing adaptability to user preferences and home network conditions
Solution Approach 2:
The UE performs preliminary actions by maintaining stored information about preferred networks and home network characteristics. This pre-stored information acts as a guide during automatic cell reselection, enabling the UE to efficiently return to the home network or preferred operators even when overlapped by other networks, without requiring manual configuration or deviating from standard procedures
Data Source
AI summary
A user equipment (UE) in a communication system can keep track of the cell/frequency deployment of a network operator preferred by the user, and based on the tracked information, the UE can build up its own user-specific Neighbor Cell List. When the UE is roaming, the UE does received-signal measurements according to cells and carrier frequencies identified in the broadcast Neighbor Cell Lists of the roamed-into network, but the UE also does received-signal measurements (with higher priority) according to the user-specific Neighbor Cell List that it has built up. Accordingly, a UE implementing a user-specific Neighbor Cell List analyzes its radio environment based on received signals and stores information about that environment, including user-preference information that prioritizes cells in the radio environment. The UE can then carry out cell search based on the stored environment and user-preference information.