Apparatus and method for high priority search on RRC state change

1. A user equipment comprising:

transceiver circuitry configured to operate in cells associated with at least one radio access technology (RAT) network; and

a controller configured to perform neighbor cell searches, wherein the controller is further configured to determine when the user equipment enters a first Radio Resource Control (RRC state from a second RRC state and, in response to the determination, the controller delays performing a cell search until the controller determines that the user equipment has received complete system information for a serving cell.

2. The user equipment as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the complete system information comprises neighbor cell information and high-priority frequency information.

3. The user equipment as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the first RRC state is one of at least: Cell Paging Channel (CELL_PCH) Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) Registration Area Paging Channel (URA_PCH) and IDLE.

4. The user equipment as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the second RRC state is one of at least Cell Forward Access Channel (CELL_FACH) and Cell Dedicated Channel (CELL_DCH).

5. The user equipment as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the user equipment has changed cells since a most recent search was performed.

6. The user equipment as set forth in claim 5 , wherein the controller, in response to a determination that the user equipment has not changed cells since the most recent search was performed, is further configured to delay performing a cell search until the controller determines that the user equipment has received complete system information for the serving cell.

7. A method of operating a user equipment configured to operate in cells associated with at least one radio access technology (RAT) network comprising:

determining when the user equipment enters a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) state from a second RRC state;

in response to a determination that the user equipment has entered the first RRC state, determining whether the user equipment has received complete system information for a serving cell;

in response to a determination that the user equipment has received complete system information, performing a search for neighbor cells; and

in response to a determination that the user equipment has not received complete system information, delaying performing a cell search until the user equipment has received complete system information for the serving cell.

8. The method as set forth in claim 7 , wherein the complete system information comprises neighbor cell information and high-priority frequency information.

9. The method as set forth in claim 7 , wherein the first RRC state is one of at least: Cell Paging Channel (CELL_PCH), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) Registration Area Paging Channel (URA_PCH) and IDLE.

10. The method as set forth in claim 7 , wherein the second RRC state is one of at least Cell Forward Access Channel (CELL_FACH) and Cell Dedicated Channel (CELL_DCH).

11. The method as set forth in claim 7 , further comprising determining whether the user equipment has changed cells since a most recent search was performed.

12. The method as set forth in claim 11 , wherein, in response to a determination that the user equipment has not changed cells since the most recent search was performed, delaying performing a cell search until the user equipment has received complete system information for the serving cell.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for managing a wireless device in cells associated with at least one radio access technology (RAT), the computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for causing one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

performing neighbor cell searches;

determining when the user equipment enters a first Radio Resource Control (RRC) state from a second RRC state; and

in response to the determination, delaying performing a cell search until the processor determines that the user equipment has received complete system information for a serving cell.

14. The computer-readable medium as set forth in claim 13 , wherein the complete system information comprises neighbor cell information and high-priority frequency information.

15. The computer-readable medium as set forth in claim 13 , wherein the first RRC state is one of at least: Cell Paging Channel (CELL_PCH) Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) Registration Area Paging Channel (URA_PCH) and IDLE.

16. The computer-readable medium as set forth in claim 13 , wherein the second RRC state is one of at least Cell Forward Access Channel (CELL_FACH) and Cell Dedicated Channel (CELL_DCH).

17. The computer-readable medium as set forth in claim 13 , wherein the computer-executable instructions are further operable to cause the one or more processors to perform an operation comprising determining whether the user equipment has changed cells since a most recent search was performed.

18. The computer-readable medium as set forth in claim 17 , wherein the computer-executable instructions are further operable to cause the one or more processors, in response to a determination that the user equipment has not changed cells since the most recent search was performed, to perform an operation comprising delaying performing a cell search until the processor determines that the user equipment has received complete system information for the serving cell.