Method and apparatus for radio link failure recovery

1. A method in a mobile station, the method comprising:

establishing bi-directional communication between the mobile station and a serving base station;

determining that a radio link parameter of an intra-frequency neighbor base station of the serving base station is better than a first threshold;

determining that a radio link parameter of an inter-frequency neighbor base station is better than a second threshold; and

decoding a system information message of the inter-frequency neighbor base station only if the radio link parameter of the intra-frequency neighbor base station is better than the first threshold and the radio link parameter of the inter-frequency neighbor base station is better than the second threshold;

wherein the first threshold differs from the second threshold.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a radio link parameter comprises a reference signal received power parameter.

3. The method according to claim 1 further comprising sending a measurement report to the serving base station, the measurement report indicating that the radio link parameter of the inter-frequency neighbor base station is better than the second threshold.

4. The method according to claim 1 further comprising sending a measurement report to the serving base station, the measurement report indicating that the radio link parameter of the intra-frequency neighbor base station is better than the another first threshold.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the radio link parameter of the inter-frequency neighbor base station is computed from at least one of a plurality of measured parameters, the plurality of measured parameters including a measured parameter of the inter-frequency base station.

6. The method according to claim 1 further comprising determining that the mobile station is not allowed to access the intra-frequency neighbor base station, wherein decoding the system information message comprises decoding the system information message of the inter-frequency neighbor base station if the intra-frequency neighbor base station is present, if the radio link parameter of the inter-frequency neighbor base station is better than the second threshold, and if the mobile station is not allowed to access the intra-frequency neighbor base station.

7. The method according to claim 1 further comprising receiving an instruction from the serving base station to acquire the system information message of the inter-frequency neighbor base station.

8. The method according to claim 1 further comprising receiving gap assignments for system information message acquisition if the radio link parameter of the inter-frequency neighbor base station is better than the second threshold.

9. The method according to claim 1 further comprising:

determining radio link failure on the serving base station after decoding the system information message; and

performing reestablishment on the inter-frequency neighbor base station using the decoded system information message in response to determining radio link failure on the serving base station.

10. The method according to claim 9 further comprising receiving buffered data after performing reestablishment.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining a radio link parameter of an intra-frequency neighbor base station of the serving base station is better than a first threshold comprises determining that a radio link parameter of an inaccessible intra-frequency neighbor base station of the serving base station is better than a first threshold.

12. An apparatus comprising:

a wireless communication device housing;

a transceiver coupled to the wireless communication device housing, the transceiver configured to establish bi-directional communication between the mobile station and a serving base station;

a controller coupled to the transceiver, the controller configured to control operations of the apparatus;

a frequency neighbor base station parameter determination module coupled to the controller, the frequency neighbor base station parameter determination module configured to determine that a radio link parameter of an intra-frequency neighbor base station is better than a first threshold and determine that a radio link parameter of the inter-frequency neighbor base station is better than a second threshold; and

a system information message acquisition module coupled to the controller, the system information message acquisition module configured to acquire and decode a system information message of the inter-frequency neighbor base station only if the radio link parameter of the intra-frequency neighbor base station is better than the first threshold and if the radio link parameter of the inter-frequency neighbor base station is better than the second threshold;

wherein the first threshold differs from the second threshold.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to send, via the transceiver, a measurement report to the serving base station, the measurement report indicating that the radio link parameter of the inter-frequency neighbor base station is better than the second threshold and indicating that the radio link parameter of the intra-frequency neighbor base station is better than the previously presented first threshold.

14. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to determine that the intra-frequency neighbor base station is a home base station.

15. The apparatus according to claim 12 ,

wherein the controller is configured to determine that a mobile station is not allowed to access the intra-frequency neighbor base station, and

wherein the system information message acquisition module is configured to acquire and decode the system information message of the inter-frequency neighbor base station if the intra-frequency neighbor base station is the radio link parameter of the intra-frequency neighbor base station is better than the first threshold, if the radio link parameter of the inter-frequency neighbor base station is better than the second threshold, and if the mobile station is not allowed to access the intra-frequency neighbor base station.

16. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to determine radio link failure on the serving base station after acquiring the system information message and configured to perform reestablishment on the inter-frequency neighbor base station using the acquired system information message in response to determining radio link failure on the serving base station.