Method and Apparatus for Cell Activation

1 . A method of controlling a cell state, the method comprising:

receiving an indication of a discovery of a cell from a communication device;

determining the cell based on the indication; and

causing the cell to transition to an activated state from a dormant state.

2 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

causing a cell cycle configuration to be transmitted to another cell, wherein the cell cycle configuration indicates a short active period for the cell.

3 - 4 . (canceled)

5 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the indication of the discovery of the cell by the communication device is provided via a cell activation report.

6 . A method according to claim 5 , wherein the cell activation report comprises a cell identification and a cell cycle configuration during which a discovery signal for the cell was detected.

7 - 9 . (canceled)

10 . A method according to claim 5 , wherein the cell activation report comprises at least one of a buffer status report or a scheduling request.

11 . A method according to claim 10 , further comprising:

determining that the short active period of the cell does not comprise resources for the communication device based on the at least one of the buffer status report or the scheduling request; and

determining a cell to transition to the activated state in an instance in which the cell comprises resources for the communication device.

12 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a channel state indicator from the communication device configured with a virtual secondary cell, wherein the virtual secondary cell is associated with a discovered cell in the dormant state;

causing the cell associated with the virtual secondary cell to transition to the activated state; and

causing the virtual secondary cell to be reconfigured to the cell.

13 . (canceled)

14 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

causing a carrier on the communication device corresponding to the cell to be activated.

15 . (canceled)

16 . An apparatus for controlling a cell state, the apparatus comprising:

a processing system including at least a processor and a memory storing computer program instructions, in which the processing system is arranged to cause the apparatus to at least:

receive an indication of a discovery of a cell from a communication device;

determine the cell based on the indication; and

cause the cell to transition to an activated state from a dormant state.

17 . An apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein the processing system is arranged to cause the apparatus to:

cause a cell cycle configuration to be transmitted to another cell, wherein the cell cycle configuration indicates a short active period for the cell.

18 - 19 . (canceled)

20 . An apparatus according to claim 16 , wherein the indication of the discovery of the cell by the communication device is provided via a cell activation report.

21 - 24 . (canceled)

25 . An apparatus according to claim 20 , wherein the cell activation report comprises at least one of a buffer status report or a scheduling request.

26 - 64 . (canceled)

65 . A method of controlling a cell state, the method comprising:

generating a measurement report relating to a cell; and

causing the measurement report to be transmitted, wherein the measurement report is configured to cause the cell to transition from a dormant state to an activated state.

66 . A method according to claim 65 , further comprising:

receiving an indication comprising cell cycle configuration for the cell, wherein the indication further comprises cell cycle information for one or more further cells within a coverage range;

causing a primary discovery channel to be measured for at least the cell in accordance with the cell cycle configuration corresponding thereto in order to discover the cell.

67 . A method according to claim 65 , wherein the measurement report is a cell activation report.

68 - 70 . (canceled)

71 . A method according to claim 67 , further comprising:

generating at least one of a buffer status report or a scheduling request; and

causing the at least one of the buffer status report or the scheduling request to be included in the cell activation report, wherein the at least one of the buffer status report or the scheduling request is configured to cause the cell to be activated in on the basis of its resource availability.

72 . A method according to claim 65 , further comprising:

causing a virtual secondary cell to be configured to correspond to the cell when it is in a dormant state; and

causing the virtual secondary cell to be configured as an actual secondary cell in an instance in which the cell is caused to transition to the activated state.

73 . A method according to claim 72 , further comprising:

determining a strength for the cell based on a channel state indicator; and

causing the strength to be transmitted in the measurement report, wherein the measurement report is configured to cause the cell to transition to an active state.

74 . (canceled)

75 . A method according to claim 65 , further comprising:

causing a carrier corresponding to the cell to be activated.

76 . A method according to claim 65 , wherein the cell is a new carrier type cell.

77 - 144 . (canceled)