Network entity, a wireless communication system and a method for deriving a cell candidate list from a neighbour list

1. A method for a small cell access point to use broadcast information to derive a cell candidate list from a neighbour cell list, the method comprising, at the small cell access point:

performing a network listen, NWL, scan and identifying a broadcast transmission from a plurality of macro cell base station, BTSs;

detecting at least one parameter from each broadcast transmission by identifying a Qoffset parameter from decoding a first system information block, SIB, message that provides information about each macro cell BTS's neighbouring macro and small cells to determine neighbour information and network cell reselection parameters, wherein the at least one parameter acts as a signature for small cell neighbours to distinguish small cell neighbours from macro cell neighbours by;

comparing the detected at least one Qoffset parameter with a first threshold value; and

identifying therefrom whether the at least one Qoffset parameter indicates a macro cell or a small cell when deriving a cell candidate list of candidate operating parameters; and

using the at least one parameter to derive a cell candidate list of candidate operating parameters.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

measuring at least one metric of each macro cell BTS broadcast transmission, wherein the at least one metric is at least one of: a signal quality, a signal power;

ranking the plurality of neighbour cells based on the measured at least one metric and the detected at least one parameter; and

deriving a cell candidate list from the ranked plurality of neighbour cells.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting and using operating parameters from the derived cell candidate list.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein, in response to detecting that the selected operating parameters from the derived cell candidate list are being used by another small cell, selecting a next best candidate cell operating parameters from the derived cell candidate list.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a comparison that results in a detected large negative value indicates that cell as a small cell when deriving the cell candidate list of candidate operating parameters.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

automatically ranking the plurality of detected neighbour cells and their cell candidate lists based on a measured at least one metric; and

calculating a weighted score of each of the candidate cells in the candidate cell list based on the ranked plurality of detected neighbour cells.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

comparing the calculated weighted score of each of the candidate cells with a second threshold value; and

raising an alarm signal based on a candidate cell that scores below the second threshold value.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein decoding multiple SIB messages comprises decoding multiple messages to determine cell reselection parameters and comprises extracting at least one of the following broadcast constant values from the SIB message: a ‘cellSelectQualityMeasure’ value, a Sinter search value, a Sintra search value.

9. A small cell base station is configured to use broadcast information to derive a cell candidate list from a neighbour cell list, the small cell base station comprises:

a transceiver, and

a signal processor operably coupled to the transceiver and configured to:

perform a network listen, NWL, scan and identify a broadcast transmission from a plurality of macro cell base station, BTSs;

detect at least one parameter from each broadcast transmission by identifying a Qoffset parameter from decoding a first system information block, SIB, message that provides information about each macro cell BTS's neighbouring macro and small cells to determine neighbour information and network cell reselection parameters, wherein the at least one parameter acts as a signature for small cell neighbours to distinguish small cell neighbours from macro cell neighbours by;

compare the detected at least one Qoffset parameter with a first threshold value; and

identify therefrom whether the at least one Qoffset parameter indicates a macro cell or a small cell when deriving a cell candidate list of candidate operating parameters; and

use the at least one parameter to derive a cell candidate list of candidate operating parameters.

10. The small cell base station of claim 9 , wherein the signal processor is further configured to:

measure the at least one metric of each macro cell BTS broadcast transmission, wherein the metric is at least one of: a signal quality, a signal power;

rank the plurality of neighbour cells based on the measured at least one metric and detected at least one parameter; and

derive a cell candidate list from the ranked plurality of detected neighbour cells.

11. The small cell base station of claim 9 , wherein the signal processor is further configured to select and use operating parameters from the derived cell candidate list.

12. The small cell base station of claim 11 , wherein, in response to detecting that the selected operating parameters from the derived cell candidate list are being used by another small cell, the signal processor is further configured to select a next best candidate cell operating parameters from the derived cell candidate list.

13. The small cell base station of claim 9 , wherein a comparison that results in a detected large negative value indicates that cell as a small cell when the signal processor derives the cell candidate list of candidate operating parameters.

14. A wireless communication system comprising a plurality of macro cell base stations, BTSs, and at least one small cell base station configured to use broadcast information to derive a cell candidate list, the small cell base station comprising:

a transceiver,

a signal processor operably coupled to the transceiver and configured to:

perform a network listen, NWL, scan and identify a broadcast transmission from a plurality of macro cell base station, BTSs;

detect at least one parameter from each broadcast transmission by identifying a Qoffset parameter from decoding a first system information block, SIB, message that provides information about each macro cell BTS's neighbouring macro and small cells to determine neighbour information and network cell reselection parameters, wherein the at least one parameter acts as a signature for small cell neighbours to distinguish small cell neighbours from macro cell neighbours by;

compare the detected at least one Qoffset parameter with a first threshold value; and

identify therefrom whether the at least one Qoffset parameter indicates a macro cell or a small cell when deriving a cell candidate list of candidate operating parameters; and

use the at least one parameter to derive a cell candidate list of candidate operating parameters.