Provisioning femtocell deployment information

1. A method for utilizing cell information provisioned to a mobile device, comprising:

obtaining cell information that includes network information, deployment information and cell characteristic information of one or more cells within at least one network, wherein the cell information further provides mappings between the network information, the deployment information, and the cell characteristic information;

retaining the cell information in a memory;

employing the cell information to facilitate discovery of cell characteristics associated with at least one detected cell;

determining an identity of one of the at least one network; and

querying, according to the identity of the at least one network and independent of the deployment information, to obtain deployment information of the one network and of the cell characteristics associated with the cells in the one network.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining location information associated with the mobile device, wherein the location information indicates a geographical location of the mobile device; and

querying the cell information with the location information to obtain deployment information and cell characteristic information associated with cells in proximity to the geographical location indicated by the location information.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising analyzing a signal transmitted by a base station to determine one or more properties of the base station, wherein the one or more properties include at least one of a frequency employed by the base station, a pseudo-random noise offset employed by the base station or a scrambling code employed by the base station.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

comparing the one or more properties with deployment information included in the cell information; and

identifying cell characteristics of the base station based upon cell characteristic information included in the cell information mapped to deployment information matching the one or more properties.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising attempting acquisition of the at least one detected cell when the cell characteristics of the at least one detected cell indicate improved service capabilities, wherein acquisition comprises at least one of an initial cell selection or an initiation of a handoff.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising disregarding strong signals received from the at least one detected cell based upon discovered cell characteristics.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network information specifies at least one of a system identification number, a network identification number, a mobile country code, a mobile network code, a public land mobile network, or a location area.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the deployment information specifies at least one of a pseudorandom noise offset, a scrambling code, a synchronization code, a physical cell identity, a band class, a channel number, or a frequency.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cell characteristic information specifies at least one of a coverage area of a cell, a transmit power of a cell, whether a cell has an open or closed association, or whether a cell is one of a femtocell or macrocell.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the cell information comprises receiving the deployment information via a provisioning mechanism.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the provisioning mechanism comprises an over-the-air provisioning mechanism.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the provisioning mechanism comprises a download of cell information via an internet protocol network.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the provisioning mechanism comprises a computer-readable storage medium that retains the cell information.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the cell information comprises receiving the cell information over at least one of a control channel or a broadcast channel.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting a cell not included in the cell information; and

adding at least one of network information, deployment information, or cell characteristic information associated with the cell to the cell information.

16. An apparatus, comprising:

a receive module that acquires cell information, wherein the cell information includes network information, deployment information and cell characteristic information of one or more cells within at least one network, wherein the cell information further provides mappings between the network information, the deployment information, and the cell characteristic information;

a cell evaluation module that utilizes the cell information to facilitate discovery of cell characteristics associated with the one or more cells based at least in part on characteristics of received signals from the one or more cells, the cell evaluation module correlates characteristics of received signals to network information, deployment information and cell characteristic information specified in the cell information;

a network identification module that determines an identity of one of the at least one network;

a pilot information module that evaluates received signals from one or more base stations to determine characteristics, the characteristics include at least one of a frequency band, a pseudorandom noise offset, or a synchronization code; and

a lookup module that filters the cell information by the identity of the at least one network and independent of the deployment information.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , further comprising an intelligence module that supplements the cell information upon identification of a base station not included in the cell information.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 , further comprising a location module that determines location information associated with the apparatus, wherein the location information is employed to filter the cell information to identify cells in proximity to a location specified by the location information.

19. A wireless communication apparatus, comprising:

means for obtaining cell information that includes network information, deployment information and cell characteristic information of one or more cells within at least one network, wherein the cell information further provides mappings between the network information, the deployment information, and the cell characteristic information;

means for storing the cell information;

means for employing the cell information to identify cell characteristics associated with at least one detected cell;

means for determining an identity of one of the at least one network; and

means for querying, according to the identity of the at least one network and independent of the deployment information, to obtain deployment information of the one network and of the cell characteristics associated with the cells in the one network.

20. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising:

means for determining location information associated with a mobile device, wherein the location information indicates a geographical location of the mobile device; and

means for querying the cell information with the location information to obtain deployment information and cell characteristic information associated with cells in proximity to the geographical location indicated by the location information.

21. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising means for analyzing a signal transmitted by a base station to determine one or more properties of the base station, wherein the one or more properties include at least one of a frequency employed by the base station, a pseudo-random noise offset employed by the base station or a scrambling code employed by the base station.

22. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 21 , further comprising:

means for comparing the one or more properties with deployment information included in the cell information; and

means for identifying cell characteristics of the base station based upon cell characteristic information included in the cell information mapped to deployment information matching the one or more properties.

23. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising means for attempting acquisition of the at least one detected cell when the cell characteristics of the at least one detected cell indicate improved service capabilities, wherein acquisition comprises at least one of an initial cell selection or an initiation of a handoff.

24. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising means for disregarding strong signals received from the at least one detected cell based upon discovered cell characteristics.

25. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the network information specifies at least one of a system identification number, a network identification number, a mobile country code, a mobile network code, a public land mobile network, or a location area.

26. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the deployment information specifies at least one of a pseudorandom noise offset, a scrambling code, a synchronization code, a physical cell identity, a band class; a channel number, or a frequency.

27. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the cell characteristic information specifies at least one of a coverage area of a cell, a transmit power of a cell, whether a cell has an open or closed association, or whether a cell is one of a femtocell or macrocell.

28. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the means for obtaining the cell information comprises means for receiving the deployment information via a provisioning mechanism.

29. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 28 , wherein the provisioning mechanism comprises an over-the-air provisioning mechanism.

30. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 28 , wherein the provisioning mechanism comprises a download of cell information via an internet protocol network.

31. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 28 , wherein the provisioning mechanism comprises a computer-readable storage medium that retains the cell information.

32. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the means for obtaining the cell information comprises means for receiving the cell information over at least one of a control channel or a broadcast channel.

33. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising:

means for detecting a cell not included in the cell information; and

means for adding at least one of network information, deployment information, or cell characteristic information associated with the cell to the cell information.

34. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising:

code for causing at least one computer to acquire cell information from at least one base station via over-the-air provisioning, wherein the cell information includes network information, deployment information and cell characteristic information of one or more cells within at least one network, wherein the cell information further provides mappings between the network information, the deployment information, and the cell characteristic information;

code for causing at least one computer to retain the cell information;

code for causing at least one computer to analyze a signal from a base station to determine one or more properties of the base station;

code for causing at least one computer to: correlate the one or more properties of the base station with the cell information to identify cell characteristics associated with the base station;

code for causing at least one computer to determine an identity of one of the at least one network; and

code for causing at least one computer to correlate the one or more properties of the base station with the cell information based at least in part on the identity of the one network and independent of the deployment information.

35. The computer program product of claim 34 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises:

code for causing at least one computer to determine location information associated with a mobile device; and

code for causing at least one computer to correlate the one or more properties of the base station with the cell information based at least in part on the location information.

36. The computer program product of claim 34 , wherein the network information specifies at least one of a system identification number, a network identification number, a mobile country code, a mobile network code, a public land mobile network, or a location area.

37. The computer program product of claim 34 , wherein the deployment information specifies at least one of a pseudorandom noise offset, a scrambling code, a synchronization code, a physical cell identity, a band class, a channel number, or a frequency.

38. The computer program product of claim 34 , wherein the cell characteristic information specifies at least one of a coverage area of a cell, a transmit power of a cell, whether a cell has an open or closed association, or whether a cell is one of a femtocell or macrocell.

39. A wireless communication apparatus, comprising:

a processor configured to:

obtain cell information includes network information, deployment information and cell characteristic information of one or more cells within at least one network, wherein the cell information further provides mappings between the network information, the deployment information;

store the cell information in a memory;

utilize the cell information to discover cell characteristics associated with at least one detected cell;

determine an identity of one of the at least one network; and

query, according to the identity of the at least one network and independent of the deployment information, to obtain deployment information of the one network and of the cell characteristics of one or more cells associated with the one network.

40. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 39 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine location information associated with a mobile device; and

query the cell information with the location information to obtain deployment information and cell characteristics of one or more cells in proximity to a location specified by the location information.

41. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 39 , wherein the network information specifies at least one of a system identification number, a network identification number, a mobile country code, a mobile network code, a public land mobile network, or a location area.

42. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 39 , wherein the deployment information specifies at least one of a pseudorandom noise offset, a scrambling code, a synchronization code, a physical cell identity, a band class, a channel number, or a frequency.

43. The wireless communication apparatus of claim 39 , wherein the cell characteristic information specifies at least one of a coverage area of a cell, a transmit power of a cell, whether a cell has an open or closed association, or whether a cell is one of a femtocell or macrocell.