METHOD FOR HANDOVER AT USER EQUIPMENT AND USER EQUIPMENT CONFIGURED TO HANDOVER

1 . A method for handover at user equipment, comprising:

decoding an information block from at least one of one or more target base stations before receiving a handover command indicating to handover to a first target base station; and

connecting to the first target base station using the decoded information block.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the decoding performs slot and frame timing synchronization with signals received from each of the one or more target base stations.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the decoding includes,

identifying slot timing and radio frame timing from primary synchronization signals and secondary synchronization signals being transmitted by the at least one of the one or more target base stations; and

decoding the information block from the at least one of the one or more target base stations using the slot timing and radio frame timing.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining the at least one of the one or more target base stations from one or more neighboring base stations.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the determining further comprises:

measuring a signal strength of each of the one or more neighboring base stations;

sorting the one or more neighboring base stations based on the measured signal strengths; and

selecting n neighboring base stations as the at least one of the one or more target base stations, the n target base stations having the n strongest measured signal strengths, where n is a natural number.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the determining further comprises:

measuring the signal strength of each of the one or more neighboring base stations;

sorting the one or more neighboring base stations based on the measured signal strengths; and

selecting neighboring base stations with signal strength above a threshold as the at least one of the one or more target base stations.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending a request for handover; and

receiving a handover command indicating the first target base station with which to connect.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

disconnecting from a source base station prior to connecting to the first target base station.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

disconnecting from a source base station after connecting to the first target base station.

10 . User equipment configured to,

decode an information block from at least one of one or more target base stations before receiving a handover command indicating to handover to a first target base station, and

connect to the first target base station using the decoded information block.

11 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the user equipment is configured to perform slot and frame timing synchronization with received signals from each of the one or more target base stations.

12 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the user equipment is configured to (1) identify slot timing and radio frame timing from primary synchronization signals and secondary synchronization signals being transmitted by the at least one of the one or more target base stations and (2) decode the information block from the at least one of the one or more target base stations using the slot timing and radio frame timing.

13 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the user equipment is configured to determine the at least one target base station from one or more neighboring base stations.

14 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the user equipment is further configured to measure a signal strength of each of the one or more neighboring base stations, sort the one or more neighboring base stations based on the measured signal strengths and select n neighboring base stations as the at least one target base station, the n target base stations having the n strongest measured signal strengths, where n is a natural number.

15 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the user equipment is further configured to measure a signal strength of each of the one or more neighboring base stations, sort the one or more neighboring base stations based on the measured signal strengths and select neighboring base stations with signal strength above a threshold as the at least one target base station.

16 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the user equipment is configured to send a request for handover and receive a handover command indicating the first target base station with which to connect.

17 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the user equipment is configured to disconnect from a source base station prior to connecting to the first target base station.

18 . The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein the user equipment is configured to disconnect from a source base station after connecting to the first target base station.