NEIGHBOR CELL MONITORING METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DUAL-STANDBY MOBILE TERMINAL

• US 20100124929A1
• Filed: 11/19/2009
• Published: 05/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: LEE, Kwon Yee
• Granted Patent: US 8,462,731 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/436
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A neighbor cell monitoring method and apparatus for a dual-standby mobile terminal is provided to reduce unnecessary power consumption by controlling one of two communication units to operate in an idle state while the other performs neighbor cell monitoring. A neighbor cell monitoring method for multi-standby mobile terminal includes acquiring a neighbor'"'"'s cell information through neighbor cell monitoring by operation of a master unit; performing cell tracking by the master unit and a slave unit independently; executing, when a cell change event is detected by the master unit, the cell change event using the neighbor cell information by the master unit; and transmitting, when a cell change event is detected by the slave unit, from the neighbor cell information from the master unit to the slave unit and executing the cell change event using the neighbor cell information by the slave unit.

Claims

1. A neighbor cell monitoring method for a multi-standby mobile terminal, comprising:

acquiring a neighbor cell information by a master communication unit performing neighbor cell monitoring;

performing cell tracking by both the master communication unit and a slave communication unit independently of each other;

detecting a cell change event by the master communication unit, and executing the cell change event by using the neighbor cell information acquired by the master communication unit; and

detecting the cell change event by the slave communication unit, and transmitting the neighbor cell information from the master communication unit to the slave communication unit, and executing the cell change event using the neighbor cell information transmitted to the slave communication unit.

2. The neighbor cell monitoring method of claim 1, wherein executing the cell change event by the master communication unit by using the neighbor cell information acquired by the master communication unit occurs while maintaining the slave communication unit in an idle state.

3. The neighbor cell monitoring method of claim 1, wherein the cell change event comprises any of a cell selection event, a cell reselection event, and a handover event.

4. The neighbor cell monitoring method of claim 1, wherein executing the cell change by either of the master communication unit or the slave communication unit event comprises:

determining a cell to attach on based on the neighbor cell information; and

camping on the determined cell.

5. A neighbor cell monitoring method for a multi-standby mobile terminal, comprising:

camping on a cell according to a cell change event detected by one of a master communication unit and a slave communication unit;

updating a neighbor cell list based on a neighbor cell information acquired through neighbor cell monitoring performed by the master communication unit;

performing cell tracking by the master communication unit and the slave communication unit independently of each other;

determining, when a cell change event is detected, whether the cell change event is detected by the master communication unit or the slave communication unit;

transferring, when the cell change event is detected by the slave communication unit, the neighbor cell list from the master communication unit to the slave communication unit; and

selecting a cell to which the cell change event is executed based on the neighbor cell list; and

camping on the selected cell by operation of the slave communication unit.

6. The neighbor cell monitoring method of claim 5, further comprising maintaining the slave communication unit in an idle state while the master communication unit performs the neighbor cell monitoring.

7. The neighbor cell monitoring method of claim 5, further comprising when the cell change event is detected by the slave communication unit, reporting the detection of the cell change event by a slave controller of the slave communication unit to a master controller of the master communication unit.

8. The neighbor cell monitoring method of claim 5, further comprising:

selecting a cell to which the cell change event is executed based on the neighbor cell list, when the cell change is detected by the master communication unit; and

camping on the selected cell by operation of the master communication unit.

9. The neighbor cell monitoring method of claim 5, wherein transferring the neighbor cell list comprises:

requesting, at a slave controller of the slave communication unit, a master controller of the master communication unit for the neighbor cell list;

sending, at the master controller, the neighbor cell list to the slave controller via a Dual Port Random Access Memory (DPRAM); and

acquiring, at the slave controller, the neighbor cell list sent via the DPRAM.

10. The neighbor cell monitoring method of claim 5, wherein the cell change event comprises any of a cell selection event, a cell reselection event, and a handover event.

11. The neighbor cell monitoring method of claim 8, wherein the neighbor cell lists used by the master and slave communication units for selecting a cell are identical.

12. A dual-standby mobile terminal having a master communication unit and a slave communication unit, comprising:

a master controller for acquiring neighbor cell information through neighbor cell monitoring, for executing a cell change event based on the neighbor cell information by operation of the master communication unit, when a cell change event is detected by the master communication unit, and for transferring, when the cell change event is detected by the slave communication unit, the neighbor cell information to the slave communication unit; and

a slave controller for reporting, when the cell change event is detected by the slave communication unit, detection of the cell change event to the master controller and for executing the cell change event based on the neighbor cell event by operation of the slave communication unit.

13. The dual-standby mobile terminal of claim 12, wherein the slave communication unit is maintained in an idle state while the master communication unit is performing the neighbor cell monitoring.

14. The dual-standby mobile terminal of claim 13, further comprising a Dual Port Random Access Memory (DPRAM) through which the neighbor cell information is transferred from the master controller to the slave controller.

15. The dual-standby mobile terminal of claim 14, wherein the neighbor cell lists that are used by the master and slave communication units for selecting a cell are identical.

16. The dual-standby mobile terminal of claim 12, wherein the cell change event comprises any of a cell selection event, a cell reselection event, and a handover event.