Method for searching network at startup, communication processor and terminal equipment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9693292-B2
Application number	US-201514968008-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 14, 2015
Priority date	Dec 23, 2014
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

A method for searching network at startup, a Communication Processor (CP) and a terminal equipment are provided. The method includes: after the CP is powered on and initialized, determining characteristic information of networks supported by the CP; searching for available networks according to the network characteristic information, and obtaining available network information; and obtaining a network searching instruction transmitted from an Application Processor (AP), and determining a network searching result according to the available network information. The method reduces the time for searching network at startup.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for searching network at startup, which is applied to a Communication Processor (CP) of terminal equipment, comprising:
after the CP is powered on and initialized, determining characteristic information of networks supported by the CP;
searching for available networks according to the network characteristic information, and obtaining available network information; and
obtaining a network searching instruction transmitted from an Application Processor (AP), and determining a network searching result according to the available network information;
wherein determining characteristic information of networks supported by the CP comprises: determining network standards supported by the CP and frequency bands corresponding to the network standards;
wherein the available network information comprises: available frequency points of the frequency bands corresponding to the network standards supported by the CP;
wherein searching for available networks according to the network characteristic information comprises: performing frequency search on the frequency bands corresponding to the network standards supported by the CP, according to a predetermined network standard searching order; and
wherein the network searching result comprises a frequency point searching result of each frequency band, and wherein determining a network searching result according to the available network information comprises:
when obtaining the network searching instruction transmitted from the AP, if there is a frequency band being searched, determining available frequency points, which are obtained by the CP and are corresponding to the frequency band being searched, as a frequency point searching result of the frequency band being searched;
if there is a frequency band being partly searched, combining partial available frequency point information which is obtained by the CP and is corresponding to the frequency band being partly searched, with frequency point information which is prestored in the terminal equipment and is corresponding to the frequency band being partly searched, so as to obtain combined frequency point information; and determining the combined frequency point information as a frequency point searching result of the frequency band being partly searched; and
if there is a frequency band being unsearched, determining frequency point information which is prestored in the terminal equipment and is corresponding to the frequency band being unsearched as a frequency point searching result of the frequency band being unsearched.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: performing network registration according to the network searching result.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein performing network registration according to the network searching result comprises:
for any network standard supported by the CP, performing cell search by using the frequency point searching result of the frequency band being searched and/or the frequency point searching result of the frequency band being partly searched;
if no cell is found and there are unsearched frequency bands and/or frequency bands being partly searched under the network standard, performing frequency search on the unsearched frequency bands and/or the frequency bands being partly searched, so as to perform cell search according to frequency points obtained by the frequency search; and
if no cell is found and there are no unsearched frequency bands and/or frequency bands being partly searched under the network standard, performing cell search under next network standard.

4. A Communication Processor (CP) of a terminal equipment, comprising: a device for searching network at startup, wherein the device for searching network at startup comprises:
a network characteristic determination module adapted for, after the CP is powered on and initialized, determining characteristic information of networks supported by the CP;
a network searching module adapted for searching for available networks according to the network characteristic information, and obtaining available network information; and
a searching result determination module adapted for obtaining a network searching instruction transmitted from an Application Processor (AP), and determining a network searching result according to the available network information;
wherein the network characteristic determination module comprises: a standard and frequency band determination unit adapted for determining network standards supported by the CP and frequency bands corresponding to the network standards;
wherein the available network information comprises: available frequency points of the frequency bands corresponding to the network standards supported by the CP;
wherein the network searching module comprises: a network searching unit adapted for performing frequency search on the frequency bands corresponding to the network standards supported by the CP, according to a predetermined network standard searching order; and
wherein the searching result determination module comprises:
a first result determination unit adapted for, when obtaining the network searching instruction transmitted from the AP, if there is a frequency band being searched, determining available frequency points, which are obtained by the CP and are corresponding to the frequency band being searched, as a frequency point searching result of the frequency band being searched;
a second result determination unit adapted for, if there is a frequency band being partly searched, combining partial available frequency point information which is obtained by the CP and is corresponding to the frequency band being partly searched, with frequency point information which is prestored in the terminal equipment and is corresponding to the frequency band being partly searched, so as to obtain combined frequency point information; and determining the combined frequency point information as a frequency point searching result of the frequency band being partly searched; and
a third result determination unit adapted for, if there is a frequency band being unsearched, determining frequency point information which is prestored in the terminal equipment and is corresponding to the frequency band being unsearched as a frequency point searching result of the frequency band being unsearched.

5. The CP according to claim 4 , wherein the device for searching network at startup further comprises: a network registration module adapted for performing network registration according to the network searching result;
wherein the network registration module comprises:
a cell searching unit adapted for, performing cell search for any network standard supported by the CP, by using the frequency point searching result of the frequency band being searched and/or the frequency point searching result of the frequency band being partly searched;
a continual frequency searching unit adapted for, if no cell is found and there are unsearched frequency bands and/or frequency bands being partly searched under the network standard, performing frequency search on the unsearched frequency bands and/or the frequency bands being partly searched, so as to perform cell search according to frequency points obtained by the frequency search; and
a next-step searching unit adapted for, if no cell is found and there are no unsearched frequency bands and/or frequency bands being partly searched under the network standard, performing cell search under next network standard.

6. A terminal equipment comprising: an Application Processor (AP) and a Communication Processor (CP), wherein the CP comprises:
a network characteristic determination module adapted for, after the CP is powered on and initialized, determining characteristic information of

Assignees

• Spreadtrum Comm Shanghai Co
• Spreadtrum Comm Shanghai Co

Inventors

• Ni Jinjin
• Liu Yi
• Xue Fengting
• Jiang Ping
• Jin Yi
• Zhao Peng
• Wang Shengjian
• Gao Xichun
• Chen Xianliang

Classifications

• H04W48/16 Primary

  Discovering, processing access restriction or access information · CPC title