Patent ID: 9392464
Filing Date: 2016-07-12
CPC Classification: H04W

Claim Text:
1. A method in a user equipment to receive indication of availability of channel, the method comprising: receiving a channel resource information element (CRIE), the CRIE comprising a plurality of broadband cellular identifiers and a plurality of sets of channels, wherein a first broadband cellular identifier of the plurality of broadband cellular identifiers is associated with a first set of channels of the plurality of sets of channels such that the first set of channels are available for use in a coverage area associated with the first broadband cellular identifier, wherein a second broadband cellular identifier of the plurality of broadband cellular identifiers is associated with a second set of channels of the plurality of sets of channels such that the second set of channels are available for use in a coverage area associated with the second broadband cellular identifier, further wherein a new CRIE is provided to the user equipment based on at least one of a detection of a new access node and in response to the user equipment roaming to, or activating in, a coverage area outside of the one or more coverage areas associated with the plurality of broadband cellular identifiers of the CRIE already provided to the user equipment; detecting a broadband cellular identifier associated with a broadband cellular technology, the cellular identifier embedded within at least one signal associated with the cellular technology; and selecting a set of available channels for use by the user equipment based on the received CRIE and the detected broadband cellular identifier, wherein the user equipment's access to the selected set of available channels is verified based on at least one of a radio link failure procedure of the broadband cellular technology, or a handoff procedure of the broadband cellular technology by using a control signal transmitted to the user equipment as part of the radio link failure procedure or handoff procedure as a virtual contact verification signal (VCVS), the VCVS serving as a proxy for a TV White Space (TVWS) contact verification signal (CVS) such that the user equipment can access TVWS spectrum without receiving the TVWS CVS.