Patent ID: 8711811

Claim:
A method of searching for a cell having a multi-component carrier in a radio communication system, the method comprising: receiving a signal transmitted by the cell on a carrier frequency having a first predetermined frequency of the multi-component carrier of the cell, wherein the multi-component carrier of the cell comprises at least two component carriers with respective different carrier frequencies that combined provide a single physical communication link of the cell; determining a first cell identity (ID) based on the received signal according to a cell search procedure carried out on received signals at the first predetermined frequency; reading extended synchronization information about multi-component carriers that is broadcast by the cell on the first predetermined frequency, wherein the extended synchronization information includes a second cell ID associated with a second predetermined carrier frequency of the multi-component carrier of the cell; and based on the extended synchronization information, carrying out a cell search procedure on received signals at the second predetermined carrier frequency of the multi-component carrier of the cell in order to determine the cell having the second cell ID.