Patent ID: 8335503

Claim:
A method of operating a femtocell on a premises of a customer of a mobile network service provider operating a public macro mobile communication network, wherein the femtocell is configured to be able to broadcast a pilot beacon signal on each of a plurality of carrier frequencies used for pilot channels by base stations of a region of the public macro mobile communication network including the customer premises, the method comprising steps of: automatically detecting a mobile station identifier associated with each respective one of one or more mobile stations from a signal communicated over-the-air by the respective one of the one or more mobile stations; maintaining a record of the one or more detected mobile station identifiers, in storage in the femtocell, for identifying each of the one or more mobile stations associated with a respective stored mobile station identifier as a mobile station expected to utilize the femtocell; and prioritizing a sequence of hopping through said carrier frequencies for transmission of pilot beacon signals by the femtocell, based on the identification of the one or more mobile stations expected to utilize the femtocell and on a time of day or a time of week.