METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND DEVICES FOR IDENTIFYING AN AERIAL BASE STATION IN MOBILE NETWORKS

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, obtaining a first extended cell global identifier (ECGI) of an aerial base station (ABS), determining a location of the ABS, and determining that a terrestrial base station (TBS) is within a distance threshold of the location of the ABS. Further embodiments include providing the first ECGI of the ABS to the TBS, and providing instructions to the TBS to obtain an ECGI from each terrestrial communication device (TCD) communicatively coupled to the TBS. Each of the TCDs obtain the ECGI for each neighboring base station. The TCDs provide the ECGIs to the TBS. Additional embodiments include configuring a neighboring list with the ECGIs of the neighboring base stations, and providing instructions to the TBS to identify as high priority a second ECGI of the ABS within the neighboring list based on the first ECGI of the ABS. Other embodiments are disclosed.