Network identifiers used for control information are typically correlated in time. This correlation in time may be leveraged to reduce the control space searched, and thus the number of blind decodes performed by a UE during blind decoding of neighbor cell control information. An apparatus that exploits this correlation in time decodes a control channel transmitted by a neighbor cell to obtain a current network identifier used to perform an operation on the control channel transmission, compares the current network identifier with a set of network identifiers obtained from previously decoded control channels transmitted from the neighbor cell, and determines if the decoded control channel is valid based at least in part on the comparison. The set of network identifiers may be a list of network identifiers, or a range of network identifiers. The set of network identifiers may further include aggregation level information and frequency of occurrence information.