Patent · US Expired

Inter-system soft handoff

US6002933A · kind A · utility

32Cited by
44References
14Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 29, 1997
Grant dateDec 14, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 29, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04W36/18
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for operating a cellular telephone system that supports performing an inter-system soft handoff is described. A subscriber unit generates a pilot strength measurement report when the pilot channel from a base station is detected. When a base station controller receiving the pilot strength measurement report determines that the base station is part of a second cellular telephone system, a inter-system soft handoff request is generated. An admission control subsystem receives the inter-system soft handoff and either grants or denies the request base on the traffic level with the second cellular telephone system. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the traffic level is determined based on link load messages received periodically by the admission control subsystem that are generated by an interface port coupled to an interconnect between the first cellular telephone system and the second cellular telephone system. The link load message include peak queue length and average frame rate information.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.