Method and apparatus for handoff in a cellular radio communications system
US6415149B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 24, 1998 |
| Grant date | Jul 2, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 24, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04W36/304
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In a cellular radio communications system, using for example spread-spectrum communication, handoff between signals in different cells or in different sectors of sectored cells can be used to provide diversity reception at a mobile station and at cell sites and so to improve the reliability of data decoding. In sectored cells the diversity between signals in adjacent sectors can be low if the fading of the signals is correlated. The invention thus improves diversity gain by prioritising handoff between sectors or cells providing or expected to provide greater signal diversity over handoff between sectors providing or expected to provide less signal diversity, such as between adjacent sectors in sectored cells. Signals are therefore selected for diversity combining on the basis of both signal strength and signal diversity.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.