Methods and systems for improving utilization of traffic channels in a mobile communications network

A method for allocating a communication channel of a first base station from a first mobile station located in a handoff area and having an active communication link with the first base station to a second mobile station requesting handoff, the method comprising:

• (a) estimating the mobility of the first mobile station with respect to the first base station;
• (b) receiving a handoff request from the second mobile station;
• and
• (c) in response to determining that the first mobile station is moving in a direction away from the first base station, converting the communication channel from the first mobile station to the second mobile station.

A method for estimating the mobility of a mobile station with respect to a first base station, the method comprising:

• (a) receiving a signal including an indication of signal strength between the first base station and the mobile station;
• (b) determining whether the signal strength changes over a period of time;
• and
• (c) if the signal strength changes over the period of time, determining that the mobile station is moving in a direction with respect to the first base station.

A method for evaluating performance of a handoff scheme in a mobile communications network, the method comprising:

• (a) modeling calls arriving within a cell as a Poisson process with arrival rate λn;
• (b) modeling handoff call requests arriving within a cell as a Poisson process with arrival rate λh;
• (c) modeling channel holding time using an exponential distribution with mean μc−1;
• (d) generating a stochastic reward net model including a first station representing the normal area of a cell, a second station representing a set of calls without a channel convertible set, a third station representing a set of calls with a channel convertible set, and a fourth station representing a queue for handoff calls;
• (e) applying Markovian analysis to the stochastic reward net to determine a handoff call dropping probability;
• and
• (f) designing mobile communication handoff call resources based on the call handoff call and dropping probability.

A system for allocating communication channels in a mobile communications network, the system comprising:

• (a) a mobility estimator for estimating the relative mobility of mobile stations with respect to a base station;
• (b) a channel convertible set manager for generating a channel convertible set including communication channels for active mobile stations that are determined to be moving away from or stationary with respect to the base station based on mobility estimates generated by the mobility estimator;
• and
• (c) a channel allocator for receiving requests for handoff calls and for allocating channels from the channel convertible set for the handoff calls.