Method and apparatus for mobile station-assisted load balancing in wireless packet data networks

A method of controlling sector congestion in a wireless communication network comprising:

• sharing sector loading information among a given set of radio sectors that are candidates for providing high-speed packet data service to a given mobile station;
• and
• accepting or rejecting a serving sector selection request by the mobile station targeting a particular one in the set of sectors based on evaluating the sector loading information.

A congestion control circuit for use in a wireless communication network providing high-speed packet data service to mobile stations on a per-radio sector basis, the congestion control circuit configured to manage radio sector congestion by:

• evaluating sector loading information and signal quality information for a set of sectors responsive to a sector-selection request from the mobile station targeting one of the sectors in the set as a new serving sector for supporting high-speed packet data service, said set of sectors comprising candidate sectors for providing high-speed packet data service to a mobile station, and said signal quality information comprising per-sector received signal quality measurements made by the mobile station for the set of sectors;
• and
• accepting or rejecting the sector-selection request based on evaluating the shared sector loading information and signal quality information.

A radio base station for use in a wireless communication network, said radio base station providing a radio sector providing a high-speed packet data channel and comprising a congestion control circuit configured to accept or reject a sector-selection requests by mobile stations desiring service on the high-speed packet data channel based on evaluating sector loading information for that radio sector and one or more other radio sectors in a set of radio sectors that are candidates for providing high-speed packet data channel service to the mobile station.