Method and apparatus for handoff control in mobile communications systems

A method, comprising:

• servicing, at a first base station, a first set of connections from a first set of mobile communications devices to a communications network;
• determining backhaul congestion between the first base station and the communications network to provide determined backhaul congestion;
• prioritizing the first set of connections according to predetermined criteria in response to the determined backhaul congestion being greater than a first predetermined threshold level to provide prioritized connections;
• and
• handing off at least one of the prioritized connections to a base station in a set of neighboring base stations until the backhaul congestion is below a predetermined second threshold level.

A base station, comprising:

• circuitry to service a first set of connections from a first set of mobile communications devices to a communications network;
• a memory device to store a list of a set of neighboring base stations;
• and
• a processing device operably coupled to the circuitry and the memory device to detect an amount of backhaul congestion between the base station and the communications network and being configured and arranged to respond to backhaul congestion between the base station and the communications network that exceeds a first predetermined threshold level by prioritizing the first set of connections according to predetermined criteria and handing off at least one prioritized connection to a base station in a set of neighboring base stations until the backhaul congestion is below a predetermined second threshold level.