Method of prioritizing handoff procedures in a cellular system
AssigneeAT&T Corp.
InventorsPrathima Agrawal, Dinesh K. Anvekar, Balakrishnan Narendran
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Abstract
A method of prioritizing handoff requests in a cellular system is disclosed in which at least one handoff request for assignment of a communication channel is received from at least one mobile unit. A cutoff time for the handoff request is determined. The handoff requests are arranged in a priority queue based on the cutoff time associated with each handoff request. Available communication channels are assigned to the mobile units requesting handoff in the order of the queue.
Claims9
A method of prioritizing handoff requests in a cellular system comprising the steps of:
- receiving a plurality of handoff requests for assignment of communication channels from a plurality of mobile units which are projected to enter a second cell;
- determining a projected cutoff time for each such handoff request, each projected cutoff time representing an estimate of a time at which the mobile unit corresponding to the associated handoff request will exit a handoff region formed by a first cell and the second cell;
- arranging the handoff requests in a priority queue based on the cutoff time associated with each handoff request such that the request with the shortest cutoff time is given first priority in the queue;
- and
- assigning available communication channels to the mobile units requesting handoff requests in the order of the queue.
A method of prioritizing handoff requests in a cellular system comprising the steps of:
- receiving a plurality of requests for assignment of a communication channel from a plurality of mobile units located in a handoff region formed by a first cell and a second cell;
- periodically sampling the power level transmitted by a base station located in the first cell to each mobile unit requesting a channel assignment;
- determining the rate of change between a power level currently sampled and a power level previously sampled;
- and
- determining the cutoff time at which each mobile unit will exit the handoff region by calculating a ratio of the power level currently sampled to the rate of change of power level;
- arranging the channel assignment requests in a priority queue based on the cutoff time such that the request having the shortest cutoff time is given first priority in the queue;
- and
- assigning available communication channels to the mobile units requesting handoff in the order of the queue.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.