Method and apparatus for handover between IEEE 802.16e and 802.16m systems

A method for handover in a wireless network supporting both IEEE 802.16e zone and IEEE 802.16m zone, the method comprising:

• indicating IEEE 802.16e and IEEE 802.16m coexistence capability to a mobile station by a target base station by broadcasting a Frame Control Header (FCH), wherein the coexistence capability is indicated by a reserved bit in the FCH, wherein the mobile station is served by an IEEE 802.16e-only serving base station or by an IEEE 802.16e zone of an IEEE 802.16e/16m-coexistence serving base station, and wherein the target base station comprises an IEEE 802.16e module and an IEEE 802.16m module and broadcasts IEEE 802.16m Superframe Header (SFH) information of an IEEE 802.16m zone of the target base station;
• performing an IEEE 802.16e handover procedure to handover the mobile station from the serving base station to an IEEE 802.16e zone of the target base station;
• and
• performing a zone-switch procedure to switch the mobile station from the IEEE 802.16e zone of the target base station to the IEEE 802.16m zone of the same target base station.

A method for handover in a wireless network, the method comprising:

• scanning neighboring cells by a mobile station, wherein the mobile station is served by an IEEE 802.16e-only serving base station or by an IEEE 802.16e zone of an IEEE 802.16e/16m-coexistence serving base station;
• obtaining IEEE 802.16m superframe header (SFH) information of an IEEE 802.16m zone of a target base station, wherein the mobile station is indicated with IEEE 802.16e and IEEE 802.16m coexistence capability of the target base station by reading a reserved bit in a Frame Control Header (FCH) during the scanning;
• and
• performing an IEEE 802.16m handover procedure such that the mobile station handovers from the serving base station to an IEEE 802.16m zone of the target base station directly.

A method for handover in a wireless network, the method comprising:

• indicating IEEE 802.16e and IEEE 802.16m coexistence capability to a mobile station by a target base station by broadcasting a Frame Control Header (FCH), wherein the coexistence capability is indicated by a reserved bit in the FCH;
• broadcasting IEEE 802.16m Superframe Header (SFH) information of an IEEE 802.16m zone of the target base station to the mobile station served by an IEEE 802.16e-only serving base station or by an IEEE 802.16e zone of an IEEE 802.16e/16m-coexistence serving base station, wherein the target base station comprises an IEEE 802.16e module and an IEEE 802.16m module;
• and
• performing an IEEE 802.16m handover procedure upon detecting a direct-switch condition to handover the mobile station from the serving base station to an IEEE 802.16m zone of the target base station directly.