Resource reservation during handover in a wireless communications system

A serving base station comprising:

• a transceiver configured to transmit signals to and receive signals from a mobile station over an air interface;
• a controller coupled to said transceiver and configured to:
• communicate with a target base station that will serve the mobile station after handover;
• determine whether a handover of the mobile station from the serving base station to the target base station is probable;
• and
• send allocation information to the target base station, wherein the allocation information indicates which time slots are currently allocated for downlink transmission from the serving base station and which time slots are currently allocated for uplink transmission to the serving base station, wherein any given time slot is allocated for either uplink transmission to or downlink transmission from the serving base station, but not both, wherein handover delay between the mobile station and the target base station is predicted using the allocation information, and wherein the controller comprises one or more processors that control the operation of the serving base station according to program instructions stored in memory.

A method of performing handover in a wireless communications system, the method comprising:

• receiving allocation information from a serving base station, the allocation information indicating which time slots are currently allocated for downlink transmission from the serving base station and which time slots are currently allocated for uplink transmission to the serving base station, wherein any given time slot is allocated for either uplink transmission to or downlink transmission from the serving base station, but not both;
• predicting a handover delay for a mobile station undergoing handover from the serving base station to a target base station, based on the allocation information;
• and
• reserving resources at the target base station, for use by the mobile station, based on the predicted handover delay.

A target base station comprising:

• a transceiver to communicate signals with a mobile station undergoing handover from a serving base station;
• a controller configured to:
• receive allocation information from the serving base station, the allocation information indicating which time slots are currently allocated for downlink transmission from the serving base station and which time slots are currently allocated for uplink transmission to the serving base station, wherein any given time slot is allocated for either uplink transmission to or downlink transmission from the serving base station, but not both;
• predict a handover delay between the mobile station and the target base station based on the allocation information;
• and
• reserve resources at the target base station, for use by the mobile station, based on the predicted handover delay, and wherein the controller comprises one or more processors that control the operation of the serving base station according to program instructions stored in memory.