Patent ID: 8355378
Filing Date: 2013-01-15
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: determining one or more cells of a plurality of hierarchical cells based on one or more characteristics associated with a mobile device configured to communicate with a plurality of base stations associated with the plurality of cells via a wireless communications protocol while the mobile device functions within a first cell of a first cell type, wherein at least one of the one or more characteristics is communicated to a first base station, associated with the first cell, via a field of a packet conforming to the wireless communications protocol wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least one of a handoff frequency, a travel speed, a direction of travel, a bandwidth usage, and a current cell type; utilizing the one or more characteristics to identify a second cell of a second cell type to be the target of a handoff procedure prior to performing the handoff procedure, wherein the second cell type is identified prior to the handoff procedure, wherein the one or more characteristics are communicated to a second base station associated with the second cell, wherein the target includes a larger cell in case of a high handoff frequency such that the mobile device is moved to the larger cell, and a smaller cell in case of a low handoff frequency such that the mobile device is moved to the smaller cell; and transferring the mobile device from the first cell of the first cell type to function within the second cell of the second cell type; wherein the second base station is selected from a cell type based on the one or more characteristics; wherein the cell type is communicated as a 4- bit value within a WiMAX compliant message between the second base station and the mobile device; and wherein the WiMAX compliant message comprises a DL_MAP message.