Patent ID: 6216003
Filing Date: 2001-04-10
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
A method of handover control, in a mobile radio communication system in which a service area for supporting a communication with respect to a mobile station is formed by a plurality of radio zones in which a plurality of respective base stations are provided, for controlling a handover in which a mobile station moves from a currently located radio zone to a neighboring radio zone, the method comprising the steps of:(a) recognizing at the mobile station a movement from a non-overlapping area of the currently located radio zone and the neighboring radio zone to an overlapping area of the currently located radio zone and the neighboring radio zone within the currently located radio zone, and notifying of the movement to a network side by the mobile station;(b) setting up only a new communication channel between a handover target base station that constitutes the overlapping area and an exchange station for controlling the handover target base station, without setting up a new radio channel between the handover target base station and the mobile station, while continuing the communication by not releasing an original communication channel between a currently located base station and the exchange station and an original radio channel between the currently located base station and the mobile station, at the network side, upon receiving a notification of the movement from the mobile station; and(c) notifying of a request for switching a radio channel from the original radio channel to the new radio channel, directly from the mobile station to the handover target base station without utilizing a transmission via the currently located base station, when the request occurs at the mobile station and while the mobile station is located in the overlapping area.