Patent ID: 8358624

Claim:
A method for selecting coverage areas as candidates for a bidirectional handoff, the method comprising: a mobile station engaging in a communication session via an access network, wherein an uplink connection is provided for uplink traffic in the communication session and a downlink connection is provided for downlink traffic in the communication session; the mobile station receiving a list of coverage areas that are general candidates for a bi-directional handoff, wherein the list of general handoff candidates is received from the access network; the mobile station determining an uplink-resource demand and a downlink-resource demand of the mobile station, for the communication session; the mobile station using the uplink-resource demand as a basis for selecting one or more coverage areas from the list of general handoff candidates as candidates for an uplink handoff of the uplink connection; and the mobile station using the downlink-resource demand as a basis for selecting one or more coverage areas from the list of general handoff candidates as candidates for a downlink handoff of the downlink connection; and the mobile station sending a message to the access network that identifies the one or more candidates for the uplink handoff and the one or more candidates for the downlink handoff.