Patent ID: 8798005

Claim:
A method of managing radio resources in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: a radio access network (RAN) detecting that a first access terminal served by the RAN in a given coverage area has been receiving a lower throughput level than a second access terminal served by the RAN in the given coverage area, even though the first access terminal has a higher service priority level than the second access terminal, wherein the RAN detecting that the first access terminal served by the RAN in a given coverage area has been receiving a lower throughput level than the second access terminal served by the RAN in the given coverage area comprises the RAN detecting that the first access terminal has been served less often than the second access terminal, wherein detecting that the first access terminal has been served less often than the second access terminal comprises detecting that fewer data packets per unit time have been transmitted to the first access terminal than have been transmitted to the second access terminal, wherein throughput comprises a measure of an amount of data communicated between an access terminal and the RAN per a unit of time; and responsive to the detecting, the RAN causing the first access terminal to hand off from the given coverage area to another coverage area.