Patent ID: 7668518

Claim:
A wireless communication system that provides wireless service to a mobile unit operating within a service area, the wireless communication system comprising: at least one mobile switching center; at least one base station controller coupled to the at least mobile switching center, wherein the at least one base station controller sets resource allocation priority and produces a carrier loading information request in response to a request-made by the mobile unit; and a plurality of base stations coupled to the at least one base station controller, each of the plurality of base stations operates on a plurality of carriers, at least one candidate base station transceiver of the plurality of base stations receiving the carrier loading information request, determining its carrier loading information based upon available forward link resources and available reverse link resources, and responding with a carrier loading information response; and wherein the at least one base station controller operates to assign the mobile unit to at least one candidate carrier within the one responding candidate base station of the plurality of base stations based upon both set resource allocation priority and received carrier loading information, wherein the at least one base station controller selects the carrier with the highest weighted priority if a corresponding loading information in the received carrier loading information exceeds a corresponding loading threshold by an excess loading, and wherein the weighted priority is inversely proportional to the excess loading, wherein the at least one base station controller selects the carrier with the highest resource allocation priority if the corresponding loading information in the received carrier loading information is less than the corresponding loading.