Patent ID: 8660563

Claim:
A handover method of a wireless communication system using a hierarchical cellular scheme, the method comprising: determining whether to start scanning for a handover using a signal quality of a serving node; when the scanning for the handover starts, measuring signal qualities of one or more neighbor nodes, and measuring signal qualities of one or more neighbor macro cells through a first preamble comprising a first identifier for distinguishing a macro cell; and selecting between an intra-cell handover and an inter-cell handover using the signal qualities of the serving node, the one or more neighbor nodes, and the one or more neighbor macro cells, wherein the serving node is one of a serving macro cell and a serving small cell, wherein the one or more neighbor nodes include one or more small cells associated with the serving macro cell when the serving node is the serving macro cell, wherein the one or more neighbor nodes include the serving macro cell associated with the serving small cell and one or more neighbor small cells included in the serving macro cell when the serving node is the serving small cell, wherein the serving small cell and the neighbor small cell are distinguished by a second preamble comprising a second identifier, wherein the first preamble and the second preamble are included in a third preamble.