Patent ID: 8160024

Claim:
In an access network comprising a plurality of coverage areas, wherein each coverage area is served by one of a plurality of radio network controllers (RNCs), a method comprising: making a determination that an access terminal is located in an inter-RNC boundary zone; and after making the determination that the access terminal is located in the inter-RNC boundary zone, and during a communication session between the access terminal and the access network via a source coverage area of the access network: determining that a handoff of the communication session to a target coverage area should be performed; determining whether or not the target coverage area is served by the same RNC as the source coverage area; if the determination is that the target coverage area is not served by the same RNC as the source coverage area, delaying handoff until a current segment of the communication session is complete, and then handing off the communication session to the target coverage area; and if the determination is that the target coverage area is served by the same RNC as the source coverage area, handing off the communication session to the target coverage area, regardless of whether a current segment of the communication session is complete.