Patent ID: 8254330

Claim:
In a mobile station served by a wireless communication system, wherein the mobile station is operating in idle mode, and wherein the mobile station is under coverage of a first coverage area of the wireless communication system and a second coverage area of the wireless communication system, a method comprising: receiving overhead channel data for the first coverage area; detecting a trigger to initiate connectivity with the wireless communication system; responsive to detecting the trigger, determining an amount of time until the mobile station will receive overhead channel data for the second coverage area, wherein the wireless communication system provides the overhead channel data for the first and second coverage areas on a common synchronized periodic schedule, wherein determining the amount of time until the mobile station will receive overhead channel data for the second coverage area comprises (i) determining a time t 0 when the mobile station most recently received overhead channel data for the first coverage area, (ii) based on the common synchronized periodic schedule and based on time t 0 , determining a next time t 1 when the mobile station will receive overhead channel data for the second coverage area, and (iii) determining, as the amount of time until the mobile station will receive overhead channel data for the second coverage area, a difference between time t 1 and a current time; making a determination of whether the determined amount of time is greater than a threshold, wherein the common synchronized periodic schedule defines a period of time between each transmission of overhead channel data, wherein the threshold is a predefined threshold that is a percentage of the period of time; if the determination is that the determined amount of time is greater than the threshold, then seeking the connectivity via the first coverage area; and if the determination is that the determined amount of time is not greater than the threshold, then seeking the connectivity via the second coverage area.