Patent ID: 8767572

Claim:
In a wireless-communication network comprising an access terminal that is being served by a serving access node, the network further comprising a neighboring access node, a method comprising: the access terminal calculating a delta of (i) a serving distance between the access terminal and the serving access node and (ii) a neighboring distance between the access terminal and the neighboring access node; the access terminal selecting a carrier-to-interference (C/I)-evaluation time period based at least in part on the calculated delta; the access terminal determining an estimated C/I ratio of a signal received from the serving access node based at least in part on one or more C/I measurements taken by the access terminal during the C/I-evaluation time period, and not based on any C/I measurement taken by the access terminal at a time other than during the C/I-evaluation time period; the access terminal selecting a forward-link data rate based at least in part on the estimated C/I ratio; and the access terminal requesting forward-link service from the serving access node at the selected forward-link data rate.