Patent ID: 8532052

Claim:
A method for handover of an existing communication link with a mobile station from a serving base station to a target base station, the method comprising: allocating, by the target base station, a random access identifier that uniquely identifies the mobile station in a coverage area of the target base station; obtaining, by the serving base station from the target base station, an indication of the allocated random access identifier; transmitting, by the serving base station to the mobile station over the existing communication link, the indication of the allocated random access identifier; receiving, by the mobile station from the serving base station over the existing communication link, the indication of the allocated random access identifier; transmitting, by the mobile station to the target base station over a random access channel, the allocated random access identifier; receiving, by the target base station from the mobile station over the random access channel, the allocated random access identifier; generating, by the target base station, a feedback message comprising an adjustment based on the receiving of the allocated random access identifier by the target base station; transmitting, by the target base station to the mobile station, the feedback message; receiving, by the mobile station from the target base station, the feedback message; and synchronizing the mobile station with the target base station using the adjustment in association with the handover of the existing communication link.