Patent ID: 7693521

Claim:
A method for determining whether to effect a handoff of a mobile station from a first wireless coverage area to a second wireless coverage area, said first wireless coverage area having a first downlink band, said first downlink band including a first pilot channel and a plurality of additional channels, said second wireless coverage area having a second downlink band, said second downlink band including a second pilot channel and a plurality of additional channels, said method comprising: said mobile station measuring energy per chip of said first pilot channel as a first absolute signal level (E 1 ) of said first pilot channel; said mobile station measuring energy per chip of said second pilot channel as a second absolute signal level (E 2 ) of said second pilot channel; determining a first relative signal level (R 1 ) of said first pilot channel; determining a second relative signal level (R 2 ) of said second pilot channel; and if E 2 exceeds E 1 by at least a first predetermined amount and R 2 exceeds R 1 by at least a second predetermined amount, effecting said handoff of said mobile station from said first wireless coverage area to said second wireless coverage area.