Patent ID: 8831607

Claim:
A method for facilitating reverse link communication between a terminal and a non-serving sector in a wireless environment, comprising: transmitting assignment information to a terminal, wherein the assignment information includes a resource allocated to the terminal by a serving sector, and a subcarrier allocated to the terminal is determinable as a function of the assignment information; transmitting the assignment information to a neighboring sector in an active set of the terminal prior to initiation of a handoff of the terminal from the serving sector, wherein the assignment information is configured to enable the neighboring sector to process a reverse link transmission from the terminal based at least in part upon the assignment information while the serving sector continues to serve the terminal, and the neighboring sector identifies the subcarrier allocated to the terminal as a function of the assignment information and detects the reverse link transmission based at least in part upon the identified subcarrier; coordinating processing of the reverse link transmission with the neighboring sector to effectuate load distribution, comprising receiving a notice that the neighboring sector has begun processing of the reverse link transmission, and terminating processing of the reverse link transmission with the serving sector in response to the notice; terminating processing of the reverse link transmission with the serving sector in response to receiving a notification that the neighboring sector successfully completed processing the reverse link transmission with the neighboring sector; and processing the reverse link transmission with the serving sector in response to receiving a notice of failure in processing the reverse link transmission by the neighboring sector.