Patent ID: 7801066

Claim:
A method for transitioning a wide area network (WAN) modem of a mobile communication device between a power saving mode and a scan mode, the power saving mode alternating between an active interval and a sleep interval, the method comprising: transmitting, from the WAN modem while operating in the power saving mode, a scan transition message to a serving base station, the scan transition message indicating the WAN modem will transition to a scan mode at a scan mode start time; maintaining the power save mode after transmitting the scan transition message until the scan mode start time; commencing the scan mode at the scan mode start time, the scan mode alternating between an interleaving interval and a scan interval, the scan interval replacing the sleep interval of the power saving mode, and wherein during each scan interval the WAN modem scans neighbor base stations, the scan mode having a duration; and resuming power saving mode directly upon termination of the duration of the scan mode.