Patent ID: 8185112

Claim:
A method for managing the receipt of a handover command by a wireless communication device operating in a cellular communication system, which includes one or more wireless communication devices and a network infrastructure including a plurality of base stations that supports wireless communications with the one or more wireless communication devices in a plurality of respective cellular regions, the method comprising: receiving in a wireless communication device a command from the base station of the network infrastructure, which supports wireless communication in a current cellular region, to execute a handover to a base station of the network infrastructure that supports wireless communication in a target cellular region; checking by the wireless communication device, whether the base station of the network infrastructure that supports wireless communication in the target cellular region to which the command is received by the wireless communication device to execute a handover is presently synchronized with the wireless communication device; if the base station of the network infrastructure that supports wireless communication in the target cellular region to which the command is received by the wireless communication device to execute a handover is not presently synchronized with the wireless communication device, determining the elapsed time since the base station of the network infrastructure that supports wireless communication in the target cellular region to which the command is received by the wireless communication device to execute a handover was last synchronized with the wireless communication device; if the base station of the network infrastructure that supports wireless communication in the target cellular region to which the command is received by the wireless communication device to execute a handover is not presently synchronized with the wireless communication device, and the time elapsed since the base station of the network infrastructure that supports wireless communication in the target cellular region to which the command is received by the wireless communication device to execute a handover was last synchronized with the wireless communication device is less than a predetermined minimum lost synchronization time period, then not attempting by the wireless communication device to execute the handover requested as part of the received command.