Patent ID: 8837415

Claim:
A method comprising: a radio access network (RAN) receiving from a particular mobile station in a cellular coverage area of the RAN a request for the RAN to assign to the particular mobile station an air interface traffic channel in the cellular coverage area; of a plurality of mobile stations each currently having an assigned air interface traffic channel in the cellular coverage area, the RAN selecting a mobile station based at least in part on a determination that the RAN is transmitting to the mobile station at a minimum forward-link transmission power level, and the RAN determining a spreading code of the air interface traffic channel assigned to the selected mobile station; the RAN selecting a particular spreading code based at least in part on the determined spreading code of the air interface traffic channel assigned to the selected mobile station; and responsive to the request, the RAN assigning to the particular mobile station an air interface traffic channel that uses the selected spreading code.