Patent ID: 8554212

Claim:
A method for a mobile station that is being served by a current sector in a wireless network, comprising: said mobile station measuring a signal from said current sector to obtain at least one signal strength measurement; said mobile station determining a current-sector signal strength based on said at least one signal strength measurement; said mobile station accessing a neighbor list that identifies a plurality of sectors neighboring said current sector, said plurality of sectors including at least a first sector and a second sector; and said mobile station selecting a first scanning frequency for said first sector and a second scanning frequency for said second sector based on at least said current-sector signal strength, said first and second scanning frequencies defining how frequently said mobile station scans for signals from said first and second sectors respectively during a measurement interval, wherein said mobile station selects said first and second scanning frequencies such that said first scanning frequency is higher than said second scanning frequency when said current-sector signal strength is at a high level and said second scanning frequency is higher than said first scanning frequency when said current-sector signal strength is at a low level.