Patent ID: 8351945

Claim:
A method of associating a mobile station with a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: transmitting, to a serving base station, a scanning request message comprising an association indicator; receiving, from the serving base station, a scanning response message comprising a scan start frame and a scan duration; scanning a neighboring base station by comparing a signal quality of the neighboring base station with a threshold to select the neighboring base station for performing a ranging procedure; transmitting, to the serving base station, an association request message for requesting association with the selected neighboring base station for performing the ranging procedure; receiving, from the serving base station, an association response message comprising a rendezvous time associated with the selected neighboring base station for initiating the ranging procedure, wherein the serving base station transmits an association notification to the selected neighboring base station to set the rendezvous time; associating with the selected neighboring base station by transmitting a ranging request after the rendezvous time has passed, wherein the rendezvous time is associated with a time that the selected neighboring base station is expected to provide a non-contention based ranging opportunity for the mobile station; receiving a ranging response from the selected neighboring base station comprising ranging parameters, an association aging timer parameter, and a service level prediction, wherein the association aging timer parameter indicates how long the ranging parameters are effective; and storing the ranging parameters for a predetermined time according to the association aging timer parameter and the service level prediction, wherein the association request message includes a number indicating a number of neighboring base stations.