Patent ID: 7181221

Claim:
A method for evaluating the performance of cellular network handoff decisions comprising the steps of: a) creating a reference cellular network description, said reference cellular network description describing: i) a cellular network geometry; ii) a signal propagation description; iii) at least two base stations, each of said at least two base stations having: (1) a location within said cellular network geometry; and (2) a pilot signal having a pilot signal strength; and iv) at least one mobile unit capable of: (1) moving along a trajectory; and (2) sampling said pilot signal strength; and b) creating reduced geometric structures from said reference cellular network description; c) representing a general trajectory for said mobile unit in said reference cellular network description; d) approximating said general trajectory with a piecewise path having a multitude of handoff decision points; e) selecting a handoff mechanism; f) selecting handoff parameters; g) creating a discrete-time formulation characterizing handoff behaviors; and h) calculating at least one handoff performance metric along at least one said handoff decision point.