Patent ID: 7561556

Claim:
A method of assigning a public long code mask (PLCM) to a mobile terminal in a mobile communications network, the method comprising: transmitting a message to the mobile terminal, when the mobile terminal is handed off, wherein the message comprises a first value which is to be set to either a first logic level or a second logic level, and a third value indicating a first least significant bits of the PLCM to be used by the mobile terminal, wherein the message further comprises a second value indicating a PLCM type to construct the PLCM if the first value is set to the first logic level, and wherein a base station sets the first value to the first logic level when the mobile terminal is to change the PLCM of the mobile terminal, and the base station sets the first value to the second logic level when the mobile terminal is not to change the PLCM of the mobile terminal.