Patent ID: 8340025

Claim:
A method for use in a mobile device configured for wireless communications in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: receiving and decoding, at the mobile device, a plurality of packet data bursts over a packet data channel of a serving cell; while receiving and decoding the packet data bursts over the packet data channel of the serving cell, receiving and decoding, at the mobile device, a plurality of broadcast data bursts over a broadcast control channel of a neighbor cell; when a time overlap exists between at least one of the packet data bursts being communicated over the packet data channel of the serving cell and at least one of the broadcast data bursts being communicated over the broadcast control channel of the neighbor cell: receiving and decoding, at the mobile device, the at least one packet data burst instead of the at least one broadcast data burst based on identifying at the mobile device that the neighbor cell is not a prioritized candidate for a potential upcoming handoff; and receiving and decoding, at the mobile device, the at least one broadcast data burst instead of the at least one packet data burst based on identifying at the mobile device that the neighbor cell is a prioritized candidate for a potential upcoming handoff; wherein the broadcast control channel is defined by a first frequency and time slot combination and the packet data channel is defined by a second frequency and time slot combination.