Handoff monitoring in cellular communication network using slow frequency hopping

摘要

Methods for handoff in a wireless communication network including a local area network connected to a plurality of base stations, each of which has a geographic area, defined as a cell, within which mobile stations can communicate with a base station, with each such base station being capable of performing bidirectional wireless communication with one or more of said mobile stations under control of a controller, with communication between base stations and mobile stations being performed by frequency hopping, with there being n available frequency hopping channels in a fixed frequency band, with each channel being of a same fixed duration and having a fixed frequency different than another channel. The handoff method employs structure and techniques for determining by a mobile station that the quality of transmission between itself and a current base station has degraded below a predetermined performance level, structure and technique for the mobile station to listen to each of successive frequency channels for a duration substantially less than the fixed duration of a channel until it senses a transmission from another base station, and structure and techniques for transferring control of the mobile station to another base station in response to the sensed transmission.