Idle Handoff Channel Selection in Wireless Sectors
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Solution Overview
Problem
In cellular wireless communication systems, idle mobile stations may take too long to hash onto a new frequency and paging channel when moving to a new sector, potentially missing page messages due to the hashing process.
Innovation Solution
A method where a mobile station selects a target sector with the same number of channels as the current sector to minimize or avoid hashing, allowing it to directly monitor the same paging channel used in the source sector, thereby reducing the likelihood of missing page messages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If a mobile station uses a hashing algorithm to determine which paging channel to monitor in a new sector, then the mobile station can systematically select a channel, but the mobile station experiences delay in beginning to monitor the channel and may miss page messages
Solution Approach 1:
The base station pre-calculates and provides the mobile station with the target paging channel identity before the mobile station actually needs to monitor it. This preliminary provision of information eliminates the hashing delay, as the mobile station receives the channel assignment in advance and can immediately begin monitoring without computational delay.
2Reliability
If a mobile station monitors all paging channels in a sector, then the mobile station will not miss any page messages, but the mobile station consumes excessive power and processing resources
Solution Approach 1:
The system assigns different mobile stations to different paging channels within the same sector based on their identifiers. Each mobile station monitors only its specifically assigned channel rather than all channels, creating a differentiated local monitoring strategy that reduces overall system power consumption while maintaining complete coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of paging channel assignment from a static all-channels-monitoring approach to a dynamic identifier-based assignment. By using the mobile station's identifier as a key to determine channel assignment, the system efficiently distributes monitoring load across multiple channels, reducing individual mobile station power consumption while maintaining system-wide reliability.
3Productivity
If multiple paging channels are used in a sector, then the system can support more mobile stations efficiently, but the complexity of determining which channel to use increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the mobile station's identifier as a parameter to determine paging channel assignment. This simple parameter-based approach allows the system to support multiple mobile stations across multiple channels without increasing complexity, as each station independently determines its channel by applying the hashing function to its own identifier.
Solution Approach 2:
Each mobile station independently determines its own paging channel assignment by applying the hashing algorithm to its identifier, without requiring complex centralized control or manual configuration. This self-service approach scales efficiently to support many mobile stations while keeping individual device complexity low.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for improved idle handoff a mobile station in a wireless communication system. While idling in a particular sector of the system, the mobile station will select a target sector based on a determination that the target sector has the same number of channels as the current sector, such as the same number of paging channels and perhaps the same number of frequency channels as the current sector. The mobile station will then engage in an idle handoff from the current sector to the selected target sector. By striving to hand off to a sector that has the same number of channels, particularly the same number of paging channels, the mobile station may avoid having to hash onto a channel in the target sector and may thereby minimize the likelihood of missing a page message sent while the mobile station was busy hashing onto the channel.