Improving idle handoff in CDMA mobile systems

In this letter, we have developed an efficient idle handoff technique, starting from field-test results obtained with the method used in present CDMA mobile phones, where the handoff is performed when a new pilot rises over the current one by a predefined constant. Unlike the conventional method, the proposed method decides the handoff based on a variable threshold, the value of which is automatically determined depending on the pilot strength received from the home base. It is shown that the proposed method reduces unnecessary idle handoffs and keeps the mobile tracking the pilot received with sufficient strength.