Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim
199 words
A method of completing an intra-cell call hand-over from a current traffic channel used between a base station and a subscriber terminal to a standby traffic channel, comprising the steps of: selecting, from a plurality of traffic channels available for service, standby traffic channels determined to be useable at the base station; sending a message, to the subscriber terminal, along an inband signalling channel linking the base station and the subscriber terminal, the message being indicative of a list of standby traffic channels determined to be useable at the base station; receiving the message at the subscriber terminal; selecting, from the list of standby traffic channels indicated in the message, standby traffic channels determined to be useable at the subscriber terminal; forwarding a response message, to the base station, along the inband signalling channel, the response message being indicative of which standby traffic channels were determined to be useable at the subscriber terminal; monitoring the signal quality on the current traffic channel; sending a request for a new traffic channel if the signal quality on the current traffic channel deteriorates to an unacceptable level; and switching the base station and the subscriber terminal to a selected standby traffic channel.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
69 words
A method as defined in claim 1, wherein said standby traffic channels are selected from the plurality of traffic channels available for service by: scanning, at the base station, each traffic channel in said plurality of traffic channels; detecting the power level on a scanned traffic channel; and identifying the scanned traffic channel as a useable standby traffic channel if the power level is below a first predetermined threshold.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
42 words
A method as defined in claim 2, wherein additional standby traffic channels are selected from the plurality of traffic channels available for service if an inadequate number of standby traffic channels were found to have power levels below the first predetermined threshold.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method as defined in claim 3, wherein if additional standby traffic channels are selected, traffic channels having the lowest interference level above the threshold will be selected.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method as defined in claim 4, wherein if any remaining standby traffic channel have an excessive level of interference considered to offer inadequate communication between the base station and the subscriber terminal, they will be excluded from the selection.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method as defined in claim 2, wherein said message is sent to the subscriber terminal by: storing those standby traffic channels identified as being useable standby traffic channels at the base station; and forwarding to the subscriber terminal a list of stored standby traffic channels.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
59 words
A method as defined in claim 6, wherein standby traffic channels on the list are determined to be useable at the subscriber terminal by: scanning each standby traffic channel identified on the list; detecting the power level on the standby traffic channel; selecting the standby traffic channel with the lowest power level; and storing the selected standby traffic channel.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
63 words
A method as defined in claim 6, wherein standby traffic channels on the list are determined to be useable at the subscriber terminal by: scanning each standby traffic channel identified on the list; detecting the power level on the standby traffic channel; selecting the first standby traffic channel having a power level below a second threshold; and storing the selected standby traffic channel.