Design and Implementation of the ATM Handoff Subsystem Supporting Soft-Handoffs between Mobile Switching Centers

If the service provider provides mobile service with mobile switching centers that use different handoff message format, the soft-handoff between mobile switching centers is not available and the hard-handoff scheme is used instead. When this occurs, calls are often disconnected or there is an interruption of service. This can be very annoying to a mobile user. We propose the handoff subsystem of the ATM switch which provides the soft-handoff between wireless cells under the control of different MSCs. The proposed handoff subsystem transforms the handoff message format of the source MSC to that of the destination MSC. It also provides efficient routing scheme that distributes handoff packets to balance the traffic load.