Method of determining co-location of cell sites and reducing ping-pong effect between cell sites

Abstract

A method for determining the co-location of cell sites includes the steps of acquiring a neighbor cell list (), monitoring the neighbor cell sites for longitude and latitude information (). Te longitude and latitude information is used of calculating the distance and bearings between the serving and neighbor cell sites (and). Neighbor cell sites having similar bearing and distances are grouped together (), if grouped neighbors are in close proximity, the centroid of a polygon formed by the sector vertices is determined () and new latitude and longitude information for the centorid is determined (). The neighbor cell list is then modified to indicate sectored versus omni-directional sites () and the information is then used by the communication device to make better mobility decisions. In another embodiment of the invention, the co-location information is used to minimize ping-pong effect which causes a communication device to be continually being handed back and forth between ell sites.