Dynamics of path losses between a mobile terminal and multiple base stations in a cellular environment

The purpose of handoff is to support the user by the base station (BS) having the least path loss to the mobile, while at the same time minimize the number of handoffs. A practical handoff algorithm is a trade-off between these two conflicting requirements. In this paper we do not attempt to analyze the performance of a practical algorithm. Instead, we focus on the average number of times per unit distance travelled that a moving mobile must switch BSs in order to always be served by the BS with the least path loss. This is, in fact, the basis for any good handoff algorithm, and could serve as a benchmark for comparison and evaluation of practical algorithms.