MAHO

One of the unique features associated with TDMA is the capability for a
mobile assisted hand-off (MAHO).The MAHO process enables the mobile to
constantly report back to the cell site, indicating its present condition in the
network. The cell site is also collecting data on the mobile through the
reverse link measurements, but the forward link, base to mobile, is being
evaluated by the mobile itself, therefore providing critical information
about the status of the call.

For the MAHO process, the mobile measures the received signal strength
level (RSSI) received from the cell site. The mobile also performs a bit error
rate (BER) test and a frame error rate (FER) test as another performance
metric.

The mobile also measures the signals from a maximum of six potential
digital hand-off candidates, utilizing either a dedicated control channel or a
beacon channel. The channels utilized by the mobile for the MAHO process
are provided by the serving cell site for the call. The dedicated control channel
is either the primary or secondary control channel and the measurements
are performed on the forward link. The mobile can also utilize a
beacon channel for the performance measurement. The beacon channel is either a TDMA voice channel or it is an analog channel, both of which are
transmitting continuously with no dynamic power control on the forward
link. The beacon channel is utilized when the setup or control channel for
the cell site has an omni configuration and not a dedicated setup channel
per sector.