Forward link handoff distribution with correlated lognormal fading

The outage and handoff probabilities for the reverse link of wireless communication systems have been extensively studied (A.J. Viterbi et al., Oct. 1994) (Yu-Wen Chang and E. Geraniotis, 1996). But there are no similar studies on the forward link. We establish an analytical model to study the effects of handoff threshold and path loss margin on the outage. The effects of channel propagation statistics and signal correlation are also addressed. The simulation results show how the soft handoff region and outage probability can be adjusted by varying the path loss margin and handoff threshold. Furthermore, the path loss margin of the forward link is compared to that of the reverse link.