Method of performing handover by using different handover parameters for different traffic and user classes in a communication network

1. A method for performing handover in a communication network, wherein

communication with a subscriber terminal (UE) having subscribed to said network is performed by the intermediate of at least one network entity (Node — B) handling the communication of said subscriber terminal,

upon a change of a communication state for said subscriber terminal within said network, which fulfills a predetermined handover trigger condition, a handover procedure is performed under control of a control entity (RNC) of the communication network,

a handover procedure is defined by a handover signaling scenario (HO, HHO, SHO, SSTD) and at least one set of handover parameters per signaling scenario,

the handover parameters define a respective handover trigger condition,

a communication with a subscriber terminal belongs to a specific one of a plurality of traffic classes, and

wherein at least one user class is defined per traffic class,

the method comprising the steps of

configuring a set of handover parameters and a handover signaling scenario per user class, and

performing, upon detection that said handover trigger condition is fulfilled, the handover procedure for said subscriber terminal as defined by the configured handover signaling scenario and the configured set of handover parameters for the respective user class of the respective traffic class.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein

a communication state is represented by a measured signal quality at the subscriber terminal of said at least one intermediate network entity (Node — B) handling the communication of said subscriber terminal.

3. A method according to claim 2 , wherein

said communication state is represented by a received signal level difference measured at the subscriber terminal towards two respective intermediate network entities.

4. A method according to claim 1 , wherein

said handover signaling scenarios comprise at least one of a hard handover (HHO), a soft handover (SHO), and a site selection diversity transmission (SSDT).

5. A method according to claim 4 , wherein

said handover parameters for said soft handover (SHO) comprise at least

a first threshold (window — add) indicating addition of an intermediate network entity handling communication of said subscriber terminal,

a second threshold (window — drop) indicating removal of an intermediate network entity handling communication of said subscriber terminal, and

a timing condition (T — drop) triggering said removal in combination with said second threshold.

6. A method according to claim 1 , wherein

said traffic classes comprise at least a conversational, a streaming, an interactive and a background traffic class.

7. A method according to claim 1 , wherein

said user classes are distinguishable according to the respective subscription profile defining a subscribed quality of service.

8. A method according to claim 7 , wherein

the subscription profile is determined by at least those radio access bearer attributes which are common to all traffic classes as defined in 3GPP 23.107 V3.5.0 (2000-12).

9. A method according to claim 8 , wherein

said subscription profile is determined based on allocation/retention priority.