<s>
Soft	B-Protocol
handover	I-Protocol
or	O
soft	B-Protocol
handoff	I-Protocol
refers	O
to	O
a	O
feature	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
CDMA	B-Protocol
and	O
W-CDMA	O
standards	O
,	O
where	O
a	O
cell	O
phone	O
is	O
simultaneously	O
connected	O
to	O
two	O
or	O
more	O
cells	O
(	O
or	O
cell	O
sectors	O
)	O
during	O
a	O
call	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
the	O
sectors	O
are	O
from	O
the	O
same	O
physical	O
cell	O
site	O
(	O
a	O
sectorised	O
site	O
)	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
softer	B-Protocol
handoff	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
technique	O
is	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
mobile-assisted	O
handover	B-Protocol
,	O
for	O
IS-95/CDMA2000	O
CDMA	B-Protocol
cell	O
phones	O
continuously	O
make	O
power	O
measurements	O
of	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
neighboring	O
cell	O
sites	O
,	O
and	O
determine	O
whether	O
or	O
not	O
to	O
request	O
or	O
end	O
soft	B-Protocol
handover	I-Protocol
with	O
the	O
cell	O
sectors	O
on	O
the	O
list	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
the	O
properties	O
of	O
the	O
CDMA	B-Protocol
signaling	O
scheme	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
possible	O
for	O
a	O
CDMA	B-Protocol
phone	O
to	O
simultaneously	O
receive	O
signals	O
from	O
two	O
or	O
more	O
radio	O
base	O
stations	O
that	O
are	O
transmitting	O
the	O
same	O
bit	O
stream	O
(	O
using	O
different	O
transmission	O
codes	O
)	O
on	O
the	O
different	O
physical	O
channels	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
frequency	O
bandwidth	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
uplink	O
(	O
phone-to-cell-site	O
)	O
,	O
all	O
the	O
cell	O
site	O
sectors	O
that	O
are	O
actively	O
supporting	O
a	O
call	O
in	O
soft	B-Protocol
handover	I-Protocol
send	O
the	O
bit	O
stream	O
that	O
they	O
receive	O
back	O
to	O
the	O
Radio	O
Network	O
Controller	O
(	O
RNC	O
)	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
information	O
about	O
the	O
quality	O
of	O
the	O
received	O
bits	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Again	O
,	O
if	O
the	O
signal	O
degrades	O
rapidly	O
,	O
the	O
chance	O
is	O
still	O
good	O
that	O
a	O
strong	O
signal	O
will	O
be	O
available	O
at	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
other	O
cell	O
sectors	O
that	O
is	O
supporting	O
the	O
call	O
in	O
soft	B-Protocol
handover	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Soft	B-Protocol
handover	I-Protocol
results	O
in	O
a	O
diversity	B-Protocol
gain	I-Protocol
called	O
soft	B-Protocol
handover	I-Protocol
gain	O
.	O
</s>
