What is claimed is:
1. A method for a base site to facilitate mobile-initiated, CDMA-dispatch soft handoff comprising the steps of:
establishing a first outbound link for a dispatch call;
transmitting the dispatch call via the first outbound link;
establishing an inbound link with a mobile station (MS) for the dispatch call;
receiving, from the MS via the inbound link, a request to begin a soft handoff with an adjacent base site;
notifying the adjacent base site of the soft handoff request of the MS;
receiving an indication of a second outbound link at the adjacent site enabling the soft handoff; and
indicating to the ms the identity of the second outbound link.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the inbound link comprises a low-rate inbound link used to communicate at least one of forward power control information and reverse power information.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first outbound link and the second outbound link each comprises a full-rate CDMA outbound traffic channel.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of indicating comprises the step of signaling in-band on the first outbound link the identity of the second outbound link.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of indicating comprises the step of signaling via a paging channel the identity of the second outbound link.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the step of signaling via a paging channel comprises the step of transmitting a broadcast page to convey the identity of the second outbound link.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of indicating the identity of the first MS with the identity of the second outbound link.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of indicating the identity of the adjacent base site with the identity of the second outbound link.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of indicating the identity of the adjacent base site with the identity of the second outbound link comprises transmitting to the MS a pseudorandom noise scrambling code offset of the adjacent base site.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of indicating to the MS the identity of the second outbound link comprises transmitting to the MS a CDMA code used for the second outbound link.
11. A method for a mobile station (MS) to initiate a CDMA-dispatch soft handoff comprising the steps of:
receiving a dispatch call via a first outbound link with a base site;
establishing an inbound link with the base site for the dispatch call;
transmitting via the inbound link a request to begin a soft handoff with an adjacent base site; and
receiving an indication of a second outbound link at the adjacent site with which to begin the soft handoff.
12. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of beginning the soft handoff by simultaneously receiving the dispatch call via the first outbound link and the second outbound link.
13. The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of transmitting a request to establish an inbound link with the adjacent base site for the dispatch call.
14. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of receiving the indication comprises the step of receiving in-band signaling on the first outbound link that conveys the identity of the second outbound link.
15. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of receiving the indication comprises the step of receiving a broadcast page that conveys the identity of the second outbound link.
16. The method of claim 11 wherein the request comprises a signal strength report.
17. A base site comprising:
a transmitter;
a receiver; and
a controller, coupled to the transmitter and the receiver, adapted to establish a first outbound link for a dispatch call, adapted to instruct the transmitter to transmit the dispatch call via the first outbound link, adapted to establish an inbound link with a mobile station (MS) for the dispatch call, adapted to receive using the receiver a request to begin a soft handoff with an adjacent base site from the MS via the inbound link, adapted to notify the adjacent base site of the soft handoff request of the MS, adapted to receive an indication of a second outbound link at the adjacent site enabling the soft handoff, and adapted to instruct the transmitter to transmit to the MS an indication of the identity of the second outbound link.
18. The base site of claim 17 wherein the inbound link comprises a low-rate inbound link used to communicate at least one of forward power control information and reverse power information.
19. The base site of claim 17 wherein the first outbound link and the second outbound link each comprises a full-rate CDMA outbound traffic channel.
20. The base site of claim 17 wherein the controller instructs the transmitter to transmit signaling in-band on the first outbound link to convey the identity of the second outbound link.
21. The base site of claim 17 wherein the controller instructs the transmitter to transmit a broadcast page via the paging channel to convey the identity of the second outbound link.
22. A mobile station (MS) comprising:
a transmitter;
a receiver; and
a processor, coupled to the transmitter and the receiver, adapted to instruct the receiver to receive a dispatch call via a first outbound link with a base site, adapted to establish an inbound link with the base site for the dispatch call, adapted to instruct the transmitter to transmit via the inbound link a request to begin a soft handoff with an adjacent base site, and adapted to receive using the receiver an indication of a second outbound link at the adjacent site with which to begin the soft handoff.
23. The MS of claim 22 wherein the processor is further adapted to instruct the receiver to begin the soft handoff by simultaneously receiving the dispatch call via the first outbound link and the second outbound link.
24. The MS of claim 22 wherein the processor is further adapted to instruct the transmitter to transmit a request to establish an inbound link with the adjacent base site for the dispatch call.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A cantilever-based force measurement instrument, comprising:
a cantilever probe;
a device providing feedback to an operator of the instrument as to the relative position of the cantilever probe, the device comprising:
a rotatable knob;
means by which an operator-induced change in the position of the knob varies a performance parameter of the instrument; and
means by which a torque is applied to the knob that is a function of another performance parameter of the instrument.
2. The cantilever-based force measurement instrument of claim 1, wherein the instrument is an atomic force microscope.
3. The cantilever-based force measurement instrument of claim 1, wherein the instrument measures a force between the cantilever probe and a single molecule of a sample.
4. The cantilever-based force measurement instrument of claim 1, wherein the means by which torque is applied to the knob includes a motor coupled to the knob, and instrument includes a controller coupled to the motor to control the torque applied to the knob by the motor.
5. The cantilever-based force measurement instrument of claim 1, wherein the performance parameter of the instrument that is varied by the operator-induced change in the position of the knob is a separation of the sample and cantilever probe in a predefined z direction.
6. The cantilever-based force measurement instrument of claim 1, wherein the other performance parameter of the instrument is deflection of the cantilever probe.
7. A cantilever-based force measurement instrument, comprising:
a cantilever probe;
a device providing feedback to the instrument operator as to the force between the cantilever probe and a sample, the device comprising:
a rotatable knob;
means by which an operator-induced change in the position of the knob varies a performance parameter of the instrument; and
means by which a torque is applied to the knob that is a function of another performance parameter of the instrument.
8. The cantilever-based force measurement instrument of claim 7, wherein the instrument is an atomic force microscope.
9. The cantilever-based force measurement instrument of claim 7, wherein the instrument measures a force between the cantilever probe and a single molecule of a sample.
10. The cantilever-based force measurement instrument of claim 7, wherein the means by which torque is applied to the knob includes a motor coupled to the knob, and instrument includes a controller coupled to the motor to control the torque applied to the knob by the motor.
11. The cantilever-based force measurement instrument of claim 7, wherein the performance parameter of the instrument that is varied by the operator-induced change in the position of the knob is a separation of the sample and cantilever probe in a predefined z direction.
12. The cantilever-based force measurement instrument of claim 7, wherein the other performance parameter of the instrument is deflection of the cantilever probe.