Method and apparatus for hard handoff in a broadcast communication system

A method and an apparatus for a handoff in a broadcast communication system is disclosed. A subscriber-assisted handoff is impractical in a broadcast communication system due to e.g., a high signaling load, a difficulty to synchronize the broadcast transmission. On the other hand, the small number of broadcast channels enables the subscriber station to perform the handoff autonomously. While performing a handoff between broadcast transmissions, a disruption of service occurs due to lack of synchronization among the broadcast transmissions. The method and the apparatus according to the invention hence achieve re-synchronization of content of a broadcast communication during handoff of a subscriber station by processing a first broadcast stream on a first broadcast. channel transmitted from a first terminal and determining service option parameters for processing a second broadcast stream on a second channel transmitted from a second terminal while decoding content of the first broadcast stream; upon synchronizing the first broadcast stream and the second broadcast stream, the processing of the first broadcast stream is terminated, and the processing of the second broadcast stream begins in accordance with the determined service option parameters.