MODIFIED FINGER ASSIGNMENT ALGORITHM FOR HIGH DATA RATE CALLS

A method of creating a path list for use in finger assignments comprising clearing a list of paths (12), choosing a sector for consideration from an active set of sectors (14), establishing a searcher window around the sector for cosideration (16), and determining up to "n" local maxima stronger than a threshold value (18). If a sector under consideration is transmitting on supplemental channels(19), the method involves artificially biasing the findings of the searcher window by a predetermined value (20). The biasing value may be constant, variable or proportional to the number of supplemental channels on the base station. After the local maxima corresponding to base stations transmitting on supplemental channels have been biased (20), the path lists are created (21).