Difference between Hard Handoff and Soft Handoff

Handoff in Mobile Communication

In Cellular Telecommunication, handoff refers to the process of transferring an ongoing call or data session from one channel connected to the core network to another channel.

Hard Handoff

In mobile communication, the hard handoff is defined as a handoff where an existing connection must be broken when a new connection is established.

Soft Handoff

In wireless communication, the soft handoff is defined as a handoff where a new connection is established before the old connection is released.

Differentiate between Hard Handoff and Soft Handoff in Mobile Cellular Networks

Hard Hand-offSoft Hand-off
1. It is defined as hand-off where an existing connection must be broken when the new one is established.1. It is defined as hand-off where a new connection is established before old one is released.
2. Hard Hand-off is less complex than Soft Hand-off2. Soft Hand-off is more complex than Hard Hand-off
3. It allocates different frequency.3. It allocates same frequency.
4. Hand-off is basically used in FDMA.4. Soft Hand-off is used in CDMA.