E-UTRAN / eHRPD Handoff Types

The 3GPP2 standard defines two types of handoff between the E-UTRAN and
eHRPD network: Non-Optimized Handoff and Optimized Handoff.

Non-optimized handoff involves the movement of the UE from E-UTRAN to

eHRPD or vice-versa without the use of tunneled signaling (i.e., S101
signaling) between the source access network and the target access network.
The UE leaves the radio environment of the source access network and
performs a radio-level attachment to the target access network (e.g., creates an
eHRPD session for the case of the UE moving from E-UTRAN to eHRPD), and
then performs a handover attach procedure to the Packet Data Network(s) it
had been communicating with over the source access network.
Optimized handoff involves the movement of the UE from E-UTRAN to eHRPD
or vice-versa using tunneled signaling (i.e., S101 signaling) between the source
access network and the target access network. While still on the source access
network, the UE tunnels signaling to the target access network to pre-register
through the source access network, i.e., to create both a radio and an IP
context on the target system. After pre-registration, the UE performs a radiolevel handoff/handover to the target technology per specified procedures.