Abstract: An improved inter-frequency handoff trigger in a wireless communication system is disclosed. In an embodiment of the invention, a particular mobile station transmits a pilot strength measurement message to the base station. The base station subsequently determines the strongest border pilot and the strongest interior pilot. The base station evaluates whether the border sector is stronger than the interior sector. If the border sector is stronger than the interior sector, this would indicate that the mobile station is out of the coverage area of the interior pilot. The base station subsequently determines the transmitted pilot energy to total transmit power of the pilot signal associated with the border pilot.