1) Soft handoff - The handoff is referred to as soft handoff if the new connection is established before the old connection is released. In the 3G systems, the majority of handoffs are intrafrequency soft handoffs.

Soft handoff entails the simultaneous serving of a mobile unit by a three cell site.

2) Softer handoff - In softer handoff, the BS transmits through one sector but receives from more than one sector.

Soft handoff entails the simultaneous serving of a mobile unit by a two sectors of same cell.

3) Soft-Softer: Soft-Softer handoff are the simultaneous serving of a mobile section by the original sector, an adjacent sector and an adjacent or neighbouring cell.