Patent ID: 7072632

Claim:
A method for detecting presence of a valid signal, the method comprises: initializing gain settings of a receiver section; measuring received signal strength of a signal received by the receiver section to produce a first received signal strength indication (RSSI); adjusting the gain setting of the receiver section such that the first RSSI is a predetermined offset less than a signal strength threshold; measuring the received signal strength of a gain adjusted representation of the signal to produce a second RSSI; when the second RSSI value drifts from the signal strength threshold less the predetermined offset, appending a second offset to the second RSSI value to compensate for the drifting of the second RSSI value to produce an adjusted second RSSI value such that the signal strength threshold less the adjusted second RSSI value substantially equals the predetermined offset; continuing measuring the received signal strength of the gain adjusted representation of the signal and appending an updated offset to the adjusted second RSSI value when the adjusted second RSSI value drifts from the signal strength threshold less the predetermined offset until a possible signal is detected; and when the possible signal is detected, adjusting the gain settings of the receiver section based on dynamic range of the receiver section.