Patent ID: 8457054

Claim:
Apparatus for use in a wireless terminal of a wireless communications system to receive paging messages comprising: a controller for controllably maintaining said wireless terminal in a standby mode of operation; a receiver for receiving a super time slot format including a plurality of cyclically recurring super time slots to transport paging messages to one or more wireless terminals, wherein each of said plurality of super time slots includes a plurality of time slots, each time slot intended to transport a wireless terminal paging message; wherein said controller controllably causes said wireless terminal to enter into a monitor mode for monitoring at least a portion of a received super time slot associated with said wireless terminal for a paging message intended for said wireless terminal and otherwise returning to said standby mode of operation, wherein the super time slot format allows the paging message intended for said wireless terminal to be included in any one of the plurality of time slots of the received super time slot associated with said wireless terminal, wherein power consumption is reduced, wherein said controller causes said wireless terminal to enter said standby mode responsive to determining that: a given time slot in said portion of said received super time slot associated with said wireless terminal does not include any message; and no time slot preceding said given time slot in said portion of said received super time slot associated with said wireless terminal includes a paging message intended for said wireless terminal, and wherein said portion of said received super time slot comprises two or more time slots.