Patent ID: 7072380

Claim:
An apparatus for maintaining control of power in a spread-spectrum system, comprising: (a) a base station (BS); and (b) a subscriber unit (SU), for sending to the base station (BS), using spread-spectrum modulation, a SU-spreading code on a status channel, wherein: (i) the BS detects the SU-spreading code from the SU, and sends to the SU, using spread-spectrum modulation, in response to detecting the SU-spreading code, a BS-spreading code on a checkup channel; and (ii) the SU detects the BS-spreading code on the checkup channel, and in response to detecting the BS-spreading code, the SU transmits a message longer than the SU-spreading code, and in response to not detecting the BS-spreading code, the SU increases transmit power of the SU.