Patent ID: 7299053

Claim:
A portable communication apparatus operable to transmit code division multiple access (CDMA) signals to and receive code division multiple access (CDMA) signals from a base station connected to a public communications network, said portable communication apparatus comprising: radio communication means for transmitting and receiving a CDMA signal over a channel arbitrarily selected from one or more existing channels; base band modem means for modulating a speech signal into a CDMA signal and for demodulating a CDMA signal into a speech signal; and control means for controlling the transmitting and receiving of the CDMA signal by said radio communication means; wherein in response to said portable communication apparatus being initially powered-on from a powered-off state, said control means arbitrarily selects a first channel from the one or more existing channels and attempts to capture the first channel, the first channel having a high field strength, and if said control means fails to successfully capture the first channel, said control means arbitrarily selects and captures a second channel from the one or more existing channels, if said control means then receives an overhead message over the second channel but the second arbitrarily selected channel has a low field strength so that said portable communication apparatus is in a lost condition, said control means successively attempts to capture the second channel for a predetermined number of respective capture attempts while said portable communication equipment remains in the lost condition, and if said control means does not receive the overhead message over the second channel or if the portable communication apparatus remains in the lost condition after said control means has successively attempted to capture the second channel for the predetermined number of respective capture attempts, said control means again attempts to capture the first channel.