Patent ID: 7359365

Claim:
A method of transmitting a multiplicity of signaling information units (SIUs) from a base station (BS) to a corresponding multiplicity of receiving mobile stations (RMSs) via a common signaling channel (CSC), wherein data is communicated between each RMS and the BS via primary data frames of one or more other channels in a quantity substantially larger than is conveyed by corresponding SIUs, the method comprising: a) identifying corresponding primary data frames to which the multiplicity of SIUs are relevant, the primary frames having a primary frame duration; b) transmitting the multiplicity of SIUs in a CSC frame having a duration shorter than or approximately equal to the primary frame duration during a time period selected to imply relevance of the SIU to the corresponding primary frames; c) dividing the CSC frame into a multiplicity of subframes to effect time division multiplexing (TDM) of the CSC frame; and d) for each of the multiplicity of SIUs, disposing within a subframe of the CSC frame a corresponding code division multiplexing (CDM) sequence representing such SIU and distinguishing it from other SIUs disposed in the same subframe, wherein the CSC is distinguished from other channels transmitted from the BS within a substantially identical frequency range by a unique orthogonal variable spreading factor (OVSF) code.