Patent ID: 8295209

Claim:
A method of synchronizing a mobile station in a wireless network, the mobile station being assigned to a second group out of a plurality of groups including at least a first group and a second group of mobile stations in the wireless network, the method comprising: waking, by the mobile station, from a low power state; determining that synchronization with a second group portion of a downlink subframe has been lost; and performing the following in response to determining that synchronization with the second group portion has been lost: receiving a downlink control information of a first group portion of the downlink subframe, the downlink control information of the first group portion including a group boundary information identifying a location of a group boundary between the first group portion and the second group portion or identifying a location or resources of the second group portion, wherein a group boundary between the first group portion and the second group portion of the downlink subframe is variable; determining an updated location of a downlink control information of the second group portion, based on the downlink control information of the first group portion; and receiving the downlink control information of the second group portion based on the updated location of the downlink control information of the second group portion that was determined from the downlink control information of the first group portion.