Patent ID: 8509835

Claim:
A method for performing an access procedure in a subscriber unit comprising: transmitting at least one of a first type of signal to a base station wherein the first type of signal is associated with requesting access to a network associated with the base station and is transmitted at a first power level; receiving a first message from the base station in response to the base station receiving the at least one of the first type of signal, wherein the first message includes timing and power adjustment information for transmitting an access request message to the base station over an uplink shared channel and identification information associated with the subscriber unit; transmitting the access request message to the base station over the uplink shared channel in accordance with the timing and power adjustment information wherein the access request message includes a request for a communication link and the identification information associated with the subscriber unit wherein the access request message is a second type of message and is associated with requesting access to the network; receiving a second message from the base station in response to the access request message; determining whether the access request message sent by the subscriber unit was correctly received by the base station as a result of processing the second message; and on a condition that the first message is not received or the access request message was not correctly received by the base station, transmitting a second one of the first type of signal to the base station at a second power level wherein the second one of the first type of signal is associated with requesting access to the network associated with the base station.