Patent ID: 7062285

Claim:
In a wireless communication system, wherein a paging channel, a quick paging channel, and a pilot channel are employed to transmit messages from a base station to a mobile station, the quick paging channel including first and second page indicators, a method comprising the steps of: determining if the strength of a first pilot signal is smaller than a first threshold value, the first pilot signal residing in the pilot channel and being associated with the first page indicator; determining if the strength of the first pilot signal is larger than a second threshold value, the first threshold value being larger than the second threshold value; determining if the strength of a second pilot signal is smaller than the first threshold value, the second pilot signal residing in the pilot channel and being associated with the second page indicator; determining if the strength of the second pilot signal is larger than the second threshold value; if the strength of the first pilot signal is not smaller than the first threshold value, processing the first page indicator, and determining if the first page indicator is detected to be on; if the strength of the first pilot signal is smaller than the first threshold value, and if the strength of the first pilot signal is larger than the second threshold value, saving a first soft decision for the first page indicator; if the strength of the first pilot signal is smaller than the first threshold value, and if the strength of the second pilot signal is not smaller than the first threshold value, processing the second page indicator, and determining if the second page indicator is detected to be on; and if the strength of the first pilot signal is smaller than the first threshold value, and if the strength of the second pilot signal is larger than the second threshold value, saving a second soft decision for the second page indicator, combining the first and the second soft decisions to obtain a combined decision, and determining if the combined decision is on.