Patent ID: 7075971

Claim:
In a wireless communication system employing spread-spectrum modulation comprising a plurality of base stations and a plurality of mobile stations, a method comprising: transmitting from a BS-spread-spectrum transmitter of one base station, a broadcast common-status channel, the broadcast common-status channel comprising data regarding current status as available for one or more channels from among a group of channels associated with the one base station; receiving the broadcast common-status channel at a MS-spread-spectrum receiver of one mobile station, and selecting one of the channels of the group based on the broadcast available status data; transmitting from a MS-spread-spectrum transmitter of the one mobile station an access-burst signal to request access to the selected channel, the access-burst signal comprising a plurality of segments having a plurality of respective power levels; receiving at a BS spread-spectrum receiver of the one base station at least one segment of the access-burst signal at a detectable-power level; responsive to receipt of the at least one segment at the detectable power level, transmitting an acknowledgment signal from the BS-spread-spectrum transmitter of the one base station; receiving the acknowledgment signal at the MS-spread-spectrum receiver of the one mobile station; and transmitting from the MS-spread-spectrum transmitter of the one mobile station a spread-spectrum signal comprising at least one of data and power control information, over the selected channel, responsive to the receipt of the acknowledgment signal.