Patent ID: 7230941

Claim:
An apparatus in a remote station for decoding a preamble channel, wherein the preamble channel carries variably sized preamble sequences, comprising: a plurality of preamble size detection elements for determining a number of slots occupied by a preamble sequence on the preamble channel which is separate from a traffic channel, wherein each of the plurality of preamble size detection elements outputs a potential preamble sequence and a best path metric; and a selection element for choosing a true preamble sequence from the potential preamble sequences output from the plurality of detection elements; wherein each of the plurality of detection elements comprises: a de-interleaver for operating over a predetermined number of slots of the preamble channel, wherein each de-interleaver of the plurality of detection elements operates over a different predetermined number of slots; a decoder for extracting preamble information on from the preamble sequence; and a sequence checker for determining if an identifier is present in the preamble information.