Patent ID: 8238931

Claim:
In an access terminal operating in a wireless communication system that includes a base station, a method comprising: at the access terminal, making a determination of whether the access terminal will engage in a communication requiring low latency; responsive at least to the determination being that the access terminal will not engage in a communication requiring low latency, the access terminal beginning to operate in a best-effort state in which at least (i) the access terminal transmits a primary beacon signal on an air interface communication link to the base station, and (ii) upon a condition that the access terminal transmits a packet having a size larger than a threshold packet size, the access terminal activates and transmits a secondary beacon signal on the air interface communication link to the base station concurrently with transmission of the primary beacon signal; and responsive at least to the determination being that the access terminal will engage in a communication requiring low latency, the access terminal beginning to operate in a low-latency state in which at least (i) the access terminal transmits the primary beacon signal on the air interface communication link to the base station, and (ii) the access terminal unconditionally activates and transmits the secondary beacon signal on the air interface communication link to the base station concurrently with transmission of the primary beacon signal, wherein unconditionally activating and transmitting a secondary beacon signal comprises transmitting the secondary beacon signal concurrently with transmission of the primary beacon signal without regard to packet size of packets to be transmitted.