Patent ID: 7203258

Claim:
A method for the acquisition of synchronization signals in a spread spectrum communication system, comprising: Receiving a synchronization signal, Applying to said synchronization signal a dwelling procedure, whereby said dwelling procedure comprises the steps of: Calculating a particular synchronization signal matched filter output to create an accumulated energy value, Storing the accumulated energy value in a random access memory (RAM) at a RAM address corresponding to the particular synchronization signal matched filter output, Repeating said dwelling procedure for a different particular synchronization signal matched filter output throughout a range equal to a slot length in the RAM, After each dwelling procedure, searching for the maximum accumulated energy value in the RAM and finding its corresponding RAM address as the latest address found, Comparing the latest address found with a previous address corresponding to the maximum energy value found in a previous searching procedure, If the latest address found is the same as the previous address, incrementing a counter that keeps the number of consecutive occurrences of a maximum at a same position, If the latest address found is not the same as the previous address, setting the counter to zero, When the counter reaches a user defined threshold value, breaking off the dwelling procedure, and Passing the latest address found to a receiver timing device.