Patent ID: 7839918

Claim:
A method for estimating a frequency deviation between a received spread-spectrum code signal and a local frequency signal in the acquisition of the received spread-spectrum code signal in a CDMA receiver, comprising: generating a frequency-shifted spread-spectrum code signal from the received spread-spectrum code signal by downconverting the received spread-spectrum code signal by the local frequency signal; despreading the frequency-shifted spread-spectrum code signal using a local spread-spectrum code; repeated coherent integrating of the despread frequency-shifted spread-spectrum code signal over an integration period, thereby forming a sequence of complex integration values; and evaluating at least two of the sequence of complex integration values by calculating a phase change value characteristic of a phase change between the at least two of the sequence of complex integration values to determine the frequency deviation by calculating the frequency deviation based on the phase change value characteristic, wherein calculating the phase change value characteristic comprises multiplying one complex integration value by the complex conjugate of the other complex integration value.