METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING SIGNALS IN A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Different orthogonal codes (W x, W y) are used to spread common pilot channe ls (Pilot A) intended for transmission to a particular mobile station (106) within a coverage area (sector A) to implement forward link transmit diversity. By implementing separate, different orthogonal codes (W x, W y) for each pilot channel (Pilot A), the pilot signals transmitted via antennas (218, 222) to a common coverage area (sector A) are orthogonal to one another and thus do not degrade system performance. Additionally, the use of different orthogonal codes (W x, W y) for each pilot channel (Pilot A) allows the mobile station (106) to discern which pilot channel spread with a different orthogonal code includes corresponding traffic channel (TCH) information. This allows forward link transmit diversity to be enabled/disabled based on conditions associated with the environment, the communications channel, etc. without a complete loss of information as seen by the mobile station (106).