FREQUENCY SCAN FOR CDMA ACQUISITION

Techniques for reducing the time required for frequency scan in acquisition are disclosed. In one aspect, received power measurements are made at one or more of the possible carrier frequencies and system search is performed on one or more of those frequencies when the power measurement exceeds a threshold. In another aspect, the power is measured at one or more frequencies in a band of frequencies surrounding a frequency at which the measured power exceeded a threshold. If the measured power at one or more of the frequencies in the band exceeds a second threshold, a system search is performed at one or more of those frequencies. In yet another aspect, frequencies meeting certain criteria are sorted in order of measured power prior to system search or further power measurement, and subsequent processing is performed in order of descending measured power. Various other aspects are also presented. These aspects have the benefit of reducing acquisition time, which results in faster system access and allows for more efficient use of system resources.