System and method for circulating the assignment of walsh codes among mobile units in control/hold states

1. A wireless communication system, comprising: a network; and

a plurality of base transceiver stations (BTS) coupled to said network, wherein at least one of said base transceiver station (BTS) is adapted to reassign Walsh codes on a time basis among a plurality of mobile communication units (MU) in a control/hold media access control (MAC) state by assigning a set of Walsh codes to a first subset of the plurality of mobile communication units (MU) during a first period of time and assigning the set of Walsh codes to a second subset of the plurality of mobile communication units (MU) during a second period of time, and by notifying mobile communication units (MU) that are in the first subset but not the second subset that an assigned Walsh code is inactive during the second period of time and notifying mobile communication units (MU) that are in the second subset but not in the first subset that a particular Walsh code of the set of Walsh codes is assigned, wherein the mobile communication units (MU) comprising the first and second subsets is not identical.

2. The wireless communication system of claim 1 , wherein said at least one of said base transceiver station (BTS) is adapted to reassign Walsh codes among said mobile communication units (MU) in a substantially circular manner.

3. The wireless communication system of claim 1 , wherein said Walsh codes are used only by a subset of said plurality of mobile communication units at a particular time for respective dedicated channels.

4. The wireless communication system of claim 3 , wherein at least one of said subset of said plurality of mobile communication units uses a corresponding dedicated channel to communicate with said at least one of said base transceiver station (BTS) in order to obtain a supplemental channel.

5. The wireless communication system of claim 1 , wherein said at least one base transceiver station (BTS) is adapted to: receive a request to send data to one of said plurality of mobile communication units (MU) at a particular time when said one of said plurality of mobile communication units (MU) does not have a valid Walsh code; queue the request until said one of said plurality of mobile communication units (MU) has a valid Walsh code for a corresponding dedicated channel; and send data pursuant to said request to said one of said plurality of mobile communication units (MU) using said dedicated channel.

6. The wireless communication system of claim 5 , wherein said at least one base transceiver station (BTS) is adapted to receive said request to send data from said network.

7. The wireless communication system of claim 1 , wherein there are more mobile communication units in the control/hold MAC state than there are available Walsh codes.

8. A base transceiver station (BTS), comprising: an antenna; a radio frequency (RF) interface; and a processor adapted to reassign Walsh codes on a time basis among a plurality of mobile communication units (MU) in a control/hold media access control (MAC) state by assigning a set of Walsh codes to a first subset of the plurality of mobile communication units (MU) during a first period of time and assigning the set of Walsh codes to a second subset of the plurality of mobile communication units (MU) during a second period of time, and by notifying mobile communication units (MU) that are in the first subset but not the second subset that an assigned Walsh code is inactive during the second period of time and notifying mobile communication units (MU) that are in the second subset but not in the first subset that a particular Walsh code of the set of Walsh codes is assigned, wherein the mobile communication units (MU) comprising the first and second subsets is not identical.

9. The base transceiver station of claim 8 , wherein said processor is adapted to reassign Walsh codes among said mobile communication units (MU) in a substantially circular manner.

10. The base transceiver station (BTS) of claim 8 , wherein said processor is adapted to establish dedicated channels using said Walsh codes with a subset of said plurality of mobile communication units (MU), respectively.

11. The base transceiver station (BTS) of claim 8 , further comprising a network interface, and wherein said processor is adapted to: receive a request to send data to one of said plurality of mobile communication units (MU) by way of said network interface at a particular time when said one of said plurality of mobile communication units (MU) does not have a valid Walsh code; queue the request until said one of said plurality of mobile communication units (MU) has a valid Walsh code for a corresponding dedicated channel; and send data pursuant to said request to said one of said plurality of mobile communication unit (MU) using said dedicated channel.

12. The base transceiver station (BTS) of claim 8 , wherein there are more mobile communication units in the control/hold MAC state than there are available Walsh codes.

13. A wireless communication system, comprising: a network; and

a plurality of base transceiver stations (BTS) coupled to said network, wherein at least one of said base transceiver station (BTS) is adapted to provide Walsh code hopping among a plurality of mobile communication units (MU) in a control/hold media access control (MAC) state by assigning a set of Walsh codes to a first subset of the plurality of mobile communication units (MU) during a first period of time and assigning the set of Walsh codes to a second subset of the plurality of mobile communication units (MU) during a second period of time, and by notifying mobile communication units (MU) that are in the first subset but not the second subset that an assigned Walsh code is inactive during the second period of time and notifying mobile communication units (MU) that are in the second subset but not in the first subset that a particular Walsh code of the set of Walsh codes is assigned, wherein the mobile communication units (MU) comprising the first and second subsets is not identical.

14. A method comprising:

reassigning Walsh codes on a time basis among a plurality of mobile communication units (MU) in a control/hold media access control (MAC) state by

assigning a set of Walsh codes to a first subset of the plurality of mobile communication units (MU) during a first period of time and assigning the set of Walsh codes to a second subset of the plurality of mobile communication units (MU) during a second period of time; and

notifying mobile communication units (MU) that are in the first subset but not the second subset that an assigned Walsh code is inactive during the second period of time and notifying mobile communication units (MU) that are in the second subset but not in the first subset that a particular Walsh code of the set of Walsh codes is assigned, wherein the mobile communication units (MU) comprising the first and second subsets is not identical.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the Walsh codes are reassigned among said mobile communication units (MU) in a substantially circular manner.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein said Walsh codes are used only by a subset of said plurality of mobile communication units at a particular time for respective dedicated channels.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein at least one of said subset of said plurality of mobile communication units uses a corresponding dedicated channel to communicate with said at least one of said base transceiver station (BTS) in order to obtain a supplemental channel.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein said at least one base transceiver station (BTS)

receives a request to send data to one of said plurality of mobile communication units (MU) at a particular time when said one of said plurality of mobile communication units (MU) does not have a valid Walsh code;

queues the request until said one of said plurality of mobile communication units (MU) has a valid Walsh code for a corresponding dedicated channel; and

sends data pursuant to said request to said one of said plurality of mobile communication units (MU) using said dedicated channel.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein said at least one base transceiver station (BTS) receives said request to send data from said network.