Method for efficiently performing initial access in a multi-carrier broadband wireless access system

1. A method for efficiently performing an initial access in a Mobile Station (MS) in a multi-carrier broadband wireless access system, the method comprising:

scanning a plurality of carriers supported by a Base Station (BS);

selecting one of the scanned plurality of carriers as a first carrier and receiving a SuperFrame Header (SFH) of the first carrier, wherein the SFH includes a field indicating a load status of the first carrier;

determining whether the first carrier is a fully configured carrier; and

determining the load status of the first carrier based on the field indicating the load status of the first carrier if the first carrier is a fully configured carrier;

performing the initial access on the first carrier when the field indicating the load status of the first carrier indicates a good load status, and

scanning a second carrier when the field indicating the load status field of the first carrier indicates a load status other than a good load status, wherein the second carrier includes a load status field that indicates a good load status of the second carrier, and

wherein the SFH of the first carrier further includes recommended network entry carrier information including information about the second carrier.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an SFH of the second carrier; and

performing the initial access on the second carrier when the load status field of the first carrier indicates a load status other than good.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the load status field of the first carrier is a cell bar bit field.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the recommended network entry carrier information is included as a secondary SFH subpacket information element in the SFH and includes information about at least an index, a center frequency offset, or a bandwidth of the second carrier.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the recommended network entry carrier information is updated at a predetermined interval.

6. A Mobile Station (MS) in a multi-carrier broadband wireless access system, the MS comprising:

a Radio Frequency (RF) module; and

a processor configured to:

scan a plurality of carriers supported by a Base Station (BS);

select one of the scanned plurality of carriers as a first carrier and control the RF module to receive a SuperFrame Header (SFH) of the first carrier wherein the SFH includes a field indicating a load status of the first carrier,

determine whether the first carrier is a fully configured carrier;

determine the load status of the first carrier based on the field indicating the load status of the first carrier if the first carrier is a fully configured carrier;

perform the initial access on the first carrier when the field indicating the load status of the first carrier indicates a good load status, and

scan a second carrier when the field indicating the load status field of the first carrier indicates a load status other than a good load status, wherein the second carrier includes a load status field that indicates a good load status of the second carrier, and

wherein the SFH of the first carrier further includes recommended network entry carrier information including information about the second carrier.

7. The MS according to claim 6 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

control the RF module to receive an SFH of the second carrier; and

perform the initial access on the second carrier when the load status field of the first carrier indicates a load status other than good.

8. The MS according to claim 6 , wherein the load status field of the first carrier is a cell bar bit field.

9. The MS according to claim 6 , wherein the recommended network entry carrier information is included as a secondary SFH subpacket information element in the SFH and includes information about at least an index, a center frequency offset, or bandwidth of the recommended carrier.