Abstract: In a data communications system including an infrastructure 100 and a subscriber terminal 115 a method of acquiring an operating channel at the subscriber unit on power up including: turning on the subscriber unit 203; selecting from a data base a most frequently used channel that corresponds to a last operating channel 209; and attempting to acquire service 213 on the most frequently used channel. Alternatively, in a similar setting at a subscriber terminal a method of acquiring a next operating channel including: exiting an operating channel 317; updating 319 a channel occupancy data base 301 with occupancy information corresponding to the operating channel; selecting, from the channel occupancy data base 309, a next operating channel that corresponds to information from past operating channels; and attempting to acquire service 313 on the next operating channel.

Abstract: A method of modem power conservation used in a data communications system having an infrastructure (101), and a modem (103), the modem registered with the infrastructure and adapted to provide data communications between a host terminal (105) and the infrastructure (101), the method including the steps of: receiving, at the modem (103), a message: determining that the message is not deliverable to the host terminal (105): and responsive thereto entering, at the modem (103), a power conservation mode. An alternative method directed to the same purposes includes the steps of: entering, at the modem (103), a power conservation mode after a first predetermined time has lapsed without message activity: exiting the power conservation mode after a second predetermined time has lapsed: and finally registering with the infrastructure (101).

Abstract: An automatic cell transfer is made, when a mobile detects certain threshold exit bit or symbol error rate in a message transmitted from the base station with which it is communicating, by the mobile then sampling sequentially transmitted messages from adjacent base stations (on the same or different frequencies) and monitoring their bit or symbol error rates until a base station is found having a bit or symbol error rate less than a preselected minimum entry threshold bit or symbol error rate which in turn is less than the exit bit or symbol error rate and transferring communication from the mobile to the base station so selected. In one arrangement, each base station repeatedly and intermittently transmits a known quality assessment message and the mobile continually reviews the received message for its error rate.