Abstract: A system and method for synchronizing and selectively addressing multiple receivers in a wireless communication system includes a spread spectrum transmitter and one or more spread spectrum receivers. The transmitter transmits a signal having an observable parameter which is pseudo-randomly varied. The receiver measures the relative times between recurrences of a selected value of the observable parameter being pseudo-randomly varied, and determines an initial state of the transmitter based upon the measured relative times. The receiver then synchronizes itself to the estimated current state of the transmitter using the determined initial state as a starting reference. In a frequency hopping embodiment, the spread spectrum transmitter comprises a feedback shift register, and transmits a sequence of pseudo-randomly hopped frequencies determined by the shift register.