Abstract: The present invention provides a method for measuring SIR in a WCDMA system where channels are transmitted from a base station using orthogonal channelization codes and the same scrambling codes. According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, an automatic gain controller (AGC) is implemented in the receiver. The AGC is placed prior to the RAKE receiver. By using a fairly fast AGC unit that keeps incoming power to the RAKE at a constant level, the SIR can be calculated by multiplying the despread signal with a constant. This SIR calculation aids in achieving and maintaining a steady state condition in the radio communication system. This SIR calculation can also be used to control the bit error rate performance of a mobile station.