Method and apparatus for enhanced paging

TECHNIQUES FOR PAGING USER EQUIPMENTS (120) IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM (100) ARE DESCRIBED. IN ONE ASPECT, A CELL SENDS A PAGING INDICATOR TO A USER EQUIPMENT, MONITORS FOR AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FROM THE USER EQUIPMENT, AND SENDS A PAGE MESSAGE TO THE USER EQUIPMENT IF AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IS RECEIVED FROM THE USER EQUIPMENT. THE CELL MAY RECEIVE CHANNEL QUALITY INFORMATION FROM THE USER EQUIPMENT AND MAY SEND THE PAGE MESSAGE WITH LINK ADAPTATION AND/OR HARQ TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE. IN ANOTHER ASPECT, A CELL SENDS A PAGING INDICATOR ON A SHARED CONTROL CHANNEL TO A USER EQUIPMENT AND SENDS A PAGE MESSAGE ON A SHARED DATA CHANNEL TO THE USER EQUIPMENT. THE PAGING INDICATOR AND PAGE MESSAGE MAY BE SENT FROM MULTIPLE CELLS TO THE USER EQUIPMENT. ALTERNATIVELY, THE PAGING INDICATOR MAY BE SENT FROM MULTIPLE CELLS TO THE USER EQUIPMENT, AND THE PAGE MESSAGE MAY BE SENT FROM A SINGLE CELL TO THE USER EQUIPMENT.