A time-division-multiplexed radio communication system and method uses transmitted-reference, delay-hopped (TR/DH) ultra-wideband (UWB) broadcast signal to provide a pilot signal to all mobile devices in a coverage area from which time synchronization is derived. Using this TR/DH UWB pulse pilot signal and low-complexity demodulation in the mobile devices, the mobile devices utilize a simple signal detection algorithm to acquire synchronization with the pilot signal. As a result, all devices in a local area network become synchronized to the system's bit clock. This greatly reduces the search space required for signal acquisition, receiver signal processing complexity, and length of message preambles required to synchronize the base station receiver to a transmission from any of the mobile devices.