A system and method for reducing the latency from timing deviation (TD) measurement
to time advance (TA) adjustment. The invention uses a deterministic procedure to
coordinate time advance (TA) commands and timing deviation (TD) measurements so
that failed transmissions or mobile terminals signal propagation changes can be
recognized and corrected much more rapidly. Radio resource efficiency is maximized
by minimizing signaling overhead through effectively reducing the frequency of
time advance commands. This is accomplished by using TA command signals which include
a Connect Frame Number (CFN) to specify particular radio frames for time advance
(TA) adjustment. The potential for timing deviation (TD) measurements to be incorrectly
processed in conjunction with adjusting a physical reception window and calculating
mobile termination location is minimized, without excessive command signaling requirements.