An apparatus includes a radio frequency (RF) receiver, which includes a digital signal arrival (DSA) detector to detect arrival of a transmitted signal. The DSA detector includes a signal correlator and at least one of (a) an absolute received signal strength indication (RSSI) detector; (b) a relative RSSI detector; and (c) a frequency offset detector). The RF receiver further includes a demodulator coupled to the DSA detector to demodulate a received signal and to provide a demodulated signal, and a synchronization word detector (SWD) coupled to the demodulator to receive the demodulated signal.