A method and apparatus to determine whether a transmission was successfully received in a multiple access communication system is claimed. First and second encoded data packets are received and decoded. The first and second data packets are then re-encoded, and correlated to determine whether the first and second re-encoded data packets are the same. If there is a high degree of correlation, an indicator of acknowledgement is transmitted to indicate that there is a high degree of correlation between the first and second re-encoded data packets. If there is a low degree of correlation, a determination is made that the previously transmitted indicator of acknowledgement was correctly received.