A system and method for transmission diversity status detection is disclosed, which receives a synchronization channel (SCH) signal and a common pilot channel (CPICH) signal from a base station for detecting whether the base station uses the transmission diversity technique. The transmission diversity status detector detects the transmission diversity status of the base station by detecting the modulation of SCH symbols coherently. The phase references for coherent detection of SCH symbols are extracted from the despreaded CPICH signal. To detect the odd-numbered SCH symbols coherently, the detector applies all phase references of different antennas on odd-numbered SCH symbols and performs selection in the final decision flow. The detector also contains the Time Switched Transmit Diversity (TSTD) filters, designed based on a dependency between the modulation of SCH symbols and the transmit antenna of SCH signals, to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of SCH symbols.