A method is provided for acquiring a signal from a satellite in a global navigation satellite system. The signal includes a pseudorandom code. The method includes, for each time period of a plurality of time periods: generating samples of the signal, segments of the samples of the signal are correlated with a local copy of the pseudorandom code, thereby producing correlation values for the time period. A discrete Fourier transform is performed using, as inputs, the correlation values for the respective time period, thereby producing a frequency representation of the correlation values for the time period. The frequency representations of the correlation values for the plurality of time periods are combined according to a data hypothesis. When a magnitude of the combined frequency representations meets predefined criteria, a frequency corresponding to the magnitude is selected as a tracking frequency for the satellite.