A criterion for biasing a binary decision requiring an unequal protection which utilizes a measured signal to interference ratio (SIR). The SIR may be derived from a determination of channel estimation. The SIR is compared against a threshold, the threshold being selected to bias the decision toward a not acknowledge (NACK) as opposed to an acknowledge (ACK) determination. The technique is advantageous for providing biased binary decisions for high speed downlink packets (HSDP) but may be utilized for both uplink and downlink applications.