A coordinated signaling scheme for both uplink and downlink transmissions between a base station and a user terminal reduces the amount of time that the user terminal must turn on its receiver to listen for scheduling messages and ACK/NACK signaling. A scheduler at a base station aligns the transmission of downlink scheduling messages (e.g., downlink assignments) with uplink grants and ACK/NACK signaling for uplink transmissions. Aligning the downlink scheduling messages with uplink control signaling enables the user terminal to turn off its receiver for longer periods of time.