Abstract-Adaptive automatic repeat request (ARQ) schemes are quite effective for throughput enhancement in time-varying mobile channel environments. In this paper, an ARQ scheme with adaptive error-correcting codes is considered. A robust channel sensing algorithm by making use of XOR-ing is proposed for link adaptation. With the proposed channel estimation algorithm, an adaptive scheme that adapts its error correcting codes according to channel conditions is presented. The efficiency of the proposed adaptive ARQ scheme is evaluated in terms of throughput performance by computer simulation for a time-varying mobile channel characterized by Rayleigh fading and log-normal shadowing. As an enhancement in counteracting long deep fades, the incorporation of frequency diversity into adaptive ARQ scheme is also investigated and the simulation results show that this scheme is quite efficient in counteracting long deep fades.Index Terms-Adaptive error control, adaptive automatic repeat request (ARQ), adaptive FH, channel sensing, frequency hopping (FH), time-varying mobile radio channel.