The disclosure provides for a compressed mode transmission gap in wireless communications. A user equipment (UE) may receiving a downlink dedicated physical channel (DPCH) having a slot-format and a spreading factor during a first compression interval. The downlink DPCH may not include a compressed-mode transmission gap during the first compression interval. The UE may receive the downlink DPCH having the same slot-format and the same spreading factor during a second compression interval. The UE may determine that the downlink DPCH includes a compressed-mode transmission gap during the second compression interval. A set of slots of the downlink DPCH during the transmission gap may be punctured. The UE may decode the downlink DPCH for the second compression interval based on a set of remaining slots received during the second compression interval. In an aspect, the UE may estimate a SIR based on a TPC command in a last slot of the transmission gap.