Methods and apparatus for controlling transmission power while in soft handoff

摘要

Method and apparatus for adjusting the transmission power of base stations (4, 6) in simultaneous communication with a mobile station (8). The methods described provide for the transmission power of the base stations (4, 6) to be aligned. In the first exemplary embodiment, the transmitters (20, 32) are attached to a separate control unit (12) through communication links. The control unit (12) then derives the most likely command stream and send that to the base stations. In the second exemplary embodiment, the control unit periodically receives the final or average transmit level in a period and an aggregate quality measure for the feedback during a period from each of the transmitters. The control unit (12) determines the aligned power level and transmits a message indicative of the aligned power level to the transmitters. In the third exemplary embodiment, the transmitters (20, 32) send the control unit (12) a message indicative of the transmit power of transmissions to the receiver. The control unit (12) determines the aligned transmit power based on the current transmit power.