Pilot power control

摘要

A method of adapting pilot signal transmission power of a plurality of base stations operable to provide coverage in a wireless communications network, a network controller and computer program product operable to perform that method.
The method comprises the steps of:
monitoring an indication of data traffic supported by each base station;
assessing for each base station whether that indication of data traffic has passed a first predetermined value;
selecting a set of adjacent base stations for each base station having an indication of data traffic assessed to have passed the first predetermined value; and
instructing an increase to the pilot signal transmission power for those base stations in the selected set of adjacent base stations which are determined to have an indication of data traffic past a second predetermined value.
Radio coverage optimisation of base stations is an important element in improving the overall performance of each of the base stations within a group and overall network performance. A group of base stations with co-ordinated and optimised coverage may achieve higher end user data rate, improved quality of service and lower overall energy usage than would otherwise be possible. The method aims to achieve traffic overload reduction by means of pilot power control.