ASSIGNING COMMUNICATION SERVICES TO TIME SLOTS IN A CELLULAR COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

摘要

A cellular communication system comprises a base station (105) which supports a plurality of carriers with each carrier operating a time division multiple access scheme. An apparatus, for example part of a Base Station Controller, comprises a time slot assignment processor (207) which assigns communication services for remote stations (101, 103) to time slots of the plurality of carriers in response to a total transmit power characteristic for the plurality of carriers in the time slots. The total transmit power characteristic can specifically comprise a transmit power indication for each time slot where the transmit power indication is an indication of the combined transmit power for all communication services assigned to a time slot. The invention may reduce the maximum power drain and/or power drain variations for a base station.