METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING AND/OR USING TRANSMISSION POWER INFORMATION

• US 20130230027A1
• Filed: 10/17/2012
• Published: 09/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Das, Arnab, Rangan, Sundeep
• Granted Patent: US 9,161,313 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/336
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/24 with feedback of measurements to the transmitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/146 Uplink power control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/16 Deriving transmission power values from another channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/325 Power control of control or pilot channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/365 Power headroom reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/367 Power values between minimum and maximum limits, e.g. dynamic range
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/40 during macro-diversity or soft handoff
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/54 Signalisation aspects of the TPC commands, e.g. frame structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A wireless terminal determines the transmission power used for its dedicated control channel at a point in time, and generates a power report indicating a ratio of a maximum wireless terminal transmit power to the transmit power of the dedicated control channel at the point in time. The power report provides a measure of available transmit power for wireless terminal use for other purposes, e.g., uplink traffic channels, after taking into consideration the transmit power used for the dedicated control channel. The point in time has a known time offset from the start of a communications segment in which the power report is transmitted. This allows the base station receiving dedicated control channel uplink signals from the wireless terminal to measure the received signals, receive and process the communicated power report, and correlate information to be used for accurate wireless terminal closed loop power control.

Claims

1. A method of operating a wireless terminal to provide transmission power information to a base station, the method comprising:

determining a power difference between a maximum transmit power of the wireless terminal and a transmit power estimate, the power estimate corresponding to a power level associated with a dedicated uplink channel at a point in time;

generating a power report, the power report including the power difference;

transmitting the power report; and

repeating the determining, generating, and operating steps according to a report transmission schedule.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the power difference comprises comparing the transmit power estimate of the dedicated uplink channel to the maximum transmission power.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the power level of the dedicated uplink channel is controlled by the wireless terminal based on at least one closed loop power level control signal received from a base station.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the dedicated uplink channel includes a control information signal transmitted over the dedicated uplink channel to the base station.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the power report corresponds to the point in time.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the point in time has a known offset from a start of a communications segment in which the report is transmitted.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the format of the power report depends on which one of a plurality of information reporting modes used at the time the report is transmitted.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the power report indicates a dB value.

9. A wireless terminal, comprising:

a report generation module for determining a power difference between a maximum transmit power of the wireless terminal, and a transmit power estimate, the transmit power estimate corresponding a power level associated with a dedicated uplink channel at a point in time, and generating the power report, the power report including the power difference;

a transmitter for transmitting the power report to a base station;

storing transmission schedule information for use in controlling the transmission of reports generated by the report generation module according to a report transmission schedule.

10. The wireless terminal of claim 9, wherein determining a difference comprises comparing the transmit power estimate of the dedicated uplink channel to the maximum transmission power.

11. The wireless terminal of claim 9, wherein the power level of the reference signal is controlled by the wireless terminal based on at least one closed loop power level control signal received from a base station.

12. The wireless terminal of claim 11, wherein the reference signal is a control information signal transmitted over the dedicated control channel to the base station.

13. The wireless terminal of claim 9, wherein the power report corresponds to the point in time.

14. The wireless terminal of claim 13, wherein the point in time has a known offset from a start of a communications segment in which the report is to be transmitted.

15. The wireless terminal of claim 14, wherein the format of the power report depends on which one of a plurality of control information reporting modes used at the time the report is transmitted.

16. The wireless terminal of claim 9, wherein the power report indicates a dB value.

17. A wireless terminal, comprising:

means for determining a power difference between a maximum transmit power of the wireless terminal and a transmit power estimate, the power estimate corresponding to a power level associated with a dedicated uplink channel at a point in time, and generating the power report, the power report including the power difference;

means for transmitting the power report; and

means for operating the means for generating and means according to a report transmission schedule.

18. The wireless terminal of claim 17, wherein the means for determining compares the transmit power estimate of the dedicated uplink channel to a maximum transmission power.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying computer executable instructions, for use in a wireless terminal, the computer readable medium comprising instructions for causing a processor to perform the steps of:

determining a power difference between a maximum transmit power, of the wireless terminal, and a transmit power estimate, the power estimate corresponding to a power level associated with a dedicated uplink channel at a point in time associated with a power report;

generating the power report, the power report including the power difference;

transmitting the power report; and

repeating the determining, generating and operating steps according to a report transmission schedule.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, step of determining compares the transmit power estimate of the dedicated uplink channel to a maximum transmission power.