POWER

CONTROL in
UMTS

Agenda
What is Power Control?
Importance of Power Control in UMTS RAN.
Power Control on Common Channels
Power Control on Dedicated Channels
Downlink Power Control
Uplink Power Control

Power Control during Soft Handover

Power Control during Compressed Mode
Power Control during Inter Frequency Handover
PC Scenarios
Power Control on HSDPA and EUL

Few Basics.
COVERAGE

POWER

CAPACITY

QUALITY

Understanding Power Control

LOWER Power Per

User HIGHER
Number of Users

HIGHER Power Per

User LOWER
Number of Users

Interference

Power Ctrl
ON
OFF

No or Improper Power Control leads to High interference

that impacts Coverage, Capacity and Quality

What is Power Control?

Any Spread Spectrum Technology like WCDMA is
limited by Interference. Internal Interference is the
biggest challenge that need to be controlled.
Interference impacts the three important aspects of
WCDMA Networks, the Coverage, Capacity and
Quality
Power Control is a process that minimizes the
internal interference as low as possible, there by
providing best possible capacity and quality.
It controls the downlink and uplink transmit power
and makes sure that only the required amount of
power being transmitted.
Power Control works on a per connection basis.

Importance of Power Control

Minimizes the Interference and there by enhances capacity and

quality.

It helps allowing as many users as possible while keeping the

interference as minimum as possible

It maintains the quality of all radio connections by controlling the

transmit power in both the links.

Power Control aims at using the minimum required SIR for the
quality of connection to remain sufficient. No excessive quality.

Power Control on common channels ensures that their coverage is

sufficient for call setup

It provides protection against slow fading and fast fading.

Efficient power control avoids the near-far problem.

Power control works efficiently during transmission gap in

compressed mode by bring the SIR back close to the target SIR.

It helps reducing the battery consumption

Power Control on Common

Channels
Call Setup and Cell Reconfiguration Downlink

PCPICH

PCCPCH

It carries the BCH and multiplexed with SCH

bchpower is the parameter that determines it power and is expressed
as an offset relative to PCPICH Power.

SCH

Always transmitted in a cell

Its power is set to an absolute value thru parameter primaryCpichPower
. Every other channels power is expressed as an offset relative to this
parameter

SCH consists of Primary SCH and Secondary SCH that are used in the
cell search process.
Paramters primarySchPower and secondarySchPower determine the
power. These are set as an offset relative to PCPICH Power

All the channels above are having fixed power set thru
configurable parameters

Power Control on Common

Channels
Common Transport Channel Setup Downlink

AICH

SCCPCH Carrying FACH

pchPower is the parameter that sets power for this channel.

PICH

maxFach1Power determines power if the FACH Carries a logical control

channel like BCCH, CCCH or DCCH
maxFach2Power determines the power the FACH Carries a logical traffic
channel (DTCH)

SCCPCH Carrying PCH

This Channel carries the AI Response to the PRACH Preambles.

Its power, aichPower is expressed as an offset relative to PCPICH.

This channel carries the paging indicators.

pichPower is the parameter that sets power for this channel.

All the channels above are having fixed power that are
configurable through parameters.

Power Control on Common

Channels

Power Control on Common

Channels
Common Transport Channel Setup Uplink - PRACH

PRACHs power is dynamic depends on the

RF Conditions of the UE
Initial power on PRACH is determined as per
the below equation
P_PRACH = L_PCPICH + RTWP + constantValueCprach
Where,
L_PCPICH Path loss estimated by UE
RTWP Received Total Wideband Power (uplink
interference) as measured by RBS
constantValueCprach a configurable parameter used by UE to
calculate the initial power on PRACH.
RTWP and constantValueCprach are provided through System
Information broadcasted in the cell to UE

Power Control on Common

Channels
Power Ramping on PRACH
powerOffsetPpm
powerOffsetP0
powerOffsetP0

Power Control on Common

Channels
Recommended Values for the parameters related to PRACH

Parameter Name

constantValueCprach
maxPreambleCycle
powerOffsetP0
powerOffsetPpm
preambleRetransMax

Object Name

Recommended Value

Rach

-27 dB

Rach

Rach

3 dB

Rach

-4 dB

Rach

Power Control on Dedicated

Channels
Downlink Power Control
Uplink Power Control

Downlink Power Control

RNC

RBS

DL Outer Loop PC /
Target SIR Estimation

BLER

Initial
DPCCH/DPDCH
Power
Estimation

DL OPEN LOOP PC

UE

DL Inner Loop
Power Control
TPC Commands

Pwr = Pwr +/- 0.5

dB

+/-

TARGET SIR

DL SIR
Power Controlled DPCCH/DPDCH

RX

Downlink Power Control Open

Loop
Open loop power control enables a reliable
radio connection setup and minimal impact
on existing connections.

Downlink Power Control Open

Loop

RNC Calculates the initial DPDCH power that is

transmitted using the below equation and transfers the
result to RBS.

PL_DL_DPDCH = primaryCpichPower + (dlInitSirTarget

Ec/No_PCPICH) + cBackOff + 10log(2/SF_DL_DPDCH)
Where,
primaryCpichPower downlink output power used for PCPICH in the
cell where connection is setup
Ec/No_PCPICH measured Ec/No on PCPICH at UE
dlInitSirTarget required initial SIR target for downlink DPDCH
SF_DL_DPDCH Spreading factor
c BackOf a correction factor for the initial power. Higher
this value the better call setup reliability.

Downlink Power Control Open

Loop

When a measured Ec/No is not available, the system

defines a default value, configurable through
ecNoPcpichDefault
Initial power of downlink DPCCH is related to the initial
power of DPDCH by certain offsets as below
P_DL_DPCCH_TFCI = (P_DLDPDCH + pO1)
P_DL_DPCCH_TPC = (P_DLDPDCH + pO2)
P_DL_DPCCH_PILOT = (P_DLDPDCH + pO3)

pO1, pO2 and pO3 are power offsets to the respective

fields.
pO2 is usually higher than other two. Reason being the
TPC Commands are to be decoded before combining
when UE receives multiple TPC from different RBS.

Downlink Power Control Open

Loop
Recommended values for parameters related to
Downlink Open loop power control
Parameter Name
cBackOff

Object Name

Recommended Value

Power Control

Power Control

4.1 dB

Power Control

-14 dBm

Power Control

0 dB

Power Control

3 dB

Power Control

3 dB

dlInitSirTarget
ecNoPcpichDefault
pO1
pO2
pO3

Downlink Power Control Inner

Loop

Inner Loop is the fastest power control in UMTS that

works at a speed of 1500 Hz (One TPC per slot in DL
DPCH. There are 15 slots in a 10 ms frame that
accounts to 1500 TPC commands per sec

UE measures SIR of DPCCH/DPDCH and compares

with its target SIR. Based on the difference UE sends
TPC commands, in uplink DPCCH, either to increase
or decrease the downlink tx power on DPCCH/DPDCH

RBS monitors the TPC commands received on uplink

DPCCH and regulates the DPCCH/DPDCH tx power
accordingly. The power step Delta TPC is +/- 0.5 dB
(1.0dB if the link is established over lur, thro DRNC)

The power regulation is constrained within the

downlink Power Limits set by Capacity Management
(calculated by RNC)

Downlink Power Control Inner

Loop

Measured SIR >= Target SIR UE Sends TPC to reduce power

Measured SIR < Target SIR UE Sends TPC to increase power

Downlink Power Control Outer

Loop
Downlink Outer loop power control is taken care by the UE using its
own proprietary algorithm
RNC sets a quality target in terms of BLER (Block Error Rate), which
is determined through the configurable parameter
blerQualityTargetDl
This BLER quality target is signaled by RNC to UE
UEs proprietary algorithm calculates the target SIR using the BLER
sent by RNC.
This target SIR is used in the UEs Downlink Inner Loop Power Control

Downlink Power Control Power

Limits

Maximum downlink tx power depends upon

the radio connection type, specially the data
rate. RNC calculates the max power limit
using the following configurable parameters
and data rate table shown.

Radio Connection Type

Maximum Radio Link Rate

PS384/HS

3700

SRB

14800

AMR 12.2

15900

minPwrMax & minimumRate

CS64

67700

interPwrMax & interRate

PS64/64

70900

maxPwrMax & maxRate

MultiRAB (CS64 + PS8/8)

76100

PS64/384

406900

Downlink Power Control Power

Limits

Minimum Downlink Tx power is set using the configurable

parameter minPwrRl, which is relative to the CPICH Power

Uplink Power Control

Uplink Power Control Open Loop

Power_ULDPCCH_INIT = DPCCH_POWER_OFFSET RSCP_PCPICH

Uplink Power Control Open Loop

RNC uses the equation below to calculate the

DPCCH_POWER_OFFSET

DPCCH_POWER_OFFSET = primaryCpichPower + RTWP +

ulInitSirTarget 10log(SF_DPCCH) + cPO
Where:
primaryCpichPower CPICH transmit power
RTWP Received Total Wideband Power (uplink interference) measured
by RBS
ulInitSirTarget Initial value for Uplink SIR Target defined as per the SF of DPDCH
SF_DPCCH Spreading Factor for DPCCH
offset to a
Interference

cPO a correction parameter used to set the uplink DPCCH Power

conservative level to avoid excessive UL

Initial Power in DPDCH is determined using a predefined

relative power offset (gain factor) between DPCCH and
DPDCH. This factor is described in 3GPP standards. UTRAN
informs this gain factor to UE.

Uplink Power Control Open Loop

There are four configurable parameters as given below to

set the initial value for Uplink SIR (ulInitSirTarget)
ulInitSirTargetSrb for stand alone SRB like RRC Connection
setup, IRAT and common to dedicated(SRB) RAB release
ulInitSirTargetLow for RABs having minimum DPDCH SF >=
32 like, IRAT handover, common to dedicated RAB
establishment and inter frequency handovers
ulInitSirTargetHigh for RABs having min DPDCH SF equal to
16 or 8 like, common to dedicated channel switching, common
to dedicated RAB establishment and Inter frequency handover
ulInitSirTargetExtraHigh for RABs having min DPDCH SF <= 4
like dedicated (SRB) to dedicated (384/HS-DSCH) RAB
establishment. This parameter is not used for open loop but
used in outer loop.

Uplink Power Control Inner Loop

Uplink Inner loop power control works at
the same speed as that of the down link
inner loop power control, ie) 1500 Hz.
RBS measures the SIR from the uplink
DPDCH / DPCCH and compares the
measured SIR value with the target SIR.
Based on the difference in SIR, RBS sends
TPC commands to UE, in downlink DPCCH,
either to increase or decrease the UEs
DPDCH / DPCCH tx power
UE monitors the TPC commands and
increases or decreases the tx power in
steps +/- 1dB

Uplink Power Control Inner Loop

Measured SIR >= Target SIR UE Sends TPC to reduce power

Measured SIR < Target SIR UE Sends TPC to increase power

Uplink Power Control Outer Loop

Outer Loop power control in downlink is to
adjust the SIR target that the UE will attempt to
maintain.
By adjusting target SIR, consequently the UL tx
power levels, the outer loop power control aims
at providing the just required quality.
RBS sends the CRC of DPCCH to RNC.
RNC uses the CRC to estimate the quality of
DPCCH and decides if the target SIR is to be
increased or decreased.
And then the new target SIR is passed on to the
RBS, to be used in the inner loop power control.
The fastest possible outer loop pc is 50 times
per sec. This speed is possible in AMR Voice as
it sends CRCs every 20ms.

Uplink Power Control Outer Loop

There are two methods available in determining the target SIR

Constant Step Regulator
Jump Regulator

Configurable parameter ulOuterLoopRegulator determines

which method to use

Uplink Power Control Outer Loop

Constant Step Regulator

NBR_OF_CRC_OK depends on the BLER target defined

through blerQualityTargetUl
ulSirStep is a configurable parameter that
determines how much increase to be done in target
SIR when a erroneous CRC is received.

Uplink Power Control Outer Loop

Jump Regulator

UP_DOWN_STEP_RATIO depends on the BLER Target. While

reducing SIR target, following formula is used

SIRtargetnew = SIRtarget + ulSirStep [-X/(Z*UP_DOWN_STEP_RATIO)+Y/Z]

Z the total number of received transport blocks
X number of transport blocks with CRC = OK
Y number of transport blocks with CRC = NG

Power Control during SHO Downlink

Initial Power Setting at SHO

Aim of power control at SHO is to equalize the power

from different RBS, while compensating for differences in
PCPICH power so that every signal received at the cell
border is at the same strength.
Biggest challenge in equalizing power is setting the
initial power for a new link being added into active set.
Following formula is used to set the initial power

P_DL_DPDCH = primaryCpichPower + (dlInitSirTarget

Ec/No_PCPICH)
+ cSho + 10log(2/SF_DL_DPDCH)
primaryCpichPower Downlink PCPICH tx power of the cell to be added
Ec/No_PCPICH measured Ec/No on PCPICH of the cell to be added. If
measured value
is not available, then ecNoPcpichDefault is used
dlInitSirTarget required Initial SIR Trget for downlink DPDCH
cSho Correction factor that takes into account the handover
margin (mSho)
and configurable parameter initShoPowerParam

Power Control during SHO Downlink

Typically, when a new link is added into active set the PCPICH
Ec/No of the cell to be added will be lower than the Best cells
PCPICH Ec/No already in the active set, by a Handover margin.
Hence the new cell will have to transit a bit high initial power
in order to make the UE receives the same strength from all its
cells in the active set.
Once the new cell is added into active set, then the new cell
starts monitoring the TPC commands of the UE and start
adjusting the tx power using inner and outer loop power
controls.
In case of a softer handover, the downlink Inner Power Control
of the existing branch is directly applied to the new branch.
During SHO, all cells in the active set receive the same TPC and
acts accordingly. But any one cell receives TPC erroneously
that could impact the transmit power of that cell which will
lead to power drift that eventually lead to uncoordinated links.
There is a mechanism called Power Balancing which prevents
this Power Drift issue.

Power Balancing (Power Drift

Prevention)

Power Balancing with DL Inner

Loop PC

Power Balancing can function in parallel with the Downlink

inner loop power control. The power correction suggested by
Power balancing will be added before adjusting the down link
tx power by Downlink power control.
There are 4 methods in Power Balancing configured thro
parameter dlPcMethod.
dlPcMethod = FIXED. Here Both Power Balancing and Downlink
Ineer Power Control are disabled. Downlink power is kept a
constant configurable level fixedPowerDl
dlPcMethod = NO BALANCING. Downlink Inner loop is active but
Power balancing is always off.
dlPcMethod = BALANCING. Downlink Inner loop PC is always
active. Power Balancing runs in parallel when there is more than
one radio link in the active set.
dlPcMethod = FIXED BALANCING. DL Inner loop PC is active as
long as there is only one radio link involved. Moment an
additional radio link is added into active set, DL Inner Loop PC is
disabled and Power Balancing is activated. In this case, downlink
power converges to a configurable reference power level,
fixedRefPower

Power control during SHO - Uplink

Power control during SHO - Uplink

During a softer handover, UE should receive
identical TPC commands from two or more cells
of the same Node B. Because the fading
conditions are expected to be the same over
multiple links from the same Node B.
Knowing this fact, UE soft combines the TPC
commands before making any decision on the
value of the TPC bit.
After combining the TPC bit is read and decision
made either to increase or decrease the power.

DL PC during Compressed Mode

Higher Layer Scheduling (HLS ) For Non real time services. Amount of
data scheduled to be transmitted is reduced during compressed frames.
Lower Spreading Factor (SF/2) SF is reduced by 2 during compressed
frame.

DL PC during Compressed Mode

Aim of PC during Compressed Mode is to recover the SIR

close to the target SIR as quickly as possible after each
transmission gap.
To achieve this, PC increases the downlink power and the
RRC signaling increases the downlink target SIR used by PC
algorithm in UE.
In a compressed mode frame, except during transmission
gaps, RNC estimates the k-th TPC command and adjusts the
current downlink power P(k-1) as per the below formula
P(k) = P(k - 1) + PTPC(k) + PSIR(k) + P bal(k)

PTPC (k) is the k-th power adjustment due to the Inner Loop Power Control

PSIR (k) is the k-th power adjustment due to the downlink SIR target variation

Pbal (k) [dB] is the correction due to the Power Balancing

PTPC is calculated using a step size Delta STEP instead of

Delta TPC. And Delta STEP is set to 2*Delta TPC during the
Recovery Period Length (RPL) after each transmission gap
RPL is expressed as number of slots and set to minimum of
{transmission gap legth, 7 slots}

UL PC during Compressed Mode

UL inner loop PC increases the target SIR to help
recovering after each transmission gap during
compressed mode.
All the serving cells in the active set estimate the
SIR of received uplink DPCC, generate TPC and
transmit them one per slot except downlink
transmission gap, according to the following rule
If estimated SIR >= SIRcm_target RBS sends TPC with
power DOWN
If estimated SIR < SIRcm_target RBS sends TPC with
power UP

SIRcm_target is the target SIR during Compressed

Mode, which is increased to compensate the
interruption in PC during transmission gaps and for
differences in number of pilot bits in uplink DPCCH

UL PC during Compressed Mode

Compressed and Non-compressed frames in uplink

DPCCH can have different pilot bits per slot, because of
transmission gap during compressed mode.
But nevertheless the total pilot energy per slot to be
maintained. To accomplish this an additional Delta Pilot
is added to the uplink transmit power
Delta Pilot = 10Log10 (N pilot,prev /N pilot,curr )
N pilot,prev PIlot bits in the most recent slot
N pilot,curr PIlot bits in the current slot

Thus an increase in uplink pilot power will increase the

received SIR per slot. But this is not the actual improved
channel conditions. Because the SIR target is also
increased by Delta SIRPILOT as given below

Delta SIRPILOT = 10Log10 (Npilot,N /N pilot,currframe )

Npilot,N No. of PIlot bilts per slot in a non-compressed uplink

frame
N pilot,currframe - No. of PIlot bilts per slot in the current uplink frame

PC during Inter Frequency

Handover

Setting a proper initial power on DL DPCCH/DPDCH at

IFHO enables reliable radio link setup at the target
frequency and minimal impact on existing connections
RNC calculates the initial DL power and transfer the
result to the RBS with target frequency. RNC uses
following equation
P_DL_DPDCH = prmaryCpichPower + (dlInitSirTarget
Ec/No_PCPICH)
+ cNbifho +
10log(2/SF_DL_DPDCH)
Where,
cNbiho a configurable correction factor that takes nonblind IFHO
margin into account. This parameter can be
used to set the
initial power at a conservative value.

Initial Downlink DPCCH power is calculated thro DPDCH

power using few offsets pO1, pO2, pO3 as seen in the DL
open loop power control

Power Control Scenarios

RADIO LINK SETUP

When a dedicate radio link is established from a

common channel or during a IRAT HO, the following
PC steps are taken
Set Initial Downlink Power DL Open Loop PC
Set Power limits DL Max Power and Min Power
Set Initial Uplink Power UP Open Loop PC
Set Initial Uplink SIR Target thro configurable
parameters ulInitSirTargetSrb, ulInitSirTargetLow,
ulInitSirTargetHigh
Start Uplink Outer Loop Power Control
Start Downlink Inner Loop Power Control
Start Uplink Inner Loop Power Control

Power Control Scenarios

RAB ESTABLISHMENT

When a RAB is added to the existing connection, following

steps related PC are taken
Set Power Limits DL max and min power
Downlink Inner Loop PC is already running and no changes
made as a result of addition of a service. Any requirements
for increased power is handled thro regular downlink power
updates thro TPC coming on uplink DPCCH.
Set Initial Uplink SIR Target thro configurable parameters
ulInitSirTargetSrb, ulInitSirTargetLow, ulInitSirTargetHigh
Start Uplink Outer Loop power control
Uplink Inner Loop PC is already running and no changes
made as a result of addition of a service. Any requirements
for increased power is handled thro regular uplink power
updates thro TPC coming on downlink DPCCH.

Power Control Scenarios

SOFT HANDOVER

When a radio link is added to the active set,

following actions related to power control are taken.
Set Initial Downlink Power DL open loop PC
Set Power Limits downlink max and min transmit
power
Start Power Balancing
Upon a radio link addition no uplink PC actions are
initially required. This is because the UEs power is
already controlled by existing links. After the new
link obtains uplink synchronization, the RBS issues
TPC based on the SIR thro uplink inner loop PC.
When a radio link is removed from the active set,
the power balancing is stopped. No other actions
taken.

Power Control Scenarios

INTER FREQUENCY HANDOVER

When a IFHO occurs, following actions related to

power control are taken.
Set Initial Downlink Power DL open loop PC
Set Power Limits downlink max and min transmit
power
Set Initial Uplink Power UL open loop PC
Set Initial Uplink SIR Target thro configurable
parameters ulInitSirTargetSrb, ulInitSirTargetLow,
ulInitSirTargetHigh
Start DL Inner Loop PC
Start UL Outer / Inner Loop PC

A Sample of Power Control

Procedure

HSDPA Power Control

HS-DPCCH

HS-DPCCH power is given as an offset relative to

DPCCH
Power offset factors depend on the number of RLS
as shown

HSDPA Power Control

HS-DPCCH

Recommended values for power offsets are shown

below
Higher offsets given when UE is in soft handoff. The
reason during SHO, HS-DPCCH will be received by
only one cell which transmits HS-DSCH. But HSDPCCH will be power controlled by TPCs from all
cells in the active set. If the HS-DSCH transmitting
cell is not the best cell in the active set, then HSDPCCHs performance may degrade. So, a higher
Parameter
Value
power off set
is given toRecommended
HS-DPCCH
to combat this
deltaCqi1
4
issue.
deltaCqi2
6

deltaAck1

deltaAck2

deltaNack1

deltaNack2

HSDPA Power Control

HS-SCCH

Power of HS-SCCH is fixed

Configurable parameter hsScchMaxCodePower
determines the power level and it is expressed as an
offset relative PCPICH

HS-DSCH

Initial Power is set in the same way as the Open loop

power control of DCH
There is no further power control
The channel quality is controlled by adaptive
modulation and coding formats.
CQI on HS-DPCCH is used to estimate the current
channel conditions.

EUL Power Control

Downlink Channels

Fixed power depends on configurable parameters

which are relative to PCPICH
E-AGCH (Absolute Grant Ch.) maxUserEhichErgchPowerDl
E-RGCH (Relative Grant Ch.) maxUserEhichErgchPowerDl
E-HICH (HARQ Information Ch.) - maxEagchPowerDl

Uplink Channels

E-DCH (E-DPCCH, E-DPDCH)

Initial Power is set as an relative offset to UL DPCCH using
gain factors.
Inner and Outer power control works in the same way as
that of UL DCH.

THANK YOU!