Optimized downlink transmit power control during soft handover in WCDMA systems

This paper proposes a new power control strategy during soft handover in WCDMA systems. According to the link qualities of the downlink channels involved in soft handover, the transmit powers of the base stations in the active set are dynamically allocated. This new optimized power control scheme reduces the additional interference caused by the multiple site transmission during soft handover. Compared with the unbalanced and balanced power control scheme adopted by 3GPP, the proposed scheme shows better performance. It increases the downlink capacity and makes the whole system more robust to the fluctuating attenuation of the radio environment. Keywordspower control, soft handover, macrodiversity, WCDMA, wireless communications.