Prioritised and selective power control in cellular wireless networks

Abstract

Power control is used in cellular communications systems to reduce power consumption and satisfy as many users as possible by managing the mutual interference between users. In signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) tracking power control (TPC) schemes, all users are required to adjust their power levels for each iteration, which is inefficient. In this study, a prioritised and selective uplink power control scheme is proposed. Priority user requirements are satisfied first, and then as many normal users (NUs) as possible are satisfied with their target SINRs. In addition, if an NU is currently satisfied with its target SINR, it is not required to update its transmit power level. Conversely, NUs who are not satisfied update their power levels. Simulation results are presented, which show that the proposed scheme outperforms dynamic target SINR TPC and variable target SINR TPC in terms of power consumption and efficiency. In addition, the proposed scheme is better than target SINR TPC and opportunistic power control as the number of users increases.