GSM RF power control

RF power control is a process of adjusting the power level of a mobile radio as

it moves closer and further away from a base station. RF power control is typically
accomplished by the sensing of the received signal strength leveland the relaying of
power control messages from a transmitter to the mobile device with commands that
are used to increase or decrease the mobile device's output power level. GSM RF
power adjustments occur in 2 dB steps.

The use of RF power control allows for the transmission of only the necessary RF signal
level to maintain a quality communication link. Some of the key benefits of RF power
control include reduced radio channel interference to other radio devices and increased
batter life.

GSM specifies RF power control for both the uplink (MS power control) and downlink
(BS power control).

The power control schemes in circuit-switched GSM are always closed-loop power
control, where the transmission power of the transmitter is adjusted according to the
received signal level (and/or quality) at the receiver.

Implementation of the respective power control loops can happen within

1. the BSC, using MS POWER CONTROL and BS POWER CONTROL messages on A-

bis RSL
2. the BTS, under control of the BSC-set MS Power, MS Power Parameters, BS
Power and BS Power Parameter Information Elements (A-bis RSL)

MS power control
MS transmit power control serves th following primary purposes:

1. to reduce the battery consumption of the MS while transmitting, extending

battery life
2. to ensure the signals from all MS on a given BTS receiver are received with
similar magnitude, relaxing required dynamic range on the receiver
3. to redude the amount of uplink interference the MS might be creating in
remote/surrounding cells that re-use the same frequency

BS power cotrol

The idea of BS transmit power control is to ensure the BTS only sends the minimal
neccessary amount of RF power into the downlink RF channel in order to safely reach
the MS associated with a given dedicated channel. This means that it only exists on
dedicated channels, not on common channels.
The rationale for this is to reduce the amount of inteference to remote cells that re-use
the same frequency.

Furthermore, the primary TRX (T0) of a BTS must always transmit at full nominal power
level, i.e. the BCCH arfcn cannot use BS power control.