Method, apparatus and computer program for downlink MU-MIMO power settings and control

1. A method comprising:

storing in a local computer-readable memory a set of J predetermined power level offsets that scale transmission power per user;

selecting, by at least one processor, a set of N users to which are allocated overlapping downlink frequency resources;

selecting from the set, by the at least one processor, a power level offset;

signaling, via at least one transmitter, to at least one of the N users an indication of the selected power level offset; and

sending, via the at least one transmitter, a multiplexed transmission to the N users in which the transmission to the at least one of the N users is sent with the selected power level offset;

in which N is an integer at least equal to two, J is an integer at least equal to two, and at least one member of the set is other than 1/n in which n is any positive integer less than Nina, in which Nina, is a maximum number of users that can be multiplexed together,

wherein there are at least two of the selected N users whose downlink frequency resources only partially overlap with one another.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein selecting from the set the power level offset comprises:

determining a total number L of logical resources that are allocated to all of the selected N users across a subframe;

determining a unique number U of the frequency resources over which the total number of logical resources are distributed; and

wherein the selecting the power level offset from the stored set is based on a ratio U/L of the unique number of frequency resources to the total number of logical resources, in which U and L are each integers greater than two;

and wherein sending the multiplexed transmission is across all U of the unique frequency resources.

3. The method according to claim 1 , in which the selected power level offset is selected to be nearest to but not exceeding 100% of maximum transmit power usage.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the frequency resources are allocated physical resource blocks within a subframe, and wherein the selected power level offset is signaled to all of the N users and the multiplexed transmission is sent to all of the N users with the selected power level offset.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein sending the multiplexed transmission comprises sending a multi-user multiple input-multiple output transmission from K transmit antennas, in which K is an integer at least equal to two.

6. The method according to claim 1 , where the indication of the selected power level is a bit sequence of length i wherein T=J; i is an integer at least equal to two; and the indication is sent in a downlink control channel.

7. The method according to claim 6 , in which i is at least equal to three, and the method is executed by an access node of a wireless communications network.

8. An apparatus comprising at least one processor, a memory storing a set of J predetermined power level offsets that scale transmission power per user, and at least one transmitter,

in which the at least one processor is configured to select a set of N users to which are allocated overlapping downlink frequency resources, and to select from the stored set a power level offset;

and in which the at least one transmitter is configured to signal to at least one of the N users an indication of the selected power level offset and to send a multiplexed transmission to the N users in which the transmission to the at least one of the N users is sent with the selected power level offset;

in which N is an integer at least equal to two, J is an integer at least equal to two, and at least one member of the set is other than 1/n in which n is any positive integer less than Nmax in which Nmax is a maximum number of users that can be multiplexed together,

wherein there are at least two of the selected N users whose downlink frequency resources only partially overlap with one another.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8 ,

wherein the processor is configured to select the power level offset from the stored set by: determining at the at least one processor a total number L of logical resources that are allocated to all of the selected N users across a subframe;

determining at the at least one processor a unique number U of the frequency resources over which the total number of logical resources are distributed; and

selecting from the set the power level based on a ratio U/L of the unique number of frequency resources to the total number of logical resources, in which U and L are each integers greater than two;

and wherein the at least one transmitter is configured to send the multiplexed transmission across all U of the unique frequency resources.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8 , in which the at least one processor is configured to select the power level by selecting from the set a power level offset that is nearest to but not exceeding 100% of maximum transmit power usage.

11. The apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the frequency resources are allocated physical resource blocks within a subframe and wherein the transmitter is configured to signal the selected power level offset to all of the N users and the multiplexed transmission is sent to all of the N users with the selected power level offset.

12. The apparatus according to claim 8 , further comprising at least K transmit antennas, in which the at least one transmitter is configured to send the multiplexed transmission as a multi-user multiple input-multiple output transmission from K of the transmit antennas, in which K is an integer at least equal to two.

13. The apparatus according to claim 8 , where the indication of the selected power level is a bit sequence of length i wherein 2′, J and i is an integer at least equal to two; and where the at least one transmitter is configured to send the indication in a downlink control channel.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13 , in which i is at least equal to three, and the apparatus comprises an access node of a wireless communications network.