Power setting

1. A method comprising:

determining, at a first base station, one or more neighbor base stations that belong to a group of base stations, wherein the first base station is a member of the group of base stations;

detecting at least one adjacent base station that is adjacent to the first base station and that is not a member of the group of base stations;

determining a degree of association between the first base station and the adjacent base station, wherein determining the degree of association comprises determining whether the adjacent base station was detected directly by the first base station, or by a neighbour base station within the group of base stations and wherein if the adjacent base station was detected by a neighbour base station within the group, determining a neighbour relation of the neighbour base station that detected the adjacent base station; and

setting a maximum downlink power for transmissions from the first base station based, at least in part, on the degree of association between the first base station and the adjacent base station, wherein the maximum downlink power is increased for a higher degree of association between the first base station and the adjacent base station.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the adjacent base station is a macro base station.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more neighbor base stations includes at least one of:

receiving neighbor information for at least one neighbor base station from a management node;

capturing an identity of at least one neighbor base station via downlink transmissions transmitted by the at least one neighbor base station;

receiving peer-to-peer communications from at least one neighbor base station; and

receiving periodic measurement reports from at least one user equipment devices attached to the first base station that includes information for at least one neighbor base station.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the maximum downlink power for transmissions for the first base station further comprises:

determining a target signal strength at which transmissions from the first base station should be received; and

setting the maximum downlink power to achieve the target signal strength, wherein the target signal strength is determined based on the degree of association between the first base station and the at least one adjacent base station and a pathloss value.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the at least one adjacent base station operates on a carrier channel at least partially overlapping a carrier channel of the first base station and wherein determining the target signal strength at which transmissions from the first base station should be received further comprises:

calculating a reference signal strength based on a signal strength value of the carrier channel of the adjacent base station.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

setting a maximum uplink power for transmissions from user equipment devices attached to the first base station.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the maximum uplink power is decreased based on a higher degree of association between the first base station and the adjacent base station.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein setting the maximum uplink power further comprises:

calculating a reference uplink power based on a pathloss to the adjacent base station; and

selecting one of the reference uplink power and a maximum uplink power according to the degree of association between the first base station and the adjacent base station.

9. Non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions encoded for execution, which when executed by a processor, is operable to perform operations comprising:

determining, at a first base station, one or more neighbor base stations that belong to a group of base stations, wherein the first base station is a member of the group of base stations;

detecting at least one adjacent base station that is adjacent to the first base station and that is not a member of the group of base stations;

determining a degree of association between the first base station and the adjacent base station, wherein determining the degree of association comprises determining whether the adjacent base station was detected directly by the first base station, or by a neighbour base station within the group of base stations and wherein if the adjacent base station was detected by a neighbour base station within the group, determining a neighbour relation of the neighbour base station that detected the adjacent base station; and

setting a maximum downlink power for transmissions from the first base station based, at least in part, on the degree of association between the first base station and the adjacent base station, wherein the maximum downlink power is increased for a higher degree of association between the first base station and the adjacent base station.

10. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein determining the one or more neighbor base stations includes at least one of:

receiving neighbor information for at least one neighbor base station from a management node;

capturing an identity of at least one neighbor base station via downlink transmissions transmitted by the at least one neighbor base station;

receiving peer-to-peer communications from at least one neighbor base station; and

receiving periodic measurement reports from at least one user equipment devices attached to the first base station that includes information for at least one neighbor base station.

11. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein setting the maximum downlink power for transmissions for the first base station further comprises:

determining a target signal strength at which transmissions from the first base station should be received; and

setting the maximum downlink power to achieve the target signal strength, wherein the target signal strength is determined based on the degree of association between the first base station and the at least one adjacent base station and a pathloss value.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the at least one adjacent base station operates on a carrier channel at least partially overlapping a carrier channel of the first base station and wherein determining the target signal strength at which transmissions from the first base station should be received further comprises:

calculating a reference signal strength based on a signal strength value of the carrier channel of the adjacent base station.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 9 , further comprising instructions encoded for execution, which when executed by the processor, is operable to perform operations comprising:

setting a maximum uplink power for transmissions from user equipment devices attached to the first base station.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the maximum uplink power is decreased based on a higher degree of association between the first base station and the adjacent base station.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein setting the maximum uplink power further comprises:

calculating a reference uplink power based on a pathloss to the adjacent base station; and

selecting one of the reference uplink power and a maximum uplink power according to the degree of association between the first base station and the adjacent base station.

16. A first base station, comprising:

a memory element for storing data; and

a processor to execute instructions associated with the data that, when executed, configure the processor to perform one or more operations comprising:

determining, at the first base station, one or more neighbor base stations that belong to a group of base stations, wherein the first base station is a member of the group of base stations;

detecting at least one adjacent base station that is adjacent to the first base station and that is not a member of the group of base stations;

determining a degree of association between the first base station and the adjacent base station, wherein determining the degree of association comprises determining whether the adjacent base station was detected directly by the first base station, or by a neighbour base station within the group of base stations and wherein if the adjacent base station was detected by a neighbour base station within the group, determining a neighbour relation of the neighbour base station that detected the adjacent base station; and

setting a maximum downlink power for transmissions from the first base station based, at least in part, on the degree of association between the first base station and the adjacent, wherein the maximum downlink power is increased for a higher degree of association between the first base station and the adjacent base station.

17. The first base station of claim 16 , wherein setting the maximum downlink power for transmissions for the first base station further comprises:

determining a target signal strength at which transmissions from the first base station should be received; and

setting the maximum downlink power to achieve the target signal strength, wherein the target signal strength is determined based on the degree of association between the first base station and the at least one adjacent base station and a pathloss value.

18. The first base station of claim 17 , wherein the at least one adjacent base station operates on a carrier channel at least partially overlapping a carrier channel of the first base station and wherein determining the target signal strength at which transmissions from the first base station should be received further comprises:

calculating a reference signal strength based on a signal strength value of the carrier channel of the adjacent base station.

19. The first base station of claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise:

setting a maximum uplink power for transmissions from user equipment devices attached to the first base station.

20. The first base station of claim 19 , wherein the maximum uplink power is decreased based on a higher degree of association between the first base station and the adjacent base station.