Power control in a wireless network

1. A user equipment (UE) comprising:

a transmitter;

a receiver; and

a processor operatively coupled to the transmitter and the receiver,

wherein the processor is configured to cause:

the receiver to receive, from a network device, an indication that transmit power control (TPC) command accumulation is enabled,

the receiver to receive, from the network device, on a single physical channel, scheduling information and power control information that includes a multi-level TPC command, and

the transmitter to transmit, to the network device, an uplink signal based on the received scheduling information and the multi-level TPC command.

2. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the multi-level TPC command includes a value selected from a plurality of pre-defined values.

3. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter is further configured to transmit the uplink signal on an uplink shared channel.

4. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the network device is one of a Node-B or a base station.

5. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the multi-level TPC command includes a set of values that includes at least two values up or at least two values down.

6. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the network device generates the multi-level TPC command by comparing a measured signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SNIR) with an SNIR target value.

7. The UE of claim 6 , wherein the network device generates the SNIR target value based on an error metric of the uplink signal.

8. The UE of claim 1 , wherein an interference measurement table stored in the network device is updated based on an uplink interference value measured from the uplink signal.

9. The UE of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the receiver to receive interference measurements from the interference measurement table stored in the network device.

10. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the receiver to receive an indication of a beacon power level from the network device.

11. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) having a transmitter and a receiver, the method comprising:

receiving, by the UE, an indication from a network device that transmit power control (TPC) command accumulation is enabled;

receiving, by the UE on a single physical channel from the network device, scheduling information and power control information that includes a multi-level TPC command; and

transmitting, by the UE to the network device, an uplink signal based on the received scheduling information and the multi-level TPC command.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the multi-level TPC command includes a value selected from a plurality of pre-defined values.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein transmitting the uplink signal includes transmitting the uplink signal on an uplink shared channel.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the network device is one of a Node-B or a base station.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the multi-level TPC command includes a set of values that includes at least two values up or at least two values down.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the network device generates the multi-level TPC command by comparing a measured signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SNIR) with an SNIR target value.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the network device generates the SNIR target value based on an error metric of the uplink signal.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein an interference measurement table in the network device is updated based on an uplink interference value measured from the uplink signal.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

receiving, by the UE, interference measurements from the interference measurement table stored in the network device.

20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving, by the UE, an indication of a beacon power level from the network device.