Systems and methods for transmit antenna switching

1. A method for antenna switching, comprising:

transmitting using a first antenna;

determining that a trigger occurs to switch to transmitting using a second antenna, wherein the trigger is based on a combination of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) maximum transmit power level (MTPL) counter and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) MTPL counter; and

switching to transmitting using the second antenna based on the determination.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trigger occurs when a ratio of the combined MTPL counters over a total number of uplink subframes within a decision period is greater than a MTPL switching threshold.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the decision period comprises approximately 640 ms and wherein the MTPL switching threshold is approximately 50%.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the PUSCH MTPL counter is incremented when transmit (TX) power of a PUSCH subframe is greater than or equal to the MTPL, and the PUSCH MTPL counter is incremented when TX power of a PUCCH subframe is greater than or equal to the MTPL.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trigger occurs when a reference signal received power (RSRP) of the first antenna and a RSRP of the second antenna are both greater than a MTPL gating threshold.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein an antenna switch switches between the first antenna and the second antenna.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the antenna switch is a type 1 antenna switch where both a primary receiver and a diversity receiver can be switched.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the antenna switch is a type 2 antenna switch where only a primary receiver and a transmitter can switch between two antennas.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trigger is also based on a reference signal received power (RSRP).

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising performing a switchback to the first antenna if a RSRP delta drops by more than a RSRP high threshold on the second antenna.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing a switchback to the first antenna when a transmit power control (TPC) command causes the transmit (TX) power for the second antenna to rise above a switchback power threshold.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the switchback power threshold is approximately 10 decibels.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing a switchback to the first antenna if a MTPL count on the second antenna is greater than the MTPL count of the first antenna plus a switchback MTPL threshold.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the switchback MTPL threshold is approximately 30%.

15. A wireless communication device for antenna switching, comprising:

a processor;

memory in electronic communication with the processor; and

instructions stored in the memory, the instructions being executable by the processor to:

transmit using a first antenna;

determine that a trigger occurs to switch to transmitting using a second antenna, wherein the trigger is based on a combination of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) maximum transmit power level (MTPL) counter and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) MTPL counter; and

switch to transmitting using the second antenna based on the determination.

16. The wireless communication device of claim 15 , wherein the trigger occurs when a ratio of the combined MTPL counters over a total number of uplink subframes within a decision period is greater than a MTPL switching threshold.

17. The wireless communication device of claim 16 , wherein the PUSCH MTPL counter is incremented when transmit (TX) power of a PUSCH subframe is greater than or equal to the MTPL, and the PUSCH MTPL counter is incremented when TX power of a PUCCH subframe is greater than or equal to the MTPL.

18. The wireless communication device of claim 16 , wherein an antenna switch switches between the first antenna and the second antenna.

19. The wireless communication device of claim 16 , further comprising instructions executable to perform a switchback to the first antenna when a transmit power control (TPC) command causes the transmit (TX) power for the second antenna to rise above a switchback power threshold.

20. The wireless communication device of claim 16 , further comprising instructions executable to perform a switchback to the first antenna if a MTPL count on the second antenna is greater than the MTPL count of the first antenna plus a switchback MTPL threshold.

21. An apparatus for antenna switching, comprising:

means for transmitting using a first antenna;

means for determining that a trigger occurs to switch to transmitting using a second antenna, wherein the trigger is based on a combination of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) maximum transmit power level (MTPL) counter and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) MTPL counter; and

means for switch to transmitting using the second antenna based on the determination.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the trigger occurs when a ratio of the combined MTPL counters over a total number of uplink subframes within a decision period is greater than a MTPL switching threshold.

23. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the PUSCH MTPL counter is incremented when transmit (TX) power of a PUSCH subframe is greater than or equal to the MTPL, and the PUSCH MTPL counter is incremented when TX power of a PUCCH subframe is greater than or equal to the MTPL.

24. The apparatus of claim 21 , further comprising means for performing a switchback to the first antenna if a transmit power control (TPC) command causes the transmit (TX) power for the second antenna to rise above a switchback power threshold.

25. The apparatus of claim 21 , further comprising means for performing a switchback to the first antenna if a MTPL count on the second antenna is greater than the MTPL count of the first antenna plus a switchback MTPL threshold.

26. A computer-program product for antenna switching, the computer-program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions thereon, the instructions comprising:

code for causing a wireless communication device to transmit using a first antenna;

code for causing the wireless communication device to determine that a trigger occurs to switch to transmitting using a second antenna, wherein the trigger is based on a combination of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) maximum transmit power level (MTPL) counter and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) MTPL counter; and

code for causing the wireless communication device to switch to transmitting using the second antenna based on the determination.

27. The computer-program product of claim 26 , wherein the trigger occurs when a ratio of the combined MTPL counters over a total number of uplink subframes within a decision period is greater than a MTPL switching threshold.

28. The computer-program product of claim 26 , wherein the PUSCH MTPL counter is incremented when transmit (TX) power of a PUSCH subframe is greater than or equal to the MTPL, and the PUSCH MTPL counter is incremented when TX power of a PUCCH subframe is greater than or equal to the MTPL.

29. The computer-program product of claim 26 , further comprising code for causing the wireless communication device to perform a switchback to the first antenna if a transmit power control (TPC) command causes the transmit (TX) power for the second antenna to rise above a switchback power threshold.

30. The computer-program product of claim 26 , further comprising code for causing the wireless communication device to perform a switchback to the first antenna if a MTPL count on the second antenna is greater than the MTPL count of the first antenna plus a switchback MTPL threshold.