Measures for enabling per-carrier power control for inter-band multi-carrier capable devices, such as for example inter-band carrier aggregation capable devices. Such measures may for example comprise calculating a desired cumulative output power value for a combination of at least two uplink carriers of a terminal device, said two uplink carriers operating on different bands, setting an output power value for each of the at least two uplink carriers of the terminal device based on the calculated desired cumulative output power value, and providing, for the terminal device, a power control instruction for the at least two uplink carriers at the terminal device in accordance with the output power values set for the at least two uplink carriers.
1. A method for performing per-carrier power control on a network side of a wireless system, the method comprising:
calculating, by circuitry of a network entity, a desired cumulative output power value for a combination of at least two uplink carriers of a terminal device, said two uplink carriers operating on different bands, the calculation being based on an intermodulation power equation for the intermodulation power of a specific order intermodulation distortion of the at least two uplink carriers;
setting, by the circuitry, an output power value for each of the at least two uplink carriers of the terminal device based on the calculated desired cumulative output power value; and
providing, for the terminal device, a power control instruction for the at least two uplink carriers at the terminal device in accordance with the output power values set for the at least two uplink carriers.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating is based on:
an allowable intermodulation power parameter,
an effective intermodulation power parameter, and
one or more device-specific intermodulation performance parameters of the terminal device.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein:
the allowable intermodulation power parameter is determined in accordance with a target downlink performance at the terminal device, and/or
the intermodulation power equation and/or one or more of the parameters are fixed in accordance with pre-stored information or adjusted in accordance with at least one of parameter information received from the terminal device, which is indicative of values and/or combined values of one or more of the parameters, or feedback information received from the terminal device, which is indicative of downlink performance at the terminal device.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the setting of the output power values is based on an output power-related prioritization of the at least two uplink carriers such that each uplink carrier is assigned an output power value in accordance with its prioritization level.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the prioritization level of an uplink carrier is based on at least one of:
downlink performance on a downlink carrier, on which intermodulation distortion is caused by the output power of said uplink carrier, and the influence of the output power of said uplink carrier on the intermodulation distortion on said downlink carrier,
uplink capacity increase capability on said uplink carrier based on associated downlink performance deterioration on a downlink carrier, on which intermodulation distortion is caused by the output power of said uplink carrier,
a relationship between a frequency range of the band of said uplink carrier and a frequency range of intermodulation power of a specific order intermodulation distortion of the at least two uplink carriers,
a relationship between frequency ranges of the bands of the at least two uplink carriers,
channel allocations on the at least two uplink carriers, or
uplink data amount on said uplink carrier.
6. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the prioritization level of an uplink carrier is based on uplink link quality on said uplink carrier with respect to a desired link quality for said uplink carrier.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein, when the setting of the output power values based on an output power-related prioritization on the basis of the uplink link qualities of the at least two uplink carriers yields insufficient output power values for the at least two uplink carriers with respect to the desired link qualities for said uplink carriers, the instruction comprises a power control instruction for:
deactivation of one of the at least two uplink carriers by continuous setting of the output power value of one of the at least two uplink carriers to zero, or
discontinuous transmission of the at least two uplink carriers by alternate setting of the output power value of one of the at least two uplink carriers to zero.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the network entity is a base station or access node of the wireless system, and/or
the method is operable in at least one of a LTE and a LTE-A wireless system, and/or
the combination of the at least two uplink carriers of the terminal device, for which the desired cumulative output power value is calculated, constitutes an inter-band carrier aggregation.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network entity is a base station and the circuitry is one or more processors of the base station.
10. A method for performing per-carrier power control on a terminal side of a wireless system, the method comprising:
obtaining, by circuitry of a terminal device, an instruction for power control for at least two uplink carriers of the terminal device, the instruction comprising a setting of output power values of the at least two uplink carriers, said two uplink carriers operating on different bands, the setting being based on a desired cumulative output power value for a combination of the at least two uplink carriers of the terminal device, which is based on an intermodulation power equation for the intermodulation power of a specific order intermodulation distortion of the at least two uplink carriers; and
performing, by the circuitry, power control for the at least two uplink carriers in accordance with the obtained power control instruction at the terminal device.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising at least one of:
providing parameter information from the terminal device in an uplink direction, which is indicative of values and/or combined values of one or more of an allowable intermodulation power parameter, an effective intermodulation power parameter and one or more device-specific intermodulation performance parameters of the terminal device;
providing feedback information from the terminal device in an uplink direction, which is indicative of downlink performance at the terminal device; or
providing link quality information from the terminal device in an uplink direction, which is indicative of uplink link quality on the at least two uplink carriers.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the power control comprises:
deactivation of one of the at least two uplink carriers in accordance with continuous setting of the output power value of one of the at least two uplink carriers to zero in the obtained power control instruction, or
discontinuous transmission of the at least two uplink carriers in accordance with alternate setting of the output power value of one of the at least two uplink carriers to zero in the obtained power control instruction.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein:
the terminal device is a terminal, user equipment, mobile station or modem, and/or
the method is operable in at least one of a LTE and a LTE-A wireless system, and/or
a combination of the at least two uplink carriers of the terminal device, for which the setting of the output power values is made, constitutes an inter-band carrier aggregation.
14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the circuitry is one or more processors of the terminal device.
15. An apparatus for use in performing per-carrier power control on a network side of a wireless system, the apparatus comprising a processing system configured to cause the apparatus to:
calculate a desired cumulative output power value for a combination of at least two uplink carriers of a terminal device, said two uplink carriers operating on different bands, the calculation being based on an intermodulation power equation for the intermodulation power of a specific order intermodulation distortion of the at least two uplink carriers;
set an output power value for each of the at least two uplink carriers of the terminal device based on the calculated desired cumulative output power value; and
provide, for the terminal device, a power control instruction for the at least two uplink carriers at the terminal device in accordance with the output power values set for the at least two uplink carriers.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the calculating is based on:
an allowable intermodulation power parameter,
an effective intermodulation power parameter, and
one or more device-specific intermodulation performance parameters of the terminal device.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the processing system is configured to cause the apparatus to:
determine the allowable intermodulation power parameter in accordance with a target downlink performance at the terminal device; and/or
fix the intermodulation power equation and/or one or more of the parameters in accordance with pre-stored information or adjust the intermodulation power equation and/or one or more of the parameters in accordance with at least one of parameter information received from the terminal device, which is indicative of values and/or combined values of one or more of the parameters, and feedback information received from the terminal device, which is indicative of downlink performance at the terminal device.
18. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the processing system is configured to cause the apparatus to set the output power values based on an output power-related prioritization of the at least two uplink carriers such that each uplink carrier is assigned an output power value in accordance with its prioritization level.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the prioritization level of an uplink carrier is based on at least one of:
downlink performance on a downlink carrier, on which intermodulation distortion is caused by the output power of said uplink carrier, and the influence of the output power of said uplink carrier on the intermodulation distortion on said downlink carrier,
uplink capacity increase capability on said uplink carrier based on associated downlink performance deterioration on a downlink carrier, on which intermodulation distortion is caused by the output power of said uplink carrier,
a relationship between a frequency range of the band of said uplink carrier and a frequency range of intermodulation power of a specific order intermodulation distortion of the at least two uplink carriers,
a relationship between frequency ranges of the bands of the at least two uplink carriers,
channel allocations on the at least two uplink carriers, or
uplink data amount on said uplink carrier.
20. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the prioritization level of an uplink carrier is based on uplink link quality on said uplink carrier with respect to a desired link quality for said uplink carrier, which corresponds to a desired coverage range.
21. The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein, when the setting of the output power values based on an output power-related prioritization on the basis of the uplink link qualities of the at least two uplink carriers yields insufficient output power values for the at least two uplink carriers with respect to the desired link qualities for said uplink carriers, the processing system is configured to cause the apparatus to provide a power control instruction for:
deactivation of one of the at least two uplink carriers by continuous setting of the output power value of one of the at least two uplink carriers to zero, or
discontinuous transmission of the at least two uplink carriers by alternate setting of the output power value of one of the at least two uplink carriers to zero.
22. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein:
the apparatus is operable as or at a base station or access node of the wireless system, and/or
the apparatus is operable in at least one of a LTE and a LTE-A wireless system, and/or
the combination of the at least two uplink carriers of the terminal device, for which the desired cumulative output power value is calculated, constitutes an inter-band carrier aggregation.
23. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the processing system is one or more processors included in the apparatus.
24. An apparatus for use in performing per-carrier power control on a terminal side of a wireless system, the apparatus comprising a processing system configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain a power control instruction for at least two uplink carriers of a terminal device, the instruction comprising a setting of output power values of the at least two uplink carriers, said two uplink carriers operating on different bands, the setting being based on a desired cumulative output power value for a combination of the at least two uplink carriers of the terminal device, which is based on an intermodulation power equation for the intermodulation power of a specific order intermodulation distortion of the at least two uplink carriers; and
perform power control for the at least two uplink carriers in accordance with the obtained power control instruction at the terminal device.
25. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the processing system is configured to cause the apparatus to perform at least one of:
provide parameter information from the terminal device in an uplink direction, which is indicative of values and/or combined values of one or more of an allowable intermodulation power parameter, an effective intermodulation power parameter and one or more device-specific intermodulation performance parameters of the terminal device,
provide feedback information from the terminal device in an uplink direction, which is indicative of downlink performance at the terminal device, or
provide link quality information from the terminal device in an uplink direction, which is indicative of uplink link quality on the at least two uplink carriers.
26. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the processing system is configured to cause the apparatus to perform in the power control:
deactivation of one of the at least two uplink carriers in accordance with continuous setting of the output power value of one of the at least two uplink carriers to zero in the obtained power control instruction, or
discontinuous transmission of the at least two uplink carriers in accordance with alternate setting of the output power value of one of the at least two uplink carriers to zero in the obtained power control instruction.
27. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein:
the apparatus is operable as or at a terminal, user equipment, mobile station or modem, and/or
the apparatus is operable in at least one of a LTE and a LTE-A wireless system, and/or
a combination of the at least two uplink carriers of the terminal device, for which the setting of the output power values is made, constitutes an inter-band carrier aggregation.
28. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the processing system is one or more processors included in the apparatus.