Radio communication system

A primary station for use in a radio communication system, comprising:

• a communication channel between the primary station and a secondary station, wherein the primary station is adapted to determine, from measurements of characteristics of signals received from the secondary station, an appropriate rate of adjustment of the output power of the secondary station, selected from one of a plurality of rates of adjustment available to the secondary station, and for communicating said rate of adjustment to the secondary station.

A secondary station for use in a radio communication system, comprising:

• a communication channel between the secondary station and a primary station, wherein the secondary station is adapted to determine, based on measurements of characteristics of signals received from the primary station, a rate of adjustment of the output power of the primary station, selected from one of a plurality of rates of adjustment available to the primary station, and for communicating said rate of adjustment to the primary station, wherein the rate of adjustment is selected dependent on the measurement of signal characteristics.

A method of operating a radio communication system, comprising:

• providing a communication channel between a primary station and a secondary station for transmission of information from one of the primary and secondary stations (the transmitting station) to the other station (the receiving station), determining at the receiving station, from measurements of characteristics of signals received from the transmitting station, a rate of adjustment of the output power of the transmitting station, selected from one of a plurality of rates of adjustment available to the transmitting station, and communicating the determined rate of adjustment to the transmitting station, and in response the transmitting station setting the adjustment rate of its output power, wherein the rate of adjustment is selected dependent on the measurement of signal characteristics.