Saturation prevention system for radio telephone with open and closed loop power control systems

The method of claim I, wherein the step of determining relationships between the output power and the output power trigger level further includes steps of

• continuously comparing the output power to the output power trigger level to provide a comparison output representative of whether the output power is above or below the output power trigger level;
• ignoring the comparison output through a level-triggered interrupt arrangement while the output power is below the output power trigger level and until the output power is above the output power trigger level;
• and
• continually examining the comparison output through the level-triggered interrupt arrangement while the output power is above the output power trigger level and until the output power is below the output power trigger level.

An output power system for a radio telephone operable with a base station, said output power system comprising:

• means for providing adjustable amplification to a radio transmission signal to produce an amplified radio frequency (RF) output signal;
• means for generating and providing to said adjustable amplification means a gain adjustment signal to control output power of said radio telephone by controlling amplification of the radio transmission signal, said gain adjustment signal generating means including
• means for generating an open loop automatic gain control signal based upon received signal strength,
• means for generating a closed loop control signal based upon power control information received from the base station, and
• means for combining the open loop automatic gain control signal and the closed loop control signal to generate the gain adjustment signal;
• means for defining an output power trigger level;
• means for comparing the amplified RF output signal to the output power trigger level;
• and
• means responsive to said comparing means for selectively altering the closed loop control signal to control the output power of said radio telephone to prevent closed loop power control saturation.

An output power system for a radio telephone operable with a base station, said output power system comprising:

• means for providing adjustable transmission amplification to control overall output power;
• means for controlling said adjustable transmission amplification means through a gain adjustment signal, said controlling means including
• means for generating an open loop automatic gain control representation based upon received signal strength,
• means for producing a closed loop gain control representation based upon power control information received from the base station, and
• means for combining the open loop automatic gain control representation and the closed loop gain control representation to generate the gain adjustment signal;
• and
• means for further controlling the closed loop gain control representation based upon the overall output power to prevent closed loop power control saturation.

An output power system for a radio telephone operable with a base station, said output power system comprising:

• an adjustable transmitter amplifier;
• an adjustable gain controller coupled to said adjustable transmitter amplifier including an open loop portion and a closed loop portion;
• an output power detector coupled to said adjustable transmitter amplifier;
• an output power trigger level comparator coupled to said output power detector;
• and
• a closed loop portion reducer coupled to said output power trigger level comparator and said closed loop portion of said adjustable gain controller wherein said closed loop portion reducer prevents closed loop power control saturation.