Method for optimizing up-link transmission power for a wireless terminal in a multi-carrier system

A method comprising:

• at a base transceiver station, determining a pathloss between a wireless terminal and the base transceiver station using forward and reverse power control schemes to determine the pathloss;
• determining if the pathloss is less than or greater than a predetermined value;
• assigning one or more sub-carriers of a frequency band used for up-link transmissions to wireless terminals based on the pathloss between the wireless terminals and the base transceiver station, wherein assigning comprises assigning sub-carriers closer to an edge of the frequency band to wireless terminals when the pathloss between the wireless terminals and the base transceiver station is less than a predetermined value and assigning sub-carriers further away from the edge by at least a predetermined percentage of a width of the frequency band to wireless terminals when the pathloss between the wireless terminals and the base transceiver station is greater than the predetermined value;
• determining proximity of the one or more sub-carriers to the edge of the frequency band;
• assigning a power level to the one or more sub-carriers based on said proximity;
• sending a power cap command signal from the base transceiver station to the wireless terminal, wherein sending comprises sending the power cap command signal that is configured to indicate a power spectral density, and wherein a predetermined level of a maximum allowable power varies over the frequency band based on the power spectral density indicated by the power cap command and such that the power cap command signal limits the maximum allowable power to a higher maximum allowable power for sub-carriers that are further away from the edge of the frequency band than for sub-carriers that are closer to the edge of the frequency band.