Method and system for allocating power among concurrent transmission attempts

In a radio access network (RAN) in which, when the RAN seeks to transmit a message via an air interface to an access terminal served by the RAN, the RAN engages in a sequence of transmission attempts until the RAN completes the sequence or until the RAN receives an acknowledgement from the access terminal, each transmission attempt thus having an attempt number corresponding to a position of the transmission attempt in the sequence, the improvement comprising:

• when the RAN is going to engage concurrently in at least a first transmission attempt of a first message and a second transmission attempt of a second message, (i) the RAN determining an attempt number of the first transmission attempt and an attempt number of the second transmission attempt, (ii) the RAN performing a comparison of the determined attempt numbers, and (iii) based at least in part on the comparison, a base station of the RAN allocating a quantity of transmission power among the first transmission attempt and the second transmission attempt,
• wherein the quantity of transmission power is an overall quantity of transmission power dedicated to at least one channel operating in a given wireless coverage area of the RAN,
• wherein the transmission attempt of the first message is assigned to a first channel and the transmission attempt of the second message is assigned to a second channel, wherein the at least one channel operating in the given wireless coverage area includes the first and second channels, and
• wherein allocating the quantity of transmission power based at least in part on the comparison comprises (a) the RAN allocating more of the overall transmission power to the first channel than to the second channel if the attempt number of the first transmission attempt is greater than the attempt number of the second transmission attempt, (b) the RAN allocating less of the overall transmission power to the first channel than to the second channel if the attempt number of the first transmission attempt is less than the attempt number of the second transmission attempt, and (c) the RAN allocating an equal portion of the overall transmission power to the first and second channels if the attempt number of the first transmission attempt is equal to the attempt number of the second transmission attempt.

In a radio access network (RAN) in which, when the RAN seeks to transmit a message via an air interface to an access terminal served by the RAN, the RAN engages in a sequence of transmission attempts until the RAN receives an acknowledgement from the access terminal, each transmission attempt thus having an attempt number corresponding to a position of the transmission attempt in the sequence, a method comprising:

• the RAN encountering a situation where the RAN is going to engage concurrently in at least a transmission attempt of a first message and a transmission attempt of a second message;
• the RAN determining an attempt number of the first transmission attempt and an attempt number of the second transmission attempt;
• the RAN performing a comparison of the determined attempt numbers;
• and
• the RAN allocating a quantity of transmission power among the first transmission attempt and the second transmission attempt based at least in part on the comparison,
• wherein the quantity of transmission power is an overall quantity of transmission power dedicated to at least one channel operating in a given wireless coverage area of the RAN, and
• wherein allocating the quantity of transmission power among the first transmission attempt and the second transmission attempt based at least in part on the comparison comprises (a) the RAN allocating more of the overall transmission power to the first channel than to the second channel if the attempt number of the first transmission attempt is greater than the attempt number of the second transmission attempt, (b) the RAN allocating less of the overall transmission power to first channel than to the second channel if the attempt number of the first transmission attempt is less than the attempt number of the second transmission attempt, and (c) the RAN allocating an equal portion of the overall transmission power to the first and second channels if the attempt number of the first transmission attempt is equal to the attempt number of the second transmission attempt.