Power Control for Packet Voice Service with Application to EDGE Wireless System

Using the enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE) system with cyclic frequency hopping as an example, we apply a Kalman-filter power control method based on interference tracking to packet voice service in wireless networks. Our results show that the power-control method significantly improves the spectral efficiency by enabling the 1/3 frequency reuse while maintaining a stringent requirement of 2% packet loss probability for voice service. Specifically, for allocated spectrum of 1.8, 3.6 and 5.4 MHz, the 1/3 reuse with the Kalman power control can yield 102.5%, 49.5% and 32.5% improvement in spectral efficiency, respectively, over the 3/9 reuse (regardless of whether or not power control is used). We also compare the performance of the Kalman method with a traditional signalto-interference-ratio method and a control method that is based on the last interference measurement. We find that appropriate selection of power for the first packet of each talk spurt and the filtering function for noisy measurements are crucial in providing high system capacity for packet voice service. For the EDGE system, we also identify a need for shortening the power update period, which is 480 ms in the specifications.