A Fast Self-Planning Approach for Fractional Uplink Power Control Parameters in LTE Networks

Uplink Power Control (ULPC) is a key feature of mobile networks. Particularly, in LTE, Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) performance strongly depends on Uplink Power Control configuration. In this work, a methodology for the self-planning of uplink Fractional Power Control (FPC) settings is presented. Values for nominal power and channel path-loss compensation factor are proposed. The method is designed for the planning and operational (replanning) stages. A very fast solution for FPC setting can be achieved by the combination of several simple solutions obtained by assuming some simplifications. First, the FPC planning problem is formulated analytically on a cell basis through the combination of multiple regular scenarios built on a per-adjacency basis from a live scenario. Secondly, detailed inspection of the FPC parameter values aims to identify the most important variables in the scenario impacting optimal FPC settings. Finally, regression equations can be built based on those key variables for a simple FPC parameter calculation, so computational costs are extremely reduced. Results show that network performance with the proposed FPC parameter settings is good when compared with typical FPC configurations from operators