Automated Planning of CPICH Power for Enhancing HSDPA Performance at Cell Edges with Preserved Control of R99 Soft Handover

We present and demonstrate a novel approach for automated planning of common pilot channel (CPICH) power in mobile networks with co-existing HSDPA and R99 services. CPICH power allocation greatly influences the cell coverage pattern. A conventional strategy is to uniformly allocate a constant proportion of the total power to CPICH. We study non-uniform CPICH and optimize its allocation for enhancing HSDPA performance. We focus on HSDPA performance at cell edges, where user throughput is typically very low. Our approach is based on a linear-integer mathematical model; solving the model results in a power allocation that both ensures CPICH coverage and optimizes HSDPA performance at cell edges. Moreover, the model allows for precise control of soft handover (SHO) regions for R99 service. Experimental results show that our approach yields significant enhancement of HSDPA performance at cell edges with preserved R99 SHO control.