Coverage probability analysis of three uplink power control schemes: Stochastic geometry approach

In cellular networks, each mobile station adjusts its power level under control of its base station, i.e., through uplink transmit power control, which is essential to reach desired signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at the base station and to limit inter-cell interference. The optimal levels of transmit power in a network depend on path loss, shadowing, and multipath fading, as well as the network configuration. However, since path loss is distance dependent and the cell association distances are correlated due to the cell association policies, the performance analysis of the uplink transmit power control is very complicated. Consequently, the impact of a specific power control algorithm on network performance is hard to quantify. In this paper, we analyze three uplink transmit power control schemes. We assume the standard power-law path loss and composite Rayleigh-lognormal fading. Using stochastic geometry tools, we derive the cumulative distribution function and the probability density function of the uplink transmit power and the resulting network coverage probability. It is shown that the coverage is highly dependent on the severity of shadowing, the power control scheme, and its parameters, but invariant of the density of deployment of base stations when the shadowing is mild and power control is fractional. At low SINRs, compensation of both path loss and shadowing improves the coverage. However, at high SINRs, compensating for path loss only improves coverage. Increase in the severity of shadowing significantly reduces the coverage.