Performance analysis of CDMA with imperfect power control

The standard correlation receiver for code-division multiple access (CDMA) systems is susceptible to the near-far problem, Power control techniques attempt to overcome near-far effects by varying transmitted power levels to ensure that all signals are received with equal power levels. Since these algorithms cannot perfectly compensate for power fluctuations in a mobile communications channel, the capacity of the system is reduced for a given bit-error rate (BER). This paper examines the performance of a CDMA system using imperfect power control by extending analytical techniques that account for multiple access interference. Single cell capacity is compared with systems employing perfect power control.