Patent ID: 8849339

Claim:
A method in a wireless device of a radio communications network, for controlling output transmission power from the wireless device, the method comprising: selecting one set among a plurality of sets that each contain a plurality of power step values, residing in a memory of the wireless device, responsive to criteria defined in the wireless device, by selecting a first one of the sets responsive to the criteria indicating that the wireless device is receiving signals from a first radio network node while transmitting to the first radio network node and by selecting a second one of the sets responsive to the criteria indicating that the wireless device is receiving signals from the first radio network node while transmitting to a second radio network node, wherein at least some of the power step values are different between the sets; receiving a power control command in a downlink from the first radio network node of a heterogeneous network that also includes the second radio network node, the first radio network node providing a different communication service cell size than the second radio network node; selecting one of the power step values of the selected one of the sets responsive to the power control command; and controlling the output transmission power from the wireless device responsive to the selected power step value.