Patent ID: 8532017

Claim:
A method comprising: setting a payload size of a downlink control channel format, that addresses multiple users at the same time with independent messages, to correspond to a payload size of another downlink control channel format, wherein the downlink control channel format comprises a transmission power control command; assigning an identifier to the transmission power control command for identifying a target user for the transmission power control command in the downlink control channel format; allocating the downlink control channel format to a location of a downlink control channel, wherein locations available for allocating the downlink control channel format are a sub-set of possible locations available for allocating the another downlink control channel format, said allocating the downlink control channel format to the location of the downlink control channel comprises allocating the downlink control channel format across different aggregation levels of the downlink control channel, and at least one aggregation level is dependent on a cell size and a power boosting restriction of the another downlink control channel format; and transmitting the allocated downlink control channel format, including the transmission power control command, to a user equipment via the downlink control channel.