Patent ID: 8023951

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a defining unit configured to define a capacity layer for a cell of a communications system, the cell comprising a coverage layer having a fixed coverage area provided by at least one carrier, the capacity layer comprising at least one carrier, each carrier in the capacity layer having a dynamically variable coverage area, wherein the defining unit is configured to vary the number of carriers in the capacity layer to dynamically vary a total number of carriers in the cell, wherein a power level of the at least one carrier in the capacity layer is variable such that the power level of the at least one carrier can be varied in dependence upon a distance of an associated mobile station from the base station, wherein a total transmission power for a downlink is divided between the coverage layer and the capacity layer of said cell in dependence on the coverage and capacity requirement of the system, and wherein the power level of the at least one carrier is adjusted without adjusting the total transmission power.