Patent ID: 8169973

Claim:
A method in a mobile terminal for selecting a power-efficient Enhanced Uplink Transport Format Combination, E-TFC, for an uplink transmission to a base station, said method comprising the steps of: upon establishing a radio connection with the base station, receiving parameters from the base station that describe a radio bearer configuration; generating a group of E-TFCs based upon the radio bearer parameters; classifying each of the E-TFCs in the group as either power-efficient or power inefficient based on transport properties of each of the E-TFCs and a maximum code rate (Cmax) for the E-TFCs classified as power-efficient; receiving a grant from the base station; utilizing the grant to derive a set of allowed E-TFCs from the group; and selecting an allowed E-TFC from the set of allowed E-TFCs, wherein the step of selecting the allowed E-TFC from the set includes the steps of: determining an allowed, power-efficient E-TFC with the highest data rate from among the allowed E-TFCs in the set that are also power-efficient; determining whether the allowed, power-efficient E-TFC with the highest data rate can be filled by the data in a send buffer in the mobile terminal; and if the data in the send buffer can fill the allowed, power-efficient E-TFC with the highest data rate, selecting the allowed, power-efficient E-TFC with the highest data rate; if the data in the send buffer cannot fill the allowed, power-efficient E-TFC with the highest data rate: selecting an allowed E-TFC with a lower, second data rate that the data in the send buffer can fill; determining whether the allowed E-TFC with the second data rate is power-efficient; if the allowed E-TFC with the second data rate is power-efficient, selecting the allowed, power-efficient E-TFC with the second data rate; and if the allowed E-TFC with the second data rate is not power-efficient, sequentially selecting different allowed, power-efficient E-TFCs with progressively lower data rates lower than the second data rate until the data in the send buffer can fill one of the allowed, power-efficient E-TFCs with a data rate higher than the second data rate, or alternately selecting one of the allowed, power-efficient E-TFCs with a data rate lower than the second data rate and one of the allowed, power-efficient E-TFCs with a data rate higher than the second data rate.