Patent ID: 8660106

Claim:
A method for optimizing code utilization in a code division multiple access (CDMA) communication network, said network comprising a first communication network entity and a second communication network entity connected to said first communication network entity over a communication interface, wherein one or more user equipments can transmit data using a scrambling code to said second communication network entity over a radio interface on an uplink channel, said method comprising the steps of: identifying in what type of radio environment said one or more user equipments are by estimating an orthogonality factor and using at least one of the following: Root-Mean-Square delay spread, coherence bandwidth and downlink transmit power variance; measuring traffic activity over the radio interface by measuring at least two of the following: average transmission slot utilization, fraction of used transmission slots, and average transmitted code power; determining when and how to use a secondary scrambling code based on the type of radio environment and traffic activity; and wherein the secondary scrambling code is used if the following criteria are satisfied: the orthogonality factor is below an orthogonality threshold; total downlink power is less than a downlink power threshold; and the measured traffic activity is low.