Patent ID: 8179884

Claim:
A method for establishing Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) calls on a wireless wide area network, the method comprising: from each of a plurality of wireless devices, receiving a respective request to establish a VoIP call on a wireless wide area network; for each request, establishing a circuit switched uplink leg of the call for communications from the wireless device to an access point for the wireless wide area network, and establishing a packet switched downlink leg of the call for communications from the access point to the wireless device; operating a power control mechanism to regulate respective power levels used by the wireless devices to transmit signals to the access point via the circuit switched uplink legs of the calls, wherein operating the power control mechanism for a wireless device comprises (i) measuring an error rate for signals received at the access point from the wireless device, (ii) if the error rate is above a first predetermined threshold, instructing the wireless device to increase a power level used for transmitting signals to the access point, and (iii) if the error rate is below a second predetermined threshold, instructing the wireless device to decrease the power level used for transmitting signals to the access point; and operating a rate control mechanism to regulate respective parameters used by the access point to transmit signals to the wireless devices via the packet switched downlink legs of the calls.