Patent ID: 8537700

Claim:
A method comprising: an access node providing wireless service to a plurality of access terminals on a carrier in a coverage area, the carrier comprising a reverse link; the access node taking a measurement of reverse noise rise (RNR) on the carrier during at least one turn of a round-robin process that comprises the access terminals in the plurality taking turns transmitting traffic data on the reverse link; the access node determining a respective RNR contribution of at least one access terminal in the plurality wherein, for each access terminal for which the access node determines a respective RNR contribution, the access node does so using at least a baseline RNR value and the measurement of RNR taken by the access node during the at least one access terminal's respective turn in the round-robin process, wherein the baseline RNR value is a silent-interval RNR, the method further comprising at least one of (a) the access node measuring the silent-interval RNR during a silent-interval-RNR turn, wherein the round-robin process further comprises the silent-interval-RNR turn and (b) the access node measuring the silent-interval RNR at a time other than during the round-robin process; the access node using the at least one determined RNR contribution to identify a high-contributor set of one or more access terminals in the plurality; and the access node instructing the access terminals in the high-contributor set to reduce their respective reverse-link-traffic transmission power level.