Method and apparatus for processing power control signals in mobile telephone system

The transmitted power of a mobile telephone is established by power control bits that are transmitted in a traffic channel from a base station and that are demodulated by a rake receiver in the telephone. The rake receiver includes a plurality of demodulators that demodulate respective fingers of the traffic channel which may be caused by multipath conditions, with the power control bits from each demodulator being combined with the power control bits of the other demodulators in the rake receiver regardless of whether the demodulators are in lock with their respective fingers. The combined power control signal from a rake receiver associated with a first base station is then tested against a threshold. If the combined power is at least equal to the threshold, the combined power control signal is sent to a logic combiner. If other base stations are communicating with the mobile telephone, the combined power control signal from each of these other base stations is also sent to the logic combiner. If any power control signal commands the mobile telephone to decrease its transmitted power, it does so; otherwise, it increases its transmitted power. Alternatively, the power control bits from each demodulator in a rake receiver can be blocked if the finger energy falls below a threshold that depends on the number of fingers from the associated base station.