Mitigation of transmit power spikes for a power-controlled data transmission in a wireless communication system

Techniques to mitigate spikes in transmit power, by reducing the magnitude and/or duration of the spikes, are described. Initially, power control is performed in a normal manner and in accordance with a transmit power control (TPC) scheme. If a (e.g., upward) transmit power spike is detected, the power control is performed in a manner to mitigate the adverse effects of the spike and in accordance with another TPC scheme. An upward transmit power spike may be detected, e.g., if a predetermined number of consecutive TPC commands in the upward direction is obtained for increasing transmit power. The upward transmit power spike may be mitigated by limiting the transmit power, reducing the rate of transmit power adjustment in the upward direction, delaying and/or filtering TPC decisions used for transmit power adjustment, preventing upward adjustment of transmit power, and so on. Multiple states may be defined and used to facilitate power control with spike mitigation.