A base station configured for outer loop power control receives an uplink dedicated channel transmission from a wireless transmit/receive unit. The base station transmits transmit power control commands in response to the received uplink channel transmission and determines if the wireless transmit/receive unit is in a discontinuous transmission mode. The base station adjusts a target SIR based on which transmission mode for the wireless transmit/receive unit is detected. The value for the transmit power control command is derived from the adjusted target SIR.