A power control mechanism having a number of states and suitable for a communication system in which data transmissions are not continuous (i.e., bursty in nature). In one embodiment, a power control unit includes a data processor, a state machine, and a threshold adjustment element. The data processor receives and processes an input signal to provide states of data frames received from the input signal for a particular data transmission. The state machine receives the frame states and provides a current state for the power control unit. The current state is indicative of a status of a particular communication session that includes the data transmission, and is one of a number of possible states. The threshold adjustment element receives the frame status and the current state and adjusts a power control setpoint in response thereto. The setpoint is used to control the signal quality of the input signal and is adjusted in accordance with a particular adjustment scheme selected from a number of possible adjustment schemes associated with a respective possible state.