A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided in connection with specifying a traffic-to-pilot (T/P) ratio per subframe and/or resource block to allow a base station to transmit over the subframes and/or resource blocks using varying transmit powers. In one example, a device communicating with the base station can receive a plurality of T/P ratios each related to a power used by the base station to transmit over one of a plurality of carriers in a specific subframe or resource block, determine a power of a reference signal received from the base station over a carrier of the plurality of carriers, and process a data signal received over the carrier within the specific subframe or resource block based in part on applying, to the power of the reference signal, a T/P ratio of the plurality of T/P ratios corresponding to the carrier.