A suite of distributed power control schemes (DPC) with active link protection (ALP) is studied in this paper for cellular networks. The DPC/ALP scheme protects the active links and ensures that they sustain their quality through out their transmission. The DPC/ALP either admits or rejects new links gaining access to the network while maintaining the quality of service (QoS) defined in terms of Signal to Noise Ratio (SIR). The DPC/ALP schemes operate only using local measurements. A networking approach to power control is taken here based on the concept of active link protection, which naturally supports the implementation of admission control. The convergence of all the schemes is shown analytically. Simulation experiments are designed to explore the network dynamics and operational effects. The proposed schemes are demonstrated on uplink power control scenarios in the case of cellular networks focusing mainly on CDMA systems. Results indicate that our scheme uses least possible transmission power for each user, converges in lesser number of iterations, and accommodates more users thus increasing network capacity or spatial re-use.