The cdma2000 1xEV-DO standard has a distributed rate control on the reverse link. If a mobile has data to transmit, it determines the data rate of the next frame in response to a reverse activity bit broadcast by the base station. This letter proposes an analytical framework for the 1xEV-DO rate control by adopting the noise rise as the reverse traffic load, and by modeling the rate control as a discrete Markov process. We validate the proposed model through a simulation, in which 1xEV-DO reverse power control is applied to a Rayleigh fading channel. In addition, we illustrate the operation principle of the 1xEV-DO rate control based on the data rate distribution of mobiles.