Radio signal path design tool with graphical display to facilitate selection of alternative radio antenna sites

• US 10,397,798 B2
• Filed: 04/06/2018
• Issued: 08/27/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wireless Applications Corp.
• Original Assignee: Wireless Applications Corp.
• Inventors: Wills, Eric, Salama, Abdelelah
• Primary Examiner(s): Cho, Un C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rahman, Shah M
• Application Number:
  US15/947,643
• Publication Number:
  US 20180295524A1
• Time in Patent Office: 508 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0817 with multiple receivers and antenna path selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/02 Resource partitioning among network components, e.g. reuse partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/18 Network planning tools
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/22 Traffic simulation tools or models

Abstract

A radio signal path design tool that provides for a visual depiction of the viability of alternative antenna locations around proposed fixed antenna sites. The design tool computes a radio link path profile at the proposed antenna sites while simultaneously displaying alternative locations around the fixed antenna sites that would potentially achieve the radio link design goals. In some embodiments, the alternative antenna locations are represented as an array of points, arranged in a grid pattern, surrounding the proposed antenna sites. The path design tool may change each displayed point so that the point visually reflects the extent to which the corresponding location satisfies the radio link design goals. By providing a robust visualization, the design tool allows for a ready assessment of alternative radio link paths adjacent to the proposed link path, which allows for flexibility in deploying radio antennas.

Claims

1. A computer readable non-transitory medium storing instruction that when executed by a processor in a computing system, cause the computing system to perform a method of assessing the suitability of alternative antenna placement sites for radio communication, the method comprising:

receiving a first location of a first radio antenna and a second location of a second radio antenna, the first and second radio antennas forming a radio link;

determining a first plurality of points spatially arranged in a grid pattern based on one or more parameters around the first location of the first radio antenna, determining a second plurality of points spatially arranged in a grid pattern based on one or more parameters around the second location of the second radio antenna, wherein the one or more parameters are associated with a dimension;

computing one or more radio link metrics between each one of the points in the first plurality of points and each one of the points in the second plurality of points;

detecting an Indication to move the first location of the first radio antenna to a third location while the second location of the second radio antenna remains fixed;

in response to detecting the indication to move the first location of the first radio antenna to a third location displaying each one of the points in the first plurality of points to indicate a suitability of the point as an alternative antenna placement site based on the computed one or more radio link metrics,

wherein the suitability of the point as an alternative antenna placement site is based on whether an antenna placed at the alternative antenna placement site has a radio link that meets a specified path design goal.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of points spatially arranged in a grid pattern around the first location of the first radio antenna or the second plurality of points spatially arranged in a grid pattern around the second location of the second radio antenna is on a grid oriented along the azimuth of the path between the first radio antenna and the second radio antenna.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of points spatially arranged in a grid pattern around the first location of the first radio antenna or the second plurality of points spatially arranged in a grid pattern around the second location of the second radio antenna is on a grid oriented in a fixed direction independent of the azimuth of the path between the first radio antenna and the second radio antenna.

4. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, the method further comprises:

receiving a first length of the grid pattern around the first location of the first radio antenna,

receiving a second length of the grid pattern around the second location of the second radio antenna; and

determining, based on the first length and the second length, a number of points in the first plurality of points and a number of points in the second plurality of points.

5. The computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein determining the number of points in first plurality of points and the number of points in the second plurality of points is further based on a time required to compute one or more radio link metrics between each one of the points in the first plurality of points and each one of the points in the second plurality of points.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the number of points in the first plurality of points is independent of the size of the grid pattern around the first location of the first radio antenna, and the number of points in the second plurality of points is independent of the size of the grid pattern around the second location of the second radio antenna.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the indication of the first location of the first radio antenna is a latitude value and a longitude value of the first location, and the indication of the second location of the second radio antenna is a latitude value and a longitude value of the second location.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the indication to move the first proposed location of the first radio antenna to the third location is a drag-and-drop command.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more radio link metrics comprise radio path loss metrics or radio link budget metrics.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, the method further comprising:

detecting an indication to move the second location while the first location remains fixed; and

in response to detecting the indication to move the second location, displaying each one of the points in the second plurality of points to indicate a suitability of the point as an alternative antenna placement side based on the computed one or more radio link metrics.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein computing the one or more radio link metrics further comprises:

receiving a first set of parameters for the first radio antenna, and a second set of parameters for the second radio antenna;

receiving a third set of parameters for a first radio coupled to the first radio antenna, and a fourth set of parameters for a second radio coupled to the second radio antenna, the first and second radios establishing a communication link; and

computing the one or more radio link metrics based on the first set of parameters for the first radio antenna, the second set of parameters for the second radio antenna, the third set of parameters for the first radio coupled to the first radio antenna, and the fourth set of parameters for the second radio coupled to the second radio antenna.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the specified path design goal comprises whether the radio link is line of sight (LOS).

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the specified path design goal comprises whether the radio link meets a target Fresnel zone clearance.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the specified path design goal comprises whether the radio link meets a target link budget.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein displaying each one of the points in the first plurality of points to indicate a suitability of the point as an alternative antenna placement site comprises visually rendering each point in a color selected to represent the extent to which that point meets the specified path design goal.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises displaying a heat map by interpolating the computed one or more radio link metrics between the points in the first plurality of points to render a continuous gradient of color zones visually depicting the extent to which each color zone meets the specified path design goal.

7. A method to represent the suitability of potential antenna placement for radio communication in a wireless path design tool, the method comprising:

receiving a first proposed location of a first radio antenna and a second proposed location of a second radio antenna, the first and second radio antennas forming a radio link therebetween;

determining a first plurality of points spatially distributed in a regular pattern based on one or more parameters around the first proposed location of the first radio antenna, determining a second plurality of points spatially distributed in a regular pattern based on one or more parameters around the second proposed location of the second radio antenna, wherein the one or more parameters are associated with a dimension;

computing alternative radio path profiles between each one of the points in the first plurality of points and each one of the points in the second plurality of points;

displaying an aerial view of the path between the first proposed location of the first radio antenna and the second proposed location of the second radio antenna;

detecting an Indication to move the first location of the first radio antenna to a third location while the second location of the second radio antenna remains stationary;

in response to detecting the indication to move the first location of the first radio antenna to a third location, displaying each one of the points in the first plurality of points to indicate a suitability of the point as an alternative antenna placement site based on the computed alternative radio path profiles,

wherein the suitability of the point as an alternative antenna placement site Is based on whether an antenna placed at the alternative antenna placement site has a radio link that meets a specified path design goal.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving at least a first length of a first grid enclosing the first plurality of points around the first proposed location of the first radio antenna, a first spacing between points within the first grid enclosing the first plurality of points, a second length of a second grid enclosing the second plurality of points around the second proposed location of the second radio antenna, and a second spacing between points within the second grid enclosing the second plurality of points.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein at least one of the spacing of points within the first grid or the spacing of points within the second grid is respectively proportional to the area of the first grid or the second grid.

20. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

detecting an indication to move the second proposed location when the first proposed location remains fixed; and

in response to detecting the indication to move the second proposed location, displaying each one of the points in the second plurality of points to indicate a suitability of the point as an alternative antenna placement site based on the computed alternative radio path profiles.