Systems and methods for managing wireless communications using link space information

• US 20040077354A1
• Filed: 10/21/2002
• Published: 04/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hong Kong Applied Science And Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hong Kong Applied Science And Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Jason, Leung Hang Ching, Wong, Piu Bill
• Granted Patent: US 7,366,519 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/450
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/10 Dynamic resource partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

Disclosed are systems and methods which provide for management of wireless communications through the development and use of link space information. Such link space information provides link-centric information with respect to wireless links of a network to thereby provide a view of the network which takes into account phenomena affecting the wireless links. Utilizing such link space information, automated management of various aspects of a wireless network may be provided, including automated provisioning, management, and/or optimization of network links. Network operations may include use of link space information in providing network management applications such as automatic fault management, automatic performance management, operation advisories, and/or the like.

Claims

1. A method for providing link space data with respect to wireless links in a network, said method comprising:

collecting wireless link attributes with respect to all wireless nodes of the network;

determining wireless links between nodes of the network; and

determining effective radiation proximity of said wireless nodes using at least a portion of said collected wireless link attributes and said determined wireless links.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said wireless link attributes collected comprise signal strength.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said wireless link attributes collected comprise data error rate.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said wireless link attributes collected comprise transmit power.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said wireless link attributes collected comprise antenna pattern.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said wireless link attributes collected comprise channel usage information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said wireless link attributes collected comprise data rate.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said wireless link attributes collected comprise a connection status.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said wireless link attributes collected comprise a link diversity attribute.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said determined wireless links comprise all data links between nodes of the network and at least one RF link for which no data link is established.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said effective radiation proximity is a function of propagation phenomena of said wireless links.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deploying a centralized system in communication with a plurality of said nodes for performing said collecting wireless link attributes, determining wireless links, and determining effective radiation proximity steps.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

deploying agents with respect to ones of said plurality of nodes, wherein said agents are in communication with said centralized system.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said agents operate to collect at least a portion of said wireless link attributes.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said agents further operate to adjust operational attributes of said network under control of said centralized system.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deploying a distributed architecture system at a plurality of said nodes for performing said collecting wireless link attributes, determining wireless links, and determining effective radiation proximity steps.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

providing data communication between said plurality of nodes to thereby provide cooperation between portions of said distributed architecture system in providing said link space data.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using said link space data in providing automated management of said network.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said automated management of said network comprises:

controlling at least one wireless link attribute associated with a wireless node of the network selected from the group consisting of a transmit power, an antenna pattern, channel usage, data rate, and connection status.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein said automated management of said network comprises:

providing frequency planning using said link space data with respect to all nodes of said network.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein said automated management of said network comprises:

controlling network attributes to provide operational attributes from the group consisting of providing load balancing with respect to at least one network element, maximizing coverage of nodes by the network, minimizing coverage of areas not having nodes of said network, detecting unintended RF parties, and reducing occurrence of hidden terminal interference.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using said link space data in providing advisory output with respect to configuration of said network.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using said link space data in configuring a wireless distribution system.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using said link space data in a location based service platform.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein said determined effective radiation proximity of said wireless nodes is utilized in providing user link space location information, wherein said user link space location information comprises direction and distance information.

26. A system for providing link space data with respect to wireless links in a network, said system comprising:

data collectors in communication with nodes of said network and collecting wireless link attributes therefrom; and

a processor-based system operable to accept said collected wireless link attributes and identify wireless links between nodes of the network therefrom, said processor-based system also operable to determine effective radiation proximity of said wireless nodes using at least a portion of said collected wireless link attributes.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein said wireless link attributes collected comprise at least one attribute selected from the group consisting of signal strength, data error rate, transmit power, antenna pattern, channel usage information, data rate, a connection status, and a link diversity attribute.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein said identified wireless links comprise all data links between nodes of the network and at least one RF link for which no corresponding data link is established.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein said identified wireless links comprise RF links between nodes of the network and RF devices external thereto.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein said effective radiation proximity is a function of propagation phenomena of said wireless links.

31. The system of claim 26, wherein said processor-based system comprises a centralized system in communication with a plurality of said nodes.

32. The system of claim 31, further comprising:

a plurality of agents deployed at ones of said plurality of nodes, wherein said agents are in communication with said centralized system.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein said data collectors comprise said agents.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein said agents comprise software agents operable upon said plurality of nodes.

35. The system of claim 26, wherein said processor-based system comprises:

a plurality of processor-based systems deployed in a distributed architecture.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein said plurality of processor-based systems comprise a plurality of said nodes.

37. A system for providing management of a network including wireless links, said system comprising:

a link space data engine, said link space data engine collecting wireless link attributes from a plurality of nodes of said network and providing link space information including wireless links of the network and information with respect to a physical aspect thereof; and

a network management system, said network management system providing automated management of said network as a function of said link space information.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein said wireless links of said link space information include RF links not having a data link associated therewith.

39. The system of claim 37, wherein said link space information includes information with respect to link quality of each data link of said wireless links.

40. The system of claim 37, wherein said automated management of said network comprises fault management.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein said fault management comprises maximizing coverage of nodes within a wireless service area of said network.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein said maximizing coverage of nodes comprises detection of nodes outside of said service area using antenna pattern scanning and channel scanning by a node inside of said service area and extending said service area in response thereto.

43. The system of claim 40, wherein said fault management minimizing coverage of areas without nodes of said network.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein said minimizing coverage of areas without nodes comprises control of antenna patterns.

45. The system of claim 43, wherein said minimizing coverage of areas without nodes comprises control of transmit power levels.

46. The system of claim 40, wherein said fault management comprises detecting unintended RF parties.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein said detecting unintended RF parties comprises scanning antenna patterns and scanning channels.

48. The system of claim 46, wherein said fault management comprises implementing interference avoidance with respect to said unintended RF parties.

49. The system of claim 48, wherein said interference avoidance comprises changing channel assignments to avoid interference associated with said unintended RF parties.

50. The system of claim 37, wherein said automated management of said network comprises performance management.

51. The system of claim 50, wherein said performance management comprises load balancing client nodes between access point nodes of said network.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein said load balancing comprises controlling a transmission power of at least one node of said client nodes and said access point nodes of said network.

53. The system of claim 51, wherein said load balancing comprises controlling a radiation pattern to serve a client node by a different access point node.

54. The system of claim 51, wherein said load balancing comprises controlling communication attributes to cause at least one client node to change a data link from a first access point node to a second access point node.

55. The system of claim 50, wherein said performance management comprises frequency reuse planning.

56. The system of claim 55, wherein said frequency reuse planning is a function of said link space information with respect to all nodes of said network.

57. The system of claim 50, wherein said performance management comprises grouping of particular client nodes in response to detection of a hidden node.

58. The system of claim 50, wherein said performance management comprises establishing a transmission timing plan in response to detection of a hidden node situation.

59. The system of claim 57, wherein said grouping of particular client nodes comprises grouping client nodes as a function of link quality.

60. The system of claim 37, wherein said network management system further provides advisory output to a user thereof.

61. The system of claim 60, wherein said advisory output is provided by a display monitor.

62. The system of claim 60, wherein said advisory output is provided by electronic mail transmission.

63. The system of claim 60, wherein said advisory output is provided by audio output.

64. The system of claim 60, wherein said advisory output comprises network fault notification.

65. The system of claim 60, wherein said advisory output comprises configuration recommendations.

66. A method for providing management of a network including wireless links, said method comprising:

collecting wireless link attributes from a plurality of nodes of said network;

providing link space information including wireless links of the network and information with respect to a physical aspect thereof using said collected wireless link attributes; and

managing said network as a function of said link space information.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein said wireless links of said link space information include RF links not having a data link associated therewith.

68. The method of claim 66, wherein said link space information includes information with respect to link quality of each data link of said wireless links.

69. The method of claim 66, wherein said managing said network comprises automatic fault management.

70. The method of claim 69, wherein said fault management comprises maximizing coverage of nodes within a wireless service area of said network.

71. The method of claim 70, wherein said maximizing coverage of nodes comprises:

scanning an antenna pattern and channels by a node inside of said service area to detect a node outside of said service area; and

extending said service area in response to detecting said node outside of said service area by said scanning.

72. The method of claim 69, wherein said fault management minimizes coverage of areas without nodes of said network.

73. The method of claim 72, wherein said minimizing coverage of areas without nodes comprises controlling antenna patterns.

74. The method of claim 72, wherein said minimizing coverage of areas without nodes comprises controlling transmit power levels.

75. The method of claim 69, wherein said fault management comprises detecting unintended RF parties.

76. The method of claim 75, wherein said detecting unintended RF parties comprises scanning antenna patterns and scanning channels.

77. The method of claim 75, wherein said fault management comprises implementing interference avoidance with respect to said unintended RF parties.

78. The method of claim 77, wherein said interference avoidance comprises changing channel assignments to avoid interference associated with said unintended RF parties.

79. The method of claim 66, wherein said managing said network comprises automatic performance management.

80. The method of claim 79, wherein said performance management comprises load balancing client nodes between access point nodes of said network.

81. The method of claim 80, wherein said load balancing comprises controlling a transmission power of at least one node of said client nodes and said access point nodes of said network.

82. The method of claim 80, wherein said load balancing comprises controlling a radiation pattern to serve a client node by a different access point node.

83. The method of claim 80, wherein said load balancing comprises controlling communication attributes to cause at least one client node to change a data link from a first access point node to a second access point node.

84. The method of claim 79, wherein said performance management comprises frequency reuse planning.

85. The method of claim 84, wherein said frequency reuse planning is a function of said link space information with respect to all nodes of said network.

86. The method of claim 79, wherein said performance management comprises grouping of particular client nodes in response to detection of a hidden node situation.

87. The method of claim 86, wherein said grouping of particular client nodes comprises grouping client nodes as a function of link quality.

88. The method of claim 79, wherein said performance management comprises establishing a transmission timing plan in response to detection of a hidden node situation.

89. The method of claim 66, wherein said managing said network comprises providing advisory output to a user thereof.

90. The method of claim 89, wherein said advisory output comprises network fault notification.

91. The method of claim 89, wherein said advisory output comprises configuration recommendations.