CUSTOMER PREMISES EQUIPMENT INSTALLATION FOR BUNDLED SERVICES IN A FIXED BROADBAND WIRELESS INSTALLATION

• US 20120040663A1
• Filed: 08/11/2010
• Published: 02/16/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/11/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Kamdar, Kamlesh S., Aguirre, Sergio, Kamel, Raafat Edward, Iskandar, Aref H., Kotecha, Lalit Ratilal, Tjio, Lee K.
• Granted Patent: US 8,380,184 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/425
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/18 Network planning tools

Abstract

A mobile device assists installation of an outdoor broadband unit on a customer premises. The device identifies one or more cell towers, associated with a broadband carrier, within a horizon of the customer premises. The device recognizes a connection with the outdoor broadband unit and receives, from the outdoor broadband unit and at multiple locations around the customer premises, RF signal readings of each of the one or more cell towers. The device provides, to a user, an indication of one or more optimal installation locations, based on the RF signal readings, for the outdoor broadband unit.

Claims

1. A method implemented by a device, to assist installation of an outdoor broadband unit on a customer premises, the method comprising:

identifying, by the device, one or more cell towers, associated with a broadband carrier, within a horizon of the customer premises;

recognizing, by the device, a connection with the outdoor broadband unit;

receiving, from the outdoor broadband unit and at multiple locations around the customer premises, RF signal readings of each of the one or more cell towers; and

providing, by the device and to a user, an indication of one or more optimal installation locations, based on the RF signal readings, for the outdoor broadband unit.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the outdoor broadband unit and at multiple orientations around the installation location when the outdoor broadband unit is partially-installed, additional RF signal readings of each of the one or more cell towers; and

selecting, by the device and based on the additional RF signal readings, an installation orientation for the outdoor broadband unit.

3. The method of claim 1, where the outdoor broadband unit includes a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) modem.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting, on a display of the device, the RF signal readings, where the RF signal readings are updated in real time.

5. The method of claim 4, where the presenting further comprises displaying on a map interface:

a location of the customer premises,

a location of the one or more cell towers, and

RF signal information associated with each of the one or more cell towers.

6. The method of claim 1, where receiving the RF signal readings includes:

receiving RF signal readings for each of the one or more cell towers, and

associating each of the RF signal readings with a particular one of the one or more cell towers.

7. The method of claim 1, where identifying the one or more cell towers includes:

determining a location of the customer premises,

retrieving, from a memory, location data for a plurality of cell towers, including the one or more cell towers, associated with a broadband carrier, and

calculating a line of sight from the customer premises to each of the one or more cell towers.

8. The method of claim 7, where identifying the one or more cell towers further includes:

retrieving, from the memory, terrain information for a geographic area associated with the location of the customer premises,

receiving a projected height value for the installation location on the customer premises, where the calculating a line of sight is based on the terrain information and the projected height value.

9. The method of claim 1, where the RF signal readings are for one of:

a Long Term Evolution (LTE) signal,

a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) signal,

a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) signal,

a Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) signal,

a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) signal,

a Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000) signal,

a High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) signal, or

a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) signal.

10. The method of claim 1, where the connection with the outdoor broadband unit is one of:

a wired USB connection, or

a Bluetooth connection.

11. A mobile device, comprising:

a memory to store a plurality of instructions;

a connection interface for an outdoor broadband unit; and

a processor to execute instructions in the memory to;

identify one or more cell towers, associated with a broadband carrier, within a horizon of a customer premises;

receive, from the outdoor broadband unit and at multiple locations around the customer premises, RF signal readings of each of the one or more cell towers; and

provide, to a user and based on the RF signal readings, an indication of one or more optimal installation locations for the outdoor broadband unit.

12. The mobile device of claim 11, further comprising a battery, where the device provides power to the outdoor broadband unit via the connection interface.

13. The mobile device of claim 11, where selecting the installation location includes determining a location, of the outdoor broadband unit, that provides a particular RF signal reading with highest combination of RF signal strength, uplink throughput, and downlink throughput.

14. The mobile device of claim 11, where the device is one of:

a laptop computer,

a personal communications system (PCS) terminal,

a personal digital assistant (PDA),

a wireless device,

a smart phone, or

a GPS device.

15. The mobile device of claim 11, where the connection interface for the outdoor broadband unit includes a universal serial bus (USB).

16. The mobile device of claim 11, where the mobile device is configured to be physically attached to the outdoor broadband unit.

17. The mobile device of claim 11, where the processor is further to:

receive, from the outdoor broadband unit and at multiple orientations around the installation location when the outdoor broadband unit is partially-installed, additional RF signal readings of each of the one or more cell towers; and

select, based on the additional RF signal readings, an installation orientation for the outdoor broadband unit.

18. The mobile device of claim 17, further comprising:

a display, and where the processor is further to present, on the display;

a location of the customer premises,

a location of the one or more cell towers, and

RF signal information associated with each of the one or more cell towers.

19. A device, comprising:

means for identifying one or more cell towers, associated with a broadband carrier, within a horizon of a customer premises;

means for connecting to an outdoor broadband unit;

means for receiving, from the outdoor broadband unit, RF signal readings, at multiple locations around the customer premises, of each of the one or more cell towers;

means for presenting, to a user, the RF signal readings associated with each of the one or more cell towers; and

means for identifying, by the device and based on the RF signal readings, one or more acceptable installation locations for the outdoor broadband unit.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

means for supplying power to the outdoor broadband unit.