SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING QUALITY OF SERVICE AT PICOCELLS USING AGNOSTIC PLATFORM

• US 20120058777A1
• Filed: 09/01/2011
• Published: 03/08/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Public Wireless, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Public Wireless, Inc.
• Inventors: Nguyen, Quang, Shi, Henry, Nino, Robert, Reagan, Robert
• Granted Patent: US 8,798,678 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/085 Access point devices with remote components

Abstract

Systems and methods for maintaining the quality of service provided by a picocell and for reducing the cost to maintain and operate the picocell. The systems and methods provided herein, in an embodiment, provide for a backhaul and radio agnostic system where the picocell is highly configurable and can be used with a variety of different types of backhauls and radio devices. Remote monitoring and configuration of the device may be provided to reduce the cost of maintaining the picocell.

Claims

1. A remotely-configurable base station, comprising:

a plurality of external radio devices, each of the plurality of external radio devices configured to establish a wireless link between the base station and one or more user devices using any one of a plurality of frequencies and any one of a plurality of communication protocols;

one or more sensors configured to capture environmental information;

a heating/cooling system configured to maintain at least one of a temperature and humidity of the base station;

a GPS antenna;

a backhaul module configured to connect to a network using any one of a plurality of backhaul connections; and

a common controller module, comprising a processor, and configured to direct data between the one or more external radio devices and the network using the backhaul module,

receive the environmental information from the one or more sensors,

control the heating/cooling system based on the environmental information,

receive location information from the GPS antenna,

send the location information to the remote network operations center,

individually activate and deactivate each of the plurality of external radio devices,

receive configuration information from a remote network operations center, and,

based on the configuration information, individually configure each of the plurality of external radio devices to use any one of the plurality of frequencies and any one of the plurality of communication protocols.

2. A remotely-configurable base station, comprising:

one or more external radio devices, each of the one or more external radio devices configured to establish a wireless link between the base station and one or more user devices using any one of a plurality of frequencies and any one of a plurality of communication protocols;

at least one memory;

at least one processor; and

at least one executable software module stored on the at least one memory, the at least one executable software module configured, when executed by the at least one processor, to

connect to a network using any one of a plurality of connection types,

transmit data between the one or more external radio devices and the network,

receive configuration information from a remote network operations center, and,

based on the configuration information, reconfigure one or more of the one or more external radio devices to use at least one of a different one of the plurality of frequencies or a different one of the plurality of communication protocols than it was using prior to the reconfiguration.

3. The base station of claim 2, wherein the at least one executable software module is further configured to be updated by the remote network operations center.

4. The base station of claim 2, wherein the at least one executable software module is further configured to send a status message to the remote network operations center.

5. The base station of claim 2, further comprising a GPS antenna, wherein the at least one executable software module is further configured to receive location data from the GPS antenna and send the location data to the network operations center.

6. The base station of claim 5, wherein the at least one executable software module is further configured to self-configure based on the location data and the configuration information.

7. The base station of claim 2, further comprising one or more sensors configured to capture environmental information, wherein the at least one executable software module is further configured to receive the environmental information from the one or more sensors.

8. The base station of claim 7, further comprising a heating/cooling system, wherein the environmental information comprises temperature information and the at least one executable software module is further configured to control the heating/cooling system to maintain an operating temperature of the base station based on the temperature information.

9. The base station of claim 7, wherein the one or more sensors comprise an accelerometer.

10. The base station of claim 2, wherein the one or more external radio devices comprise two or more external radio devices, and the at least one executable software module is further configured to individually activate and deactivate each of the two or more external radio devices.

11. The base station of claim 10, wherein the at least one executable software module is further configured to detect if an activated one of the one or more external radio devices has failed, and, in response to a detection that the activated one of the one or more external devices has failed, activate a previously inactive one of the one or more external radio devices.

12. The base station of claim 10, wherein the at least one executable software module is further configured to activate a previously inactive one of the one or more external radio devices in response to a high utilization period.

13. The base station of claim 2, further comprising a plurality of antennas in communication with the one or more external radio devices, and wherein the at least one executable software module is further configured to combine and split signals sent between the plurality of antennas and the one or more external radio devices.

14. The base station of claim 2, further comprising an on/off controller module configured to receive instructions from the remote network operations center, and power on or off at least one of the one or more external radio devices in response to an instruction from the remote network operations center.

15. The base station of claim 2, further comprising an on/off controller module configured to receive instructions from the remote network operations center, and power on or off one or more modules of the at least one executable software module in response to an instruction from the remote network operations center.

16. The base station of claim 2, wherein the plurality of connection types comprise at least two or more of a cable television connection, data over cable service interface specification connection, digital subscriber line connection, asymmetric digital subscriber line connection, very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line connection, digital signal 1 connection, optical fiber connection, and satellite connection.

17. The base station of claim 2, wherein the at least one executable software module is further configured to provide one or more of synchronization of backhaul traffic, jitter buffering, stack jitter control, and derivation of frequency and timing from traffic flow.

18. The base station of claim 2, wherein the at least one executable software module is further configured to assign one or more Internet Protocol addresses to the one or more external radio devices.

19. A method of remotely configuring a picocell, the picocell comprising a plurality of external radio devices, each of the plurality of external radio devices configured to establish a wireless link between the picocell and one or more user devices, the method comprising, by the picocell:

transmitting data between one or more of the plurality of external radio devices and a network;

receiving configuration information from a remote network operations center; and

,

based on the configuration information, configuring at least one of the plurality of external radio devices to use at least one of a different frequency or a different communication protocol than it was using prior to the configuration.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising, by the picocell, sending a status message to the remote network operations center.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising, by the picocell:

receiving location data from a GPS antenna, and

sending the location data to the remote network operations center.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising, by the picocell, configuring at least one of the plurality of external radio devices based on the location data and configuration information.

23. The method of claim 19, further comprising, by the picocell:

receiving environmental information from one or more sensors, and,

based on the environmental information, controlling a heating/cooling system to maintain at least one of an operating temperature or humidity of the picocell.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising, by the picocell:

detecting that an activated one of the plurality of external radio devices has failed, and,

in response to the detection that the activated one of the plurality of external radio devices has failed, activating a previously inactive one of the plurality of external radio devices.

25. The method of claim 21, further comprising, by the picocell, activating a previously inactive one of plurality of external radio devices in response to a high utilization period.