CLUSTER-BASED DERIVATION OF ANTENNA TILTS IN A WIRELESS NETWORK

• US 20130142183A1
• Filed: 12/06/2011
• Published: 06/06/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.), AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.), AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tsui, Ernest, Lee, Hyun Ok, Kapnadak, Vibhav, Tafreshi, Fereidoun, Tang, Xiaojun, Ulffe Whu, Gustavo Enrique
• Granted Patent: US 8,971,302 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0057 Physical resource allocation for CQI
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/046 the resource being in the space domain, e.g. beams
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/54 based on quality criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatus for cluster-based optimization of antenna tilts in a wireless network are presented herein. A screening component can receive information indicating wireless conditions of respective wireless access points of a geographical region, select, based on a performance criterion, an access point of the respective wireless access points, and group the access point and an other access point of the respective wireless access points into a representation of a cluster of access points. Further, an optimization component can derive antenna tilt values for respective access points of the cluster of the access points in response to a simulation of an application of the antenna tilt values to the respective access points. Furthermore, an implementation component can direct the antenna tilt values to respective components of the respective access points.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving information that is associated with respective wireless access points of a region;

selecting, based on a criterion, a target access point of the respective wireless access points;

creating a representation of a cluster of access points including the target access point and a neighbor access point of the target access point; and

in response to estimating an impact of making tilt changes to antennas of respective access points of the cluster, determining antenna tilt parameters for the respective access points.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the creating the representation of the cluster includes selecting the neighbor access point for the cluster in response to a first coverage area of the target access point overlapping a second coverage area of the neighbor access point.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the creating the representation of the cluster includes selecting the neighbor access point for the cluster based on a portion of the information that is associated with a mobile device being communicatively coupled to the target access point.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the selecting the neighbor access point further includes selecting the neighbor access point based on a measurement being performed by the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising directing the antenna tilt parameters towards respective components of the respective access points.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating a representation of an other cluster including another target access point of the wireless access points and another neighbor access point of the wireless access points; and

in response to the cluster including an access point of the other cluster, merging the cluster with the other cluster to obtain a merged cluster.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

estimating an impact of making tilt changes to antennas of respective access points of the merged cluster; and

determining the antenna tilt parameters for the respective access points of the merged cluster.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the antenna tilt parameters for the respective access points further includes calculating the antenna tilt parameters based on respective locations of mobile devices communicatively coupled to the respective access points.

9. A system, comprising:

a screening component configured to;

receive information indicating wireless conditions of respective wireless access points of a geographical region,

select, based on a performance criterion, an access point of the respective wireless access points, and

group the access point and an other access point of the respective wireless access points into a representation of a cluster of access points; and

an optimization component configured to derive antenna tilt values for respective access points of the cluster of the access points in response to a simulation of an application of the antenna tilt values to the respective access points.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the other access point is within a wireless coverage area of the access point.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the performance criterion is associated with a quality of a wireless signal.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the screening component is further configured to group the access point and the other access point into the representation of the cluster of the access points based on a portion of the information that is associated with a mobile device being communicatively coupled to the access point.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the portion of the information is associated with a measurement being performed by the mobile device.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the simulation includes an estimation of an impact of the application of the antenna tilt values on signal strength and quality indicators associated with the wireless conditions.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the simulation includes an estimation of an impact of the application of the antenna tilt values in a first wireless access technology on a wireless condition of an access point associated with a second wireless access technology.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the screening component is further configured to merge the cluster of the access points with another cluster of access points to obtain a disjoint cluster, and wherein the optimization component is further configured to derive antenna tilt values of respective access points of the disjoint cluster.

17. The system of claim 9, further comprising an implementation component configured to direct a change of the antenna tilt values to the respective access points.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the implementation component is further configured to:

in response to a direction of the change of the antenna tilt values to the respective access points, monitor wireless conditions of the respective access points; and

in response to a detection of a negative impact associated with the direction of the change of the antenna tilt values to the respective access points, direct another change of the antenna tilt values to the respective access points that is associated with previously applied antenna tilt values.

19. The system of claim 9, wherein the optimization component is further configured to derive the antenna tilt values for the respective access points of the cluster based on respective locations of mobile devices communicatively coupled to the respective access points of the cluster.

20. A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause a computing device to perform operations, comprising:

receiving information indicating wireless conditions of respective wireless access points of a geographical region;

selecting a first access point of the respective wireless access points based on a performance criterion;

including the first access point and a second access point of the respective wireless access points in a cluster of access points; and

simulating antenna tilt values being applied to respective access points of the cluster of the access points.