Methods and apparatus for characterization, adjustment and optimization of wireless networks
First Claim
1. A processor-implemented method for characterizing the performance of a wireless network, the method comprising the steps of:
- determining values for a plurality of network parameters; and
processing the network parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure including components representative of network coverage and network capacity;
wherein the network coverage component comprises at least one of an area-weighted network coverage component and a traffic-weighted network coverage component.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Improved techniques for characterizing, adjusting and optimizing the overall performance of a wireless network. In an illustrative embodiment, the overall network performance for a particular network configuration is characterized by a vector with two components, one representing network coverage and another representing network capacity. Network coverage is defined by the likelihood of service under load, including interference, and may be further weighted by traffic density. Network capacity is defined by an amount of traffic with a given spatial distribution that can be served at a given overall target-blocking rate. The overall network performance may be characterized using a two-dimensional capacity/coverage diagram which plots overall network performance vectors, each including a network capacity component and a network coverage component, for various network configurations. The overall network performance may be improved or optimized with respect to a given subset of network parameters by using an algorithm that proposes potential network configurations and evaluates them with respect to their overall network performance.
81 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A processor-implemented method for characterizing the performance of a wireless network, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining values for a plurality of network parameters; and
processing the network parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure including components representative of network coverage and network capacity;
wherein the network coverage component comprises at least one of an area-weighted network coverage component and a traffic-weighted network coverage component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 5, 6, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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3. A processor-implemented method for characterizing the performance of a wireless network, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining values for a plurality of network parameters; and
processing the network parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure including components representative of network coverage and network capacity;
wherein the network coverage component is defined at least in part as a fraction of area in which quality of service is above a specified threshold, with respect to a target coverage area. - View Dependent Claims (4)
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7. A processor-implemented method for characterizing the performance of a wireless network, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining values for a plurality of network parameters; and
processing the network parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure including components representative of network coverage and network capacity;
wherein the network coverage component for a given communication channel of the wireless network is configured to include interference from other communication channels in the wireless network, so as to reflect a reduction of coverage under traffic load.
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8. A processor-implemented method for characterizing the performance of a wireless network, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining values for a plurality of network parameters; and
processing the network parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure including components representative of network coverage and network capacity;
wherein the network coverage component comprises an overall area-weighted network coverage component defined by;
where TCA denotes a target coverage area and Cov(x,y) is a coverage function that assigns a coverage indication to a given Location (x,y). - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. A processor-implemented method for characterizing the performance of a wireless network, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining values for a plurality of network parameters; and
processing the network parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure including components representative of network coverage and network capacity;
wherein the network coverage component comprises an overall traffic-weighted coverage component defined by;
where TD(x,y) is a local traffic density function and Cov(x,y) is a coverage function that assigns a coverage indication to a given location (x,y). - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A processor-implemented method for characterizing the performance of a wireless network, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining values for a plurality of network parameters; and
processing the network parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure including components representative of network coverage and network capacity;
wherein the network capacity component is defined at least in part by an amount of traffic having a given spatial distribution, and represents the ability of the wireless network to match the spatial traffic distribution.
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13. A processor-implemented method for characterizing the performance of a wireless network, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining values for a plurality of network parameters; and
processing the network parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure including components representative of network coverage and network capacity;
wherein the network capacity component further represents an amount of traffic having a given spatial distribution that can be carried by the network with a specified target blocking rate. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A processor-implemented method for characterizing the performance of a wireless network, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining values for a plurality of network parameters; and
processing the network parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure including components representative of network coverage and network capacity;
wherein the network capacity component is defined at least in part by an amount of blocked service requests at a given traffic load.
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21. A processor-implemented method for characterizing the performance of a wireless network, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining values for a plurality of network parameters;
processing the network parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure including components representative of network coverage and network capacity; and
optimizing the performance of the wireless network using an optimization algorithm that generates proposed network configurations, wherein the proposed network configurations are evaluated using the network performance measure. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. A processor-implemented method for characterizing the performance of a wireless network, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining values for a plurality of network parameters;
processing the network Parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure including components representative of network coverage and network capacity; and
optimizing the performance of the wireless network using an optimization algorithm that determines a network configuration for specified values of at least one of the network coverage and network capacity components of the performance measure. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. An apparatus for characterizing the performance of a wireless network, the apparatus comprising:
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a processor-based system operative (i) to determine values for a plurality of network parameters; and
(ii) to process the network parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure including components representative of network coverage and network capacity;
wherein the network coverage component comprises at least one of an area-weighted network coverage component and a traffic-weighted network coverage component.
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30. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium storing one or more software programs for use in characterizing the performance of a wireless network, wherein the one or more programs when executed by a processor perform the steps of:
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determining values for a plurality of network parameters; and
processing the network parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure including components representative of network coverage and network capacity;
wherein the network coverage component comprises at least one of an area-weighted network coverage component and a traffic-weighted network coverage component.
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31. A processor-implemented method for characterizing the performance of a wireless network, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining values for a plurality of network parameters; and
processing the network parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure comprising a vector having at least two dimensions and being representative of the performance of the wireless network for a given set of network resources. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. An apparatus for characterizing the performance of a wireless network, the apparatus comprising:
a processor-based system operative (i) to determine values for a plurality of network parameters; and
(ii) to process the network parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure comprising a vector having at least two dimensions and being representative of the performance of the wireless network for a given set of network resources.- View Dependent Claims (34)
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35. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium storing one or more software programs for use in characterizing the performance of a wireless network, wherein the one or more programs when executed by a processor include:
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determining values for a plurality of network parameters; and
processing the network parameter values to generate a measure of the performance of the wireless network, the measure comprising a vector having at least two dimensions and being representative of the performance of the wireless network for a given set of network resources. - View Dependent Claims (36)
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Specification