Method of determining RF coverage area in a point-to-multipoint transmission system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of determining radio coverage in an RF broadcast system that includes a plurality of fixed wireless base stations by creating a map depicting a serviceable business address in a coverage area, the method comprising:
- a. using a mathematical model for calculating propagation loss in an urban environment, wherein a link budget reduction margin value is additionally included in the model to create a “
model map minus”
of the coverage area, and wherein a link budget positive margin value is additionally included in the model to create a “
model map plus”
of the coverage area;
b. collecting field measurements relative to fixed wireless base stations in the coverage area, including geographic coordinate records and associated signal strength indicators, to create a plurality of measurement data points;
c. processing the field measurements to create a “
field service map”
of a first subset of the plurality of the measurement data points that indicate a serviceable geographic area, and a “
field non-service map”
of a second subset of the plurality of the measurement data points that indicate a non-serviceable geographic area;
d. creating a “
model map minus enhanced”
of the coverage area by removing data from the “
model map minus”
by subtracting the second subset of the plurality of the measurement data that indicate a “
field non-service map”
;
e. creating a “
model map plus enhanced”
of the coverage area by overlaying the “
model map plus”
with geographic shapes and data based on the first subset of the plurality of the measurement data points that indicate a “
field service map”
; and
f. combining the geographic shapes and data from the “
model map minus enhanced”
with the geographic shapes and data from the “
model map plus enhanced”
to create the desired map depicting a serviceable business address in a coverage area.
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Abstract
A method of determining RF coverage area in a point-to-multi-point RF transmission system and creating model maps showing serviceable business addresses within a given region. The method includes selecting a standard design signal strength level required to provide suitable service; obtaining field measurements of received signal strength from base stations at various points in the region under investigation; creating a model map of received signal strength having a signal strength level greater than the system standard signal strength level and excluding areas whose field strength measurements do not indicate suitable service; and creating a model map having a signal strength level smaller than the system standard signal strength level. The method is capable of providing more than 90% accuracy, and prevents needless dispatching of installation crews to a customer premise that is outside the effective RF coverage of the system.
41 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method of determining radio coverage in an RF broadcast system that includes a plurality of fixed wireless base stations by creating a map depicting a serviceable business address in a coverage area, the method comprising:
-
a. using a mathematical model for calculating propagation loss in an urban environment, wherein a link budget reduction margin value is additionally included in the model to create a “
model map minus”
of the coverage area, and wherein a link budget positive margin value is additionally included in the model to create a “
model map plus”
of the coverage area;
b. collecting field measurements relative to fixed wireless base stations in the coverage area, including geographic coordinate records and associated signal strength indicators, to create a plurality of measurement data points;
c. processing the field measurements to create a “
field service map”
of a first subset of the plurality of the measurement data points that indicate a serviceable geographic area, and a “
field non-service map”
of a second subset of the plurality of the measurement data points that indicate a non-serviceable geographic area;
d. creating a “
model map minus enhanced”
of the coverage area by removing data from the “
model map minus”
by subtracting the second subset of the plurality of the measurement data that indicate a “
field non-service map”
;
e. creating a “
model map plus enhanced”
of the coverage area by overlaying the “
model map plus”
with geographic shapes and data based on the first subset of the plurality of the measurement data points that indicate a “
field service map”
; and
f. combining the geographic shapes and data from the “
model map minus enhanced”
with the geographic shapes and data from the “
model map plus enhanced”
to create the desired map depicting a serviceable business address in a coverage area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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-
6. A method of determining radio coverage in a point-to-multi-point radio transmission system that includes a plurality of fixed wireless base stations by creating a map depicting a serviceable business area in a coverage area, the method comprising:
-
a. using a mathematical model for calculating propagation loss in an urban environment, wherein a link budget reduction margin value is additionally included in the model to create a “
model map minus”
of the coverage area, and wherein a link budget positive margin value is additionally included in the model to create a “
model map plus”
of the coverage area;
b. collecting field measurements relative to fixed wireless base stations in the coverage area, including geographic coordinate records and associated signal strength indicators, to create a plurality of measurement data points;
c. processing the field measurements using a subset of the plurality of the measurement data points that indicate suitable service to create a “
field service map”
;
d. processing the field measurements using a subset of the plurality of measurement data points that do not indicate suitable service to create a “
field non-service map”
;
e. using the “
field service map”
to create a single geographical shape encompassing all of the plurality of measurement data points indicating a serviceable area by drawing either a first shape around each data point or a second shape around a series of consecutive data points, the resulting geographic shape indicating a serviceable geographical area based on the field measurements;
f. using the “
field non-service map”
to create a single geographical shape encompassing all of the plurality of measurement data points indicating a non-serviceable area by drawing either a first shape around each data point or a second shape around a series of consecutive data points, the resulting geographic shape indicating a non-serviceable geographical area based on the field measurements;
g. removing data from the “
model map minus”
by subtracting the geographical area of the “
field non-service map”
to create a “
model map minus enhanced”
;
h. overlaying the “
field service map”
on top of the “
model map plus”
such that the field service map inherits geographical information from the “
model map plus enhanced”
; and
i. combining the geographic shapes and data fields from the “
model map plus enhanced”
with the “
model map minus enhanced”
by associating the fixed wireless base stations between both sources to complete the map depicting a serviceable business address in a coverage area. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification
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Current AssigneeAT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
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Original AssigneeAT&T Wireless Services Incorporated (AT&T, Inc.)
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InventorsSwanson, Kurt, Scharosch, Gregory
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Primary Examiner(s)Homere, Jean R.
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Assistant Examiner(s)SHARON, AYAL I
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Application NumberUS09/874,570Time in Patent Office1,316 DaysField of Search703/5, 703/1, 703/13, 455/446US Class Current703/13CPC Class CodesH04W 16/18 Network planning tools
