Method and system for a building database manipulator

• US 6,850,946 B1
• Filed: 05/26/1999
• Issued: 02/01/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Extreme Networks, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Wireless Valley Communications Incorporated (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rappaport, Theodore S., Skidmore, Roger R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Millin, Vincent
• Assistant Examiner(s): Colbert, Ella
• Application Number:
  US09/318,841
• Time in Patent Office: 2,078 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707/10, 707/101, 709/217, 709/218, 348/460, 348/563, 348/906, 703/1, 703/2, 745/39, 745/63, 345/964
• US Class Current: 707/796
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/50 of still image data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/13 Architectural design, e.g. computer-aided architectural design [CAAD] related to design of buildings, bridges, landscapes, production plants or roads
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/915 Image
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/921 Spatial
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/922 Communications
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/955 Object-oriented
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/957 Multidimensional
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/959 Network
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99956 File allocation

Abstract

A Building Database Manipulator to build databases for a variety of physical environments including definitions of buildings, terrain and other site parameters, by scanning in or rapidly editing data. Raster scans may be entered or object files in various formats may be used as input. Detailed information is stored in the drawing database about the object'"'"'s location, radio frequency attenuation, color, and other physical information such as electrical characteristics and intersections of the object with the ground, floors, ceilings, and other objects when objects are formatted in a drawing. The formatting process is strictly two-dimensional in nature, but the resulting drawing is a true three-dimensional environment. The user sees the three-dimensional building structure by altering the views. The resulting database may be used in a variety of modeling applications, but is especially useful for engineering, planning and management tools for in-building or microcell wireless systems.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for manipulating data from an environment in which a communication network is or will be deployed to construct a database that can be used to generate definitions of the user'"'"'s physical environment, including buildings, terrain and other site parameters, comprising the steps of:

(a) using a computer for creating and formatting a plurality of objects defining an environment of floors, walls, partitions, buildings, building complexes or compounds, terrain or other sites or obstructions;

(b) verifying, using a computer, the sufficiency of said plurality of objects to ensure a useful definition of said environment and notifying a user of results of said verification of sufficiency; and

(c) generating a set of formatted data in a form transportable to and usable by a computer based engineering planning model or other applications; and

(d) rendering a three-dimensional view of said environment.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, said method further comprising at least one of the steps:

(e) inputting existing data, vectors or drawing objects, said existing data, vectors or drawing objects either partially or fully describing said environment; and

(f) removing extraneous drawing objects to simplify said definition of said environment;

wherein steps (e) and (f) may be performed before or after step (a), if data exists that fully or partially defines said environment.

3. A method as recited in claim 2, wherein said existing data is in the form of raster files, or in the form of vector files, wherein said raster files are selected from the group consisting of Windows Bitmaps (BMP), Joint Photographic Experts Group format (JPEG), Graphical Interchange Format (GIF), Tagged-Image File Format (TIFF), Targa format (TGA), PICT, and Postscript, and wherein said vector files are selected from the group consisting of AutoCad (DWG), AutoDesk (DXF), and Windows MetaFile (WMF).

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said step of rendering a three-dimensional view may be performed at any time after at least one of said plurality of objects has been created.

5. A method as recited in claim 4, wherein said rendering step includes the step of selecting a three-dimensional view of a selected perspective of said environment.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises the step of adjusting partition colors, and physical and electrical descriptions of said partitions.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said formatted data defines said environment and each said object is associated with at least one of the group consisting of a specific location in said environment, an attenuation factor, a color, a height, a surface roughness value and a reflectivity value.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein step (b) automatically prompts a user to verify that each piece of necessary information to define said environment has been added to said definition of said environment before executing the verification of said each piece of necessary information, and if said user answers in the negative, prompts said user to enter missing information before proceeding.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said formatted data comprises at least one vectorized drawing of said environment.

10. A computerized system for manipulating data from an environment in which a communication network is or will be deployed to construct a database that can be used to generate definitions of the user'"'"'s physical environment, including buildings, terrain and other site parameters, comprising:

(a) computer implemented means for creating and formatting a plurality of objects defining an environment of floors, walls, partitions, buildings, building complexes or compounds, terrain or other sites or obstructions;

(b) means for verifying, by a computer, the sufficiency of said plurality of objects to ensure a useful definition of said environment and notifying a user of results of said verification of sufficiency; and

(c) means for generating a set of formatted data in a form transportable to and usable by a computer based engineering planning model or other application; and

(d) means for rendering a three-dimensional view of said environment.

11. The computerized system of claim 10, further comprising at least one of:

(e) means for inputting existing data, vectors or drawing objects, said existing data, vectors or other drawing objects either partially or fully describing said environment; and

(f) means for removing extraneous drawing objects to simplify said definition of said environment.

12. The computerized system of claim 11 wherein said means for inputting existing data accepts existing data in the form of raster files, or in the form of vector files, wherein said raster files are selected from the group consisting of Windows Bitmaps (BMP), Joint Photographic Experts Group format (JPEG), Graphical Interchange Format (GIF), Tagged-Image File Format (TIFF), Targa format (TGA), PICT, and Postscript, and wherein said vector files are selected from the group consisting of AutoCad (DWG), AutoDesk (DXF), and Windows MetaFile (WMF).

13. The computerized system of claim 10 wherein said means for rendering a three-dimensional view includes a means for selecting a three-dimensional view of a selected perspective of said environment.

14. The computerized system of claim 10 further comprising a means for adjusting partition colors and physical and electrical descriptions of said partitions.

15. The computerized system of claim 10 wherein said formatted data generated by said means for generating defines said environment and each said object is associated with at least one of the group consisting of a specific location in said environment, an attenuation factor, a color, a height, a surface roughness value, and a reflectivity value.

16. The computerized system of claim 10 wherein said means for verifying automatically prompts a user to verify tat each piece of necessary information to define said environment has been added to said definition of said environment before executing the verification of said each piece of necessary information, and if said user answers in the negative, prompts said user to enter missing information before proceeding.

17. The computerized system of claim 10 wherein said formatted data generated by said means for generating comprises at least one vectorized drawing of said environment.