Measuring of the coverage area of a base transceiver station

• US 7,076,252 B1
• Filed: 11/27/2000
• Issued: 07/11/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Hirvonen, Heikki
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Lee
• Application Number:
  US10/148,373
• Time in Patent Office: 2,052 Days
• Field of Search: 455/424, 455/423, 455/67.11, 455/67.7, 455/446
• US Class Current: 455/446
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/18 Network planning tools

Abstract

The object of the invention is a method for determining the coverage area of a base transceiver station (BTS) of a cellular network and for finding the optimum place of location of the base transceiver station (BTS). The method comprises connecting a wireless terminal (21) to the base transceiver station (BTS) using a local connection and commanding from the wireless terminal (21) over said local connection the base transceiver station (BTS) to transmit a signal having a specific frequency. The wireless terminal (21) is commanded to receive said frequency. In the wireless terminal (21), the received power of said signal is measured and the numerical value of the received power is displayed on the display (UI) of the wireless terminal (21) for determining the coverage area of the base transceiver station (BTS). The object of the invention is also a wireless terminal (21) that implements the method, as well as a computer program product (51).

Claims

1. A method for determining the coverage area of a base transceiver station of a cellular network, characterised in that the method comprises:

connecting a wireless terminal to the base transceiver station using a local connection;

commanding from the wireless terminal connected to the base transceiver station over said local connection the base transceiver station to transmit a signal that has a specific frequency;

commanding said or some other wireless terminal to receive said frequency;

measuring the received power of said signal in said or said some other wireless terminal;

displaying the numerical value of said received power on the display of said or said some other wireless terminal for determining the coverage area of the base transceiver stations,

wherein said local connection comprises one of the following;

a cable having one end connected to a data connector of the wireless terminal and another end connected to the base transceiver station, a serial cable, an IR (Infra Red) connection, a LPRF (Low Power Radio Frequency) connection or a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) connection.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterised in that the frequency at which the base transceiver station is commanded to transmit said signal is set by said terminal.

3. A method according to claim 1, characterised in that said signal transmitted by the base transceiver station is a BCCH (Broadcast Control CHannel) signal that comprises the identity code of said base transceiver station (BSIC, i.e. Base Station Identity Code) and that in addition to the numerical value of the received power of said signal said base station identity code (BSIC) is displayed on the display of the wireless terminal.

4. A method according to claim 1, characterised in that the method further comprises measuring in the wireless terminal the bit error ratio (BER) of the received signal and that the value of said bit error ratio is also displayed on the display of the wireless terminal.

5. A method according to claim 1, characterised in that the method comprises determining the optimum place of location of the base transceiver station, when the desired coverage area of the base transceiver station is known:

by setting the base transceiver station at a plurality of different places of location, wherein transmission of said signal occurs at least at the different places of location; and

by comparing the power of the signal received by the wireless terminal, transmitted from the different places of location, in the desired coverage area of the base transceiver station.

6. A method according to claim 5, characterised in that after the optimum place of location of the base transceiver station is found, the base transceiver station is commanded from the wireless terminal to stop transmitting said signal.

7. A method according to claim 1, characterised in that the method comprises:

storing said numerical value of the power of the received signal at specific moments of time in the wireless terminal;

displaying said stored numerical values graphically on the display of the wireless terminal.

8. A method according to claim 1, characterised in that the local connection is established through a local interface of the base transceiver station.

9. A wireless terminal (21) for determining the coverage area of a base transceiver station (BTS), characterised in that the wireless terminal (21) comprises:

means (51, 54–

56, PORT) for connecting the wireless terminal (21) to the base transceiver station (BTS) using a local connection;

means (51, 53–

56, UI, PORT) for commanding the base transceiver station (BTS) to transmit a signal that has a specific frequency;

means (ANT, CMT) for receiving the signal transmitted by the base transceiver station and for measuring the power of the received signal;

means (CMT, 51–

53, UI) for displaying the numerical value of the power of the received signal on a display (26) of the wireless terminal (21) for determining the coverage area of the base transceiver station (BTS).

10. A method for determining the coverage area of a base transceiver station of a cellular network, characterised in that the method comprises:

connecting a wireless terminal to the base transceiver station using a local connection, wherein said local connection is implemented by one of the following;

serial cable, IR (Infra Red) connection, LPRF (Low Power Radio Frequency) connection or WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) connection;

commanding from the wireless terminal connected to the base transceiver station over said local connection the base transceiver station to transmit a signal that has a specific frequency;

commanding said or some other wireless terminal to receive said frequency;

measuring the received power of said signal in said or said some other wireless terminal;

displaying the numerical value of said received power on the display of said or said some other wireless terminal for determining the coverage area of the base transceiver station.

11. A method for determining the coverage area of a base transceiver station of a cellular network, characterised in that the method comprises:

connecting a wireless terminal to the base transceiver station using a local connection;

commanding from the wireless terminal connected to the base transceiver station over said local connection the base transceiver station to transmit a signal that has a specific frequency;

commanding said or some other wireless terminal to receive said frequency;

measuring the received power of said signal in said or said some other wireless terminal; and

displaying the numerical value of said received power on the display of said or said some other wireless terminal for determining the coverage area of the base transceiver station; and

determining the optimum place of location of the base transceiver station, when the desired coverage area of the base transceiver station is known;

by setting the base transceiver station at a plurality of different places of location, wherein transmission of said signal occurs at least at the different places of location;

by comparing the power of the signal received by the wireless terminal, transmitted from the different places of location, in the desired coverage area of the base transceiver station; and

after the optimum place of location of the base transceiver station is found, the base transceiver station is commanded from the wireless terminal to stop transmitting said signal.

12. A method according to claim 11, characterised in that the frequency at which the base transceiver station is commanded to transmit said signal is set by said terminal.

13. A method according to claim 11, characterised in that said signal transmitted by the base transceiver station is a BCCH (Broadcast Control CHannel) signal that comprises the identity code of said base transceiver station (BSIC, i.e. Base Station Identity Code) and that in addition to the numerical value of the received power of said signal said base station identity code (BSIC) is displayed on the display of the wireless terminal.

14. A method according to claim 11, characterised in that the method further comprises measuring in the wireless terminal the bit error ratio (BER) of the received signal and that the value of said bit error ratio is also displayed on the display of the wireless terminal.

15. A method according to claim 11, characterised in that said local connection comprises one of the following:

a cable having one end connected to a data connector of the wireless terminal and another end connected to the base transceiver station, a serial cable, an IR (Infra Red) connection, a LPRF (Low Power Radio Frequency) connection or a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) connection.

16. A method according to claim 11, characterised in that the method comprises:

storing said numerical value of the power of the received signal at specific moments of time in the wireless terminal;

displaying said stored numerical values graphically on the display of the wireless terminal.

17. A method according to claim 11, characterised in that the local connection is established through a local interface of the base transceiver station.