Quality evaluation for wireless communication networks
First Claim
1. A method of assessing communication quality in a wireless network comprising a plurality of access points, said method comprising:
- receiving as input path loss information indicating path losses between a selected client of said wireless network and said access points;
based on said path loss information, determining a capacity indicator that estimates communication impairment for said client due to contention or collision;
based on said path loss information, determining a data rate indicator that estimates an achievable data rate for communication by said selected client;
determining a cell loading indicator that estimates communication impairment due to overloading of a cell occupied by said selected client, said cell loading indicator based on an estimated number of clients in communication with said access points; and
based on said capacity indicator, said data rate indicator, and said cell loading indicator, determining a client throughput;
wherein determining said client throughput comprises multiplying said capacity indicator by said data rate indicator and said cell loading indicator.
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Abstract
Systems and methods for evaluating wireless network quality. A metric provided by embodiments of the present invention relies on information that is relatively easy to collect, can be very efficiently computed, and yet provides a realistic estimate of likely wireless network performance. In one implementation, the input includes path loss data and access point transmitter power level and frequency settings. A capacity indicator is computed for each client and each access point. A data rate indicator is computed for each client location. The traffic load is computed for each access point. Based on these computed indicators, a bidirectional client throughput can be computed for each client and a combined metric can be determined for the network as a whole.
42 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of assessing communication quality in a wireless network comprising a plurality of access points, said method comprising:
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receiving as input path loss information indicating path losses between a selected client of said wireless network and said access points; based on said path loss information, determining a capacity indicator that estimates communication impairment for said client due to contention or collision; based on said path loss information, determining a data rate indicator that estimates an achievable data rate for communication by said selected client; determining a cell loading indicator that estimates communication impairment due to overloading of a cell occupied by said selected client, said cell loading indicator based on an estimated number of clients in communication with said access points; and based on said capacity indicator, said data rate indicator, and said cell loading indicator, determining a client throughput; wherein determining said client throughput comprises multiplying said capacity indicator by said data rate indicator and said cell loading indicator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. Apparatus for assessing communication quality in a wireless network comprising a plurality of access points, said apparatus comprising:
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means for receiving as input path loss information indicating path losses between a selected client of said wireless network and said access points; means for, based on said path loss information, determining a capacity indicator that estimates communication impairment for said client due to contention or collision; means for, based on said path loss information, determining a data rate indicator that estimates an achievable data rate for communication by said selected client; means for, determining a cell loading indicator that estimates communication impairment due to overloading of a cell occupied by said selected client, said cell loading indicator based on an estimated number of clients in communication with said access points; and means for, based on said capacity indicator, said data rate indicator, and said cell loading indicator, determining a client throughput; wherein said means for determining said client throughput comprises means for multiplying said capacity indicator by said data rate indicator and said cell loading indicator. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A computer program product embodied as a computer-readable storage medium for assessing communication quality in a wireless network comprising a plurality of access points, said product comprising:
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code that causes receipt of path loss information indicating path losses between a selected client of said wireless network and said access points; code that causes, based on said path loss information, determination of a capacity indicator that estimates communication impairment for said client due to contention or collision; code that causes, based on said path loss information, determination of a data rate indicator that estimates an achievable data rate for communication by said selected client; code that causes determination of a cell loading indicator that estimates communication impairment due to overloading of a cell occupied by said selected client, said cell loading indicator based on an estimated number of clients in communication with said access points; code that causes, based on said capacity indicator, said data rate indicator, and said cell loading indicator, determination of a client throughput; and a computer-readable storage medium that stores the codes; wherein said code that causes determination of said client throughput comprises code that causes multiplication of said capacity indicator by said data rate indicator and said cell loading indicator. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. Apparatus for assessing communication quality in a wireless network comprising a plurality of access points, said apparatus comprising:
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a processor; and a memory device storing instructions for execution by said processor, said instructions comprising; code that causes receipt of path loss information indicating path losses between a selected client of said wireless network and said access points; code that causes, based on said path loss information, determination of a capacity indicator that estimates communication impairment for said client due to contention or collision; code that causes, based on said path loss information, determination of a data rate indicator that estimates an achievable data rate for communication by said selected client; code that causes determination of a cell loading indicator that estimates communication impairment due to overloading of a cell occupied by said selected client, said cell loading indicator based on an estimated number of clients in communication with said access points; and code that causes, based on said capacity indicator, said data rate indicator, and said cell loading indicator, determination of a client throughput; wherein said code that causes determination of said client throughput comprises code that causes multiplication of said capacity indicator by said data rate indicator and said cell loading indicator. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification