Method and system for displaying network performance, cost, maintenance, and infrastructure wiring diagram

• US 7,243,054 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2003
• Issued: 07/10/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Wireless Valley Communications Incorporated (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wireless Valley Communications Incorporated (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rappaport, Theodore S., Skidmore, Roger R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan; Thai
• Application Number:
  US10/386,939
• Publication Number:
  US 20030229478A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,580 Days
• Field of Search: 703/2, 703/6, 703/20, 703/18, 703/5, 345/441, 345/133, 455/115.1, 455/33.1, 455/33.4, 455/67.1
• US Class Current: 703/2
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/23 Indication means, e.g. displays, alarms, audible means
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/309 Measuring or estimating channel quality parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/336 Signal-to-interference ratio [SIR] or carrier-to-interference ratio [CIR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/3913 Predictive models, e.g. based on neural network models
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/20 for indoor coverage or short range network deployment

Abstract

A network which includes electromagnetic components, such as a wireless communications system, is designed, optimized, modified and/or saved or exported to another applications program using a graphical interface. A display may present a graphical rendering of performance characteristics in a site specific manner showing elements such as walls, doors, windows, furniture, people, foliage, and terrain. The locations where performance characteristic information are presented can be automatically selected and adjusted to present more or less information. The display can be viewed at multiple perspectives, and the viewing angle can be adjusted. In one embodiment, the display can graphically present information related to two different performance characteristics. An infrastructure wiring diagram can be generated for analysis or for exportation to other applications using the system, wherein after components are positioned and connected within the context of a site map, the site map itself is eliminated or significantly reduced in prominence.

Claims

1. A system for modeling a network which includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics, comprising:

a computer database model of a site where a network may be deployed that includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics;

a display for displaying a site map of said site;

means for selecting computer representations of one or more components which may be used in said network from amongst a database of computer representations of components, said computer representations of each of said one or more components including performance data;

means for positioning said one or more components on said site map of said site;

means for calculating or measuring at least two different performance characteristics for said network modeled by said computer database model; and

means for displaying, on said site map of said site, a graphical rendering of said at least two different performance characteristics.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said graphical rendering includes variations in color pertaining to a first of said at least two different performance characteristics, and a mesh of fluctuating elevations pertaining to a second of said at least two different performance characteristics.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of said one or more components are wireless communication components.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein said wireless communication components are selected from the group consisting of base stations, base station controllers, amplifiers, attenuators, antennas, coaxial cabling, fiber optic cabling, splitters, repeaters, transducers, converters, couplers, leaky feeder cables, hubs, switches, routers, firewalls, MIMO systems, sensors, power distribution lines, wiring, twisted pair cabling and wireless or other access points.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of said one or more components is selected from the group consisting of micro machines and micro electrical mechanical machines.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein said performance characteristics are selected from the group consisting of radio signal strength intensity, network throughput, bit error rate, frame error rate, signal-to-interference ratio, signal-to-noise ratio, frame resolution per second, traffic, capacity, signal strength, throughput, error rates, packet latency, packet jitter, symbol jitter, quality of service, security, coverage area, bandwidth, server identification parameters, transmitter identification parameters, best server locations, transmitter location parameters, billing information, network performance parameters, C/I, C/N, body loss, height above floor, height above ground, noise figure, secure coverage locations, propagation loss factors, angle of arrival, multipath components, multipath parameters, antenna gains, noise level reflectivity, surface roughness, path loss models, attenuation factors, metrics, round trip time, signal level, interference level, quality of service, bandwidth delay product, handoff delay time, signal loss, data loss, number of users serviced, user density, locations of adequate coverage, handoff locations, locations of adequate throughput, E_CI_O, system performance parameters, equipment price, maintenance and cost information, all in either absolute or relative terms.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein said site map is two dimensional.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein said site map is three dimensional.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for selecting permits changing at least one of said one or more components which may be used in said network, and wherein said means for calculating or measuring and said means for displaying reflect changes made with said means for selecting.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein said means for calculating or measuring and said means for displaying reflect changes in real time or near real time.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein said site map provides representations of physical objects which may be used in said site.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein said physical objects are assigned physical, electrical, or aesthetic values which are considered in calculations or measurements performed by said means for calculating or measuring.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein said physical, electrical or aesthetic values include at least one of height, attenuation or RF penetration loss, surface roughness, reflectivity, and color.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein said physical objects include at least one of door, wall, ceiling, buildings, window, tree, person, furniture, hill, and climactic condition.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein said site map presents one of a part of a building, a building, a collection of buildings, terrain, and foliage.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein said network is a communications network.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein said components in said communications network include wireless communication components.

18. The system of claim 1 further comprising a means for selecting a viewing angle displayed by said means for displaying.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein said means for selecting a viewing angle allows for re-orienting the viewing angle a plurality of times.

20. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for displaying adjusts one of elevation and coloring based on values for a performance characteristic of said at least two different performance characteristics.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein said means for displaying adjusts elevation for a first performance characteristic and adjusts coloring for a second performance characteristic.

22. The system of claim 20 wherein said means for displaying adjusts at least one of saturation, hue, brightness, line type, line width, transparency and surface texture.

23. The system of claim 22 further comprising means for saving the site specific infrastructure wiring diagram in a computer readable format.

24. The system of claim 22 further comprising means for transferring or exporting the site specific infrastructure wiring diagram to an application program.

25. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for calculating or measuring performs measurements.

26. The system of claim 25 further comprising a means for inputting measurements taken from said site into said computer database model.

258. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for calculating or measuring performs calculations.

27. A method for modeling a network which includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics, comprising:

providing a computer database model of a site where a network may be deployed that includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics;

displaying a site map of said site;

selecting computer representations of one or more components which may be used in said network from amongst a database of computer representations of components, said computer representations of each of said one or more components including performance data;

positioning said one or more components on said site map of said site;

calculating or measuring at least two different performance characteristics of said communications network modeled by said computer database model; and

displaying, on said site map of said site, a graphical rendering of said at least two different performance characteristics.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein said graphical rendering displayed in said displaying step includes variations in color pertaining to a first of said at least two different performance characteristics, and a mesh of fluctuating elevations pertaining to a second of said at least two different performance characteristics.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein at least one of said one or more components are wireless communication components.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein said wireless communication components are selected from the group consisting of base stations, base station controllers, amplifiers, attenuators, antennas, coaxial cabling, fiber optic cabling, splitters, repeaters, transducers, converters, couplers, leaky feeder cables, hubs, switches, routers, MIMO systems, sensors, firewalls, power distribution lines, wiring, twisted pair cabling and wireless or other access points.

31. The method of claim 27 wherein at least one of said one or more components is selected from the group consisting of micro machines and micro electrical mechanical machines.

32. The method of claim 27 wherein said performance characteristics calculated in said calculating step are selected from the group consisting of radio signal strength intensity, network throughput, bit error rate, frame error rate, signal-to-interference ratio, signal-to-noise ratio, frame resolution per second, traffic, capacity, signal strength, throughput, error rates, packet latency, packet jitter, symbol jitter, quality of service, security, coverage area, bandwidth, server identification parameters, transmitter identification parameters, best server locations, transmitter location parameters, network performance parameters, C/I, C/N, body loss, height above floor, height above ground, noise figure, secure coverage locations, propagation loss factors, angle of arrival, multipath components, multipath parameters, antenna gains, noise level reflectivity, surface roughness, path loss models, attenuation factors, metrics, round trip time, signal level, interference level, quality of service, bandwidth delay product, handoff delay time, signal loss, data loss, number of users serviced, user density, locations of adequate coverage, handoff locations, locations of adequate throughput, E_CI_O, system performance parameters, equipment price, maintenance and cost information, all in either absolute or relative terms.

33. The method of claim 27 wherein said site map is two dimensional.

34. The method of claim 27 wherein said site map is three dimensional.

35. The method of claim 27 further comprising the steps of changing at least one of said one or more components which may be used in said network, and said calculating or measuring and said displaying steps are performed in a manner where said at least two different performance characteristics reflect changes made in said changing step.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein said calculating or measuring and said displaying steps reflect changes in real time or near real time.

37. The method of claim 27 wherein said site map provides representations of physical objects which may be used in said site.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein said physical objects are assigned physical, electrical, or aesthetic values which are considered in calculations or measurements performed in said calculating or measuring step.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein said physical, electrical or aesthetic values include at least one of height, attenuation or RF penetration loss, surface roughness, reflectivity, and color.

40. The method of claim 37 wherein said physical objects include at least one of door, wall, ceilings, buildings, window, tree, person, furniture, hill, and climactic condition.

41. The method of claim 27 wherein said site map presents one of a part of a building, a building, a collection of buildings, terrain, and foliage.

42. The method of claim 27 wherein said network is a communications network.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein said components in said communications network include wireless communication components.

44. The method of claim 27 further comprising the step of selecting a viewing angle displayed by said means for displaying.

45. The method of claim 44 further comprising the step of re-orienting the viewing angle a plurality of times.

46. The method of claim 27 wherein said displaying step adjusts one of elevation and coloring based on values for a performance characteristic of said at least two different performance characteristics.

47. The method of claim 46 wherein said displaying step adjusts elevation for a first performance characteristic and adjusts coloring for a second performance characteristic.

48. The method of claim 46 wherein said displaying step adjusts at least one of saturation, hue, brightness, line type, line width, transparency, and surface texture.

49. The method of claim 27 wherein calculations are performed during said calculating or measuring step.

50. The method of claim 27 wherein measurements are performed during said calculating or measuring step.

51. The method of claim 50 further comprising the step of inputting measurements taken from said site into said computer database model.

52. A method for modeling a network which includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics, comprising the steps of:

providing a computer database model of a site where a network may be deployed that includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics;

displaying a site map of said site;

selecting computer representations of one or more components which may be used in said network from amongst a database of computer representations of components, said computer representations of each of said one or more components including performance data;

positioning said one or more components on said site map of said site;

providing a selectively controlled number of vertices on said site map;

calculating or measuring one or more performance characteristics of said communications network modeled by said computer database model at each of said vertices on said site map; and

displaying, on said site map of said site, one or more performance characteristics using said vertices.

53. The method of claim 52 wherein said step of providing a selectively controlled number of vertices includes the step of increasing the number of vertices.

54. The method of claim 52 wherein said step of providing a selectively controlled number of vertices includes the step of decreasing the number of vertices.

55. The method of claim 52 wherein said step of providing a selectively controlled number of vertices provides a wire mesh appearance.

56. The method of claim 52 wherein said displaying step displays a graphical rendering of said one or more performance characteristics.

57. The method of claim 56 wherein said calculating or measuring step calculates or measures at least two different performance characteristics for said network and said displaying step displays a graphical rending of said at least two different performance characteristics.

58. The method of claim 57 wherein said graphical rendering includes variations in color pertaining to a first of said at least two different performance characteristics, and a mesh of fluctuating elevations pertaining to a second of said at least two different performance characteristics.

59. The method of claim 52 wherein at least one of said one or more components are wireless communication components.

60. The method of claim 52 wherein said wireless communication components are selected from the group consisting of base stations, base station controllers, amplifiers, attenuators, antennas, coaxial cabling, fiber optic cabling, splitters, repeaters, transducers, converters, couplers, leaky feeder cables, hubs, switches, MIMO systems, sensors, routers, firewalls, power distribution lines, wiring, twisted pair cabling and wireless or other access points.

61. The method of claim 52 wherein at least one of said one or more components is selected from the group consisting of micro machines and micro electrical mechanical machines.

62. The method of claim 52 wherein said performance characteristics are selected from the group consisting of radio signal strength intensity, network throughput, bit error rate, frame error rate, signal-to-interference ratio, signal-to-noise ratio, frame resolution per second, traffic, capacity, signal strength, throughput, error rates, packet latency, packet jitter, symbol jitter, quality of service, security, coverage area, bandwidth, server identification parameters, transmitter identification parameters, best server locations, transmitter location parameters, billing information, network performance parameters, C/I, C/N, body loss, height above floor, height above ground, noise figure, secure coverage locations, propagation loss factors, angle of arrival, multipath components, multipath parameters, antenna gains, noise level reflectivity, surface roughness, path loss models, attenuation factors, throughput performance metrics, packet error rate, round trip time, dropped packet rate, queuing delay, signal level, interference level, quality of service, bandwidth delay product, handoff delay time, signal loss, data loss, number of users serviced, user density, locations of adequate coverage, handoff locations, locations of adequate throughput, E_CI_O, system performance parameters, equipment price, maintenance and cost information, all in either absolute or relative terms.

63. The method of claim 52 wherein said site map is two dimensional.

64. The method of claim 52 wherein said site map is three dimensional.

65. The method of claim 52 further comprising the step of changing at least one of said one or more components which may be used in said network, and wherein said calculating or measuring and said displaying steps reflect changes made in said changing step.

66. The method of claim 65 wherein said calculating or measuring and said displaying steps reflect changes in real time or near real time.

67. The method of claim 52 wherein said site map provides representations of physical objects which may be used in said site.

68. The method of claim 67 wherein said physical objects are assigned physical, electrical, or aesthetic values which are considered in calculations performed by said means for calculating or measuring.

69. The method of claim 68 wherein said physical, electrical or aesthetic values include at least one of height, attenuation or RF penetration loss, surface roughness, reflectivity, and color.

70. The method of claim 67 wherein said physical objects include at least one of door, wall, ceilings, buildings, window, tree, person, furniture, hill, and climactic condition.

71. The method of claim 52 wherein said site map presents one of a part of a building, a building, a collection of buildings, terrain, and foliage.

72. The method of claim 52 wherein said network is a communications network.

73. The method of claim 72 wherein said components in said communications network include wireless communication components.

74. The method of claim 52 further comprising the step of selecting a viewing angle to be implemented in said displaying step.

75. The method of claim 74 further comprising the step of re-orienting the viewing angle a plurality of times.

76. The method of claim 52 wherein calculations are performed during said calculating or measuring step.

77. The method of claim 52 wherein measurements are performed during said calculating or measuring step.

78. The method of claim 77 further comprising the step of inputting measurements taken from said site into said computer database model.

79. A system for modeling a network which includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics, comprising:

a computer database model of a site where a network may be deployed that includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics;

a display for displaying a three dimensional site map of said site;

means for selecting computer representations of one or more components which may be used in said network from amongst a database of computer representations of components, said computer representations of each of said one or more components including performance data;

means for positioning said one or more components on said site map of said site;

means for providing a selectively controlled number of vertices on said three-dimensional site map;

means for calculating or measuring one or more performance characteristics of said network modeled by said computer database model at each of said vertices on said site map; and

means for displaying, on said site map of said site, said one or more performance characteristics using said vertices.

80. The system of claim 79 wherein said means for providing a selectively controlled number of vertices includes a means for increasing the number of vertices.

81. The system of claim 79 wherein said means for providing a selectively controlled number of vertices includes a means for decreasing the number of vertices.

82. The system of claim 79 wherein said means for providing a selectively controlled number of vertices provides a wire mesh appearance.

83. The system of claim 79 wherein said means for displaying displays a graphical rendering of said one or more performance characteristics.

84. The system of claim 83 wherein said means for calculating calculates at least two different performance characteristics for said network and said means for displaying displays a graphical rending of said at least two different performance characteristics.

85. The system of claim 84 wherein said graphical rendering includes variations in color pertaining to a first of said at least two different performance characteristics, and a mesh of fluctuating elevations pertaining to a second of said at least two different performance characteristics.

86. The system of claim 79 wherein at least one of said one or more components are wireless communication components.

87. The system of claim 86 wherein said wireless communication components are selected from the group consisting of base stations, base station controllers, amplifiers, attenuators, antennas, coaxial cabling, fiber optic cabling, splitters, repeaters, transducers, converters, couplers, leaky feeder cables, hubs, switches, MIMO systems, sensors, routers, firewalls, power distribution lines, wiring, twisted pair cabling and wireless or other access points.

88. The system of claim 79 wherein at least one of said one or more components is selected from the group consisting of micro machines and micro electrical mechanical machines.

89. The system of claim 79 wherein said performance characteristics are selected from the group consisting of radio signal strength intensity, network throughput, bit error rate, frame error rate, signal-to-interference ratio, signal-to-noise ratio, frame resolution per second, traffic, capacity, signal strength, throughput, error rates, packet latency, packet jitter, symbol jitter, quality of service, security, coverage area, bandwidth, server identification parameters, transmitter identification parameters, best server locations, transmitter location parameters, billing information, network performance parameters, C/I, C/N, body loss, height above floor, height above ground, noise figure, secure coverage locations, propagation loss factors, angle of arrival, multipath components, multipath parameters, antenna gains, noise level reflectivity, surface roughness, path loss models, attenuation factors, throughput performance metrics, packet error rate, round trip time, dropped packet rate, queuing delay, signal level, interference level, quality of service, bandwidth delay product, handoff delay time, signal loss, data loss, number of users serviced, user density, locations of adequate coverage, handoff locations, locations of adequate throughput, E_CI_O, system performance parameters, equipment price, maintenance and cost information, all in either absolute or relative terms.

90. The system of claim 79 wherein said site map is two dimensional.

91. The system of claim 79 wherein said site map is three dimensional.

92. The system of claim 79 wherein said means for selecting permits changing at least one of said one or more components which may be used in said network, and wherein said means for calculating or measuring and said means for displaying reflect changes made with said means for selecting.

93. The system of claim 92 wherein said means for calculating or measuring and said means for displaying reflect changes in real time or near real time.

94. The system of claim 79 wherein said site map provides representations of physical objects which may be used in said site.

95. The system of claim 94 wherein said physical objects are assigned physical, electrical, or aesthetic values which are considered in calculations or measurements performed by said means for calculating or measuring.

96. The system of claim 95 wherein said physical, electrical or aesthetic values include at least one of height, attenuation or RF penetration loss, surface roughness, reflectivity, and color.

97. The system of claim 94 wherein said physical objects include at least one of door, wall, ceilings, buildings, window, tree, person, furniture, hill, and climactic condition.

98. The system of claim 79 wherein said site map presents one of a part of a building, a building, a collection of buildings, terrain, and foliage.

99. The system of claim 79 wherein said network is a communications network.

100. The system of claim 99 wherein said components in said communications network include wireless communication components.

101. The system of claim 79 further comprising a means for selecting a viewing angle displayed by said means for displaying.

102. The system of claim 101 wherein said means for selecting a viewing angle allows for re-orienting the viewing angle a plurality of times.

103. The system of claim 79 wherein said means for calculating or measuring performs calculations.

104. The system of claim 79 wherein said means for calculating or measuring performs measurements.

105. The system of claim 104 further comprising a means for inputting measurements taken from said site into said computer database model.

106. A system for modeling a network which includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics, comprising:

a computer database model of a site where a network may be deployed which includes ore will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics;

a display for displaying a three-dimensional site map of said site;

means for selecting computer representations of one or more components which may be used in said network from amongst a database of computer representations of components, said computer representations of each of said one or more components including performance data;

means for positioning said one or more components on said three-dimensional site map of said site;

means for calculating or measuring one or more performance characteristics of said network modeled by said computer database model; and

means for displaying a fence grid which encircles said three-dimensional site map of said site; and

means for displaying on said fence grid, a graphical rendering of said one or more performance characteristics.

107. The system of claim 106 wherein at least one of said one or more components are wireless communication components.

108. The system of claim 107 wherein said wireless communication components are selected from the group consisting of base stations, base station controllers, amplifiers, attenuators, antennas, coaxial cabling, fiber optic cabling, splitters, repeaters, transducers, converters, couplers, leaky feeder cables, hubs, switches, routers, MIMO systems, sensors, firewalls, power distribution lines, wiring, twisted pair cabling and wireless access points.

109. The system of claim 106 wherein at least one of said one or more components is selected from the group consisting of micro machines and micro electrical mechanical machines.

110. The system of claim 106 wherein said performance characteristics are selected from the group consisting of radio signal strength intensity, network throughput, bit error rate, frame error rate, signal-to-interference ratio, signal-to-noise ratio, frame resolution per second, traffic, capacity, signal strength, throughput, error rates, packet latency, packet jitter, symbol jitter, quality of service, security, coverage area, bandwidth, server identification parameters, transmitter identification parameters, best server locations, transmitter location parameters, billing information, network performance parameters, C/I, C/N, body loss, height above floor, height above ground, noise figure, secure coverage locations, propagation loss factors, angle of arrival, multipath components, multipath parameters, antenna gains, noise level reflectivity, surface roughness, path loss models, attenuation factors, throughput performance metrics, packet error rate, round trip time, dropped packet rate, queuing delay, signal level, interference level, quality of service, bandwidth delay product, handoff delay time, signal loss, data loss, number of users serviced, user density, locations of adequate coverage, handoff locations, locations of adequate throughput, E_CI_O, system performance parameters, equipment price, maintenance and cost information, all in either absolute or relative terms.

111. The system of claim 106 wherein said fence grid is two dimensional.

112. The system of claim 106 wherein said fence grid is three dimensional.

113. The system of claim 106 wherein said means for selecting permits changing at least one of said one or more components which may be used in said network, and wherein said means for calculating or measuring and said means for displaying reflect changes made with said means for selecting.

114. The system of claim 113 wherein said means for calculating or measuring and said means for displaying reflect changes in real time or near real time.

115. The system of claim 106 wherein said site map provides representations of physical objects which may be used in said site.

116. The system of claim 115 wherein said physical objects are assigned physical, electrical, or aesthetic values which are considered in calculations or measurements performed by said means for calculating or measuring.

117. The system of claim 116 wherein said physical, electrical or aesthetic values include at least one of height, attenuation or RF penetration loss, surface roughness, reflectivity, and color.

118. The system of claim 115 wherein said physical objects include at least one of door, wall, ceiling, buildings, window, tree, person, furniture, hill, and climactic condition.

119. The system of claim 106 wherein said site map presents one of a part of a building, a building, a collection of buildings, terrain, and foliage.

120. The system of claim 106 wherein said network is a communications network.

121. The system of claim 120 wherein said components in said communications network include wireless communication components.

122. The system of claim 106 further comprising a means for selecting a viewing angle displayed by said means for displaying.

123. The system of claim 122 wherein said means for selecting a viewing angle allows for re-orienting the viewing angle a plurality of times.

124. The system of claim 106 wherein said means for displaying adjusts one of elevation and coloring based on values for a performance characteristic calculated or measured by said means for calculating or measuring.

125. The system of claim 124 wherein said means for displaying adjusts at least one of saturation, hue, brightness, line type, line width, transparency, and surface texture.

126. The system of claim 106 wherein said means for calculating or measuring performs calculations.

127. The system of claim 106 wherein said means for calculating or measuring performs measurements.

128. The system of claim 127 further comprising a means for inputting measurements taken from said site into said computer database model.

129. A method for modeling a network which includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic properties, comprising:

providing a computer database model of a site where a network may be deployed which includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics;

displaying a three-dimensional site map of said site;

selecting computer representations of one or more components which may be used in said network from amongst a database of computer representations of components, said computer representations of each of said one or more components including performance data;

positioning said one or more components on said three-dimensional site map of said site;

calculating one or more performance characteristics of said network modeled by said computer database model; and

displaying a fence grid which encircles said three-dimensional site map of said site; and

displaying on said fence grid, a graphical rendering of said one or more performance characteristics.

130. The method of claim 129 wherein at least one of said one or more components are wireless communication components.

131. The method of claim 130 wherein said wireless communication components are selected from the group consisting of base stations, base station controllers, amplifiers, attenuators, antennas, coaxial cabling, fiber optic cabling, splitters, repeaters, transducers, converters, couplers, leaky feeder cables, hubs, switches, routers, MIMO systems, sensors, firewalls, power distribution lines, wiring, twisted pair cabling and wireless access points.

132. The method of claim 129 wherein at least one of said one or more components is selected from the group consisting of micro machines and micro electrical mechanical machines.

133. The method of claim 129 wherein said performance characteristics are selected from the group consisting of radio signal strength intensity, network throughput, bit error rate, frame error rate, signal-to-interference ratio, signal-to-noise ratio, frame resolution per second, traffic, capacity, signal strength, throughput, error rates, packet latency, packet jitter, symbol jitter, quality of service, security, coverage area, bandwidth, server identification parameters, transmitter identification parameters, best server locations, transmitter location parameters, billing information, network performance parameters, C/I, C/N, body loss, height above floor, height above ground, noise figure, secure coverage locations, propagation loss factors, angle of arrival, multipath components, multipath parameters, antenna gains, noise level reflectivity, surface roughness, path loss models, attenuation factors, throughput performance metrics, packet error rate, round trip time, dropped packet rate, queuing delay, signal level, interference level, quality of service, bandwidth delay product, handoff delay time, signal loss, data loss, number of users serviced, user density, locations of adequate coverage, handoff locations, locations of adequate throughput, E_CI_O, system performance parameters, equipment price, maintenance and cost information, all in either absolute or relative terms.

134. The method of claim 129 wherein said fence grid is two dimensional.

135. The method of claim 129 wherein said fence grid is three dimensional.

136. The method of claim 129 further comprising the step of changing at least one of said one or more components which may be used in said network, and wherein said calculating or measuring and said displaying steps reflect changes made in said changing step.

137. The method of claim 136 wherein said calculating or measuring and said displaying reflect changes made in said changing step in real time or near real time.

138. The method of claim 129 wherein said site map provides representations of physical objects which may be used in said site.

139. The method of claim 138 wherein said physical objects are assigned physical, electrical, or aesthetic values which are considered in calculations or measurements performed by said means for calculating or measuring.

140. The method of claim 139 wherein said physical, electrical or aesthetic values include at least one of height, attenuation or RF penetration loss, surface roughness, reflectivity, and color.

141. The method of claim 138 wherein said physical objects include at least one of door, wall, ceiling, buildings, window, tree, person, furniture, hill, and climactic condition.

142. The method of claim 129 wherein said site map presents one of a part of a building, a building, a collection of buildings, terrain, and foliage.

143. The method of claim 129 wherein said network is a communications network.

144. The method of claim 143 wherein said components in said communications network include wireless communication components.

145. The method of claim 129 further comprising the step of selecting a viewing angle displayed by said means for displaying.

146. The method of claim 145 further comprising the step of re-orienting the viewing angle a plurality of times.

147. The method of claim 129 further comprising the step of adjusting one of elevation and coloring based on values for a performance characteristic calculated or measured in said calculating or measuring step.

148. The method of claim 147 wherein said means for displaying adjusts at least one of saturation, hue, brightness, line type, line width, transparency, and surface texture.

149. The method of claim 129 wherein calculations are performed during said calculating or measuring step.

150. The method of claim 129 wherein measurements are performed during said calculating or measuring step.

151. The method of claim 150 further comprising the step of inputting measurements taken from said site into said computer database model.

152. A system for modeling a network which includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic properties, comprising:

a computer database model of a site where a network may be deployed which includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics;

a display for displaying a site map of said site;

means for selecting computer representations of one or more components which may be used in said network from amongst a database of computer representations of components, said computer representations of each of said one or more components including performance data;

means for positioning said one or more components on said site map of said site;

means for calculating or measuring one or more performance characteristics of said network modeled by said computer database model; and

means for displaying from at least two different perspectives of said site map of said site, a graphical rendering of said one or more performance characteristics.

153. The system of claim 152 wherein said means for displaying allows for establishing or adjusting a viewing angle from 0°

to 90°

with respect to a z-axis passing through said site map.

154. The system of claim 153 wherein said wireless communication components are selected from the group consisting of base stations, base station controllers, amplifiers, attenuators, antennas, coaxial cabling, fiber optic cabling, splitters, repeaters, transducers, converters, couplers, leaky feeder cables, hubs, switches, routers, MIMO systems, sensors, firewalls, power distribution lines, wiring, twisted pair cabling and wireless or other access points.

155. The system of claim 152 wherein said means for displaying allows for rotating a perspective view of said site map from 0°

to 360°

about a z-axis passing through said site map.

156. The system of claim 152 wherein at least one of said one or more components are wireless communication components.

157. The system of claim 152 wherein at least one of said one or more components is selected from the group consisting of micro machines and micro electrical mechanical machines.

158. The system of claim 152 wherein said performance characteristics are selected from the group consisting of radio signal strength intensity, network throughput, bit error rate, frame error rate, signal-to-interference ratio, signal-to-noise ratio, frame resolution per second, traffic, capacity, signal strength, throughput, error rates, packet latency, packet jitter, symbol jitter, quality of service, security, coverage area, bandwidth, server identification parameters, transmitter identification parameters, best server locations, transmitter location parameters, billing information, network performance parameters, C/I, C/N, body loss, height above floor, height above ground, noise figure, secure coverage locations, propagation loss factors, angle of arrival, multipath components, multipath parameters, antenna gains, noise level reflectivity, surface roughness, path loss models, attenuation factors, throughput performance metrics, packet error rate, round trip time, dropped packet rate, queuing delay, signal level, interference level, quality of service, bandwidth delay product, handoff delay time, signal loss, data loss, number of users serviced, user density, locations of adequate coverage, handoff locations, locations of adequate throughput, E_CI_O, system performance parameters, equipment price, maintenance and cost information, all in either absolute or relative terms.

159. The system of claim 152 wherein said site map is two dimensional.

160. The system of claim 152 wherein said site map is three dimensional.

161. The system of claim 152 wherein said means for selecting permits changing at least one of said one or more components which may be used in said network, and wherein said means for calculating or measuring and said means for displaying reflect changes made with said means for selecting.

162. The system of claim 161 wherein said means for calculating or measuring and said means for displaying reflect changes in real time or near real time.

163. The system of claim 152 wherein said site map provides representations of physical objects which may be used in said site.

164. The system of claim 163 wherein said physical objects are assigned physical, electrical, or aesthetic values which are considered in calculations or measurements performed by said means for calculating or measuring.

165. The system of claim 164 wherein said physical, electrical or aesthetic values include at least one of height, attenuation or RF penetration loss, surface roughness, reflectivity, and color.

166. The system of claim 163 wherein said physical objects include at least one of door, wall, ceiling, buildings, window, tree, person, furniture, hill, and climactic condition.

167. The system of claim 152 wherein said site map presents one of a part of a building, a building, a collection of buildings, terrain, and foliage.

168. The system of claim 152 wherein said network is a communications network.

169. The system of claim 168 wherein said components in said communications network include wireless communication components.

170. The system of claim 152 further comprising a means for selecting a viewing angle displayed by said means for displaying.

171. The system of claim 170 wherein said means for selecting a viewing angle allows for re-orienting the viewing angle a plurality of times.

172. The system of claim 152 wherein said means for displaying adjusts one of elevation and coloring based on values for a performance characteristic.

173. The system of claim 172 wherein said means for displaying adjusts at least one of saturation, hue, brightness, line type, line width, transparency, and surface texture.

174. The system of claim 152 wherein said means for calculating or measuring performs calculations.

175. The system of claim 152 wherein said means for calculating or measuring performs measurements.

176. The system of claim 175 further comprising a means for inputting measurements taken from said site into said computer database model.

177. A method for modeling a network which includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics, comprising:

providing a computer database model of a site where a network may be deployed which includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics;

displaying a site map of said site;

selecting computer representations of one or more components which may be used in said network from amongst a database of computer representations of components, said computer representations of each of said one or more components including performance data;

positioning said one or more components on said site map of said site;

calculating or measuring one or more performance characteristics of said network modeled by said computer database model; and

displaying, from amongst a plurality of different perspectives of said site map of said site, a graphical rendering of said one or more performance characteristics.

178. The method of claim 177 further comprising the step of establishing or adjusting a viewing angle from 0°

to 90°

with respect to a z-axis passing through said site map.

179. The method of claim 177 further comprising the step of rotating a perspective view of said site map from 0°

to 360°

about a z-axis passing through said site map.

180. The method of claim 177 wherein at least one of said one or more components are wireless communication components.

181. The method of claim 180 wherein said wireless communication components are selected from the group consisting of base stations, base station controllers, amplifiers, attenuators, antennas, coaxial cabling, fiber optic cabling, splitters, repeaters, transducers, converters, couplers, leaky feeder cables, hubs, switches, routers, MIMO systems, sensors, firewalls, power distribution lines, wiring, twisted pair cabling and wireless or other access points.

182. The method of claim 177 wherein at least one of said one or more components is selected from the group consisting of micro machines and micro electrical mechanical machines.

183. The method of claim 177 wherein said performance characteristics are selected from the group consisting of radio signal strength intensity, network throughput, bit error rate, frame error rate, signal-to-interference ratio, signal-to-noise ratio, frame resolution per second, traffic, capacity, signal strength, throughput, error rates, packet latency, packet jitter, symbol jitter, quality of service, security, coverage area, bandwidth, server identification parameters, transmitter identification parameters, best server locations, transmitter location parameters, billing information, network performance parameters, C/I, C/N, body loss, height above floor, height above ground, noise figure, secure coverage locations, propagation loss factors, angle of arrival, multipath components, multipath parameters, antenna gains, noise level reflectivity, surface roughness, path loss models, attenuation factors, throughput performance metrics, packet error rate, round trip time, dropped packet rate, queuing delay, signal level, interference level, quality of service, bandwidth delay product, handoff delay time, signal loss, data loss, number of users serviced, user density, locations of adequate coverage, handoff locations, locations of adequate throughput, E_CI_O, system performance parameters, equipment price, maintenance and cost information, all in either absolute or relative terms.

184. The method of claim 177 wherein said site map is two dimensional.

185. The method of claim 177 wherein said site map is three dimensional.

186. The method of claim 177 further comprising the step of changing at least one of said one or more components which may be used in said network, and wherein said calculating or measuring and said displaying steps reflect changes made in said changing step.

187. The method of claim 186 wherein said means for calculating or measuring and said means for displaying reflect changes in real time or near real time.

188. The method of claim 177 wherein said site map provides representations of physical objects which may be used in said site.

189. The method of claim 188 wherein said physical objects are assigned physical, electrical, or aesthetic values which are considered in calculations or measurements performed by said means for calculating or measuring.

190. The method of claim 189 wherein said physical, electrical or aesthetic values include at least one of height, attenuation or RF penetration loss, surface roughness, reflectivity, and color.

191. The method of claim 188 wherein said physical objects include at least one of door, wall, ceiling, buildings, window, tree, person, furniture, hill, and climactic condition.

192. The method of claim 177 wherein said site map presents one of a part of a building, a building, a collection of buildings, terrain, and foliage.

193. The method of claim 177 wherein said network is a communications network.

194. The method of claim 193 wherein said components in said communications network include wireless communication components.

195. The method of claim 177 further comprising the step of selecting a viewing angle displayed in said displaying step.

196. The method of claim 195 further comprising the step of re-orienting the viewing angle a plurality of times.

197. The method of claim 177 further comprising the step of adjusting one of elevation and coloring based on values for a performance characteristic.

198. The method of claim 197 wherein said adjusting step adjusts on the display at least one of saturation, hue, brightness, line type, line width, transparency, and surface texture.

199. The method of claim 177 wherein calculations are performed during said calculating or measuring step.

200. The method of claim 177 wherein measurements are performed during said calculating or measuring step.

201. The method of claim 200 further comprising the step of inputting measurements taken from said site into said computer database model.

202. A system for generating, viewing or exporting a spatially positioned infrastructure wiring diagram of a network which includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics, comprising:

a computer database model of a site where a network may be deployed that includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics;

a display for displaying a site map of said site;

means for selecting computer representations of one or more components which may be used in said network from amongst a database of computer representations of components, said computer representations of each of said one or more components including performance data;

means for positioning said one or more components on said site map of said site;

means for connecting two or more components together, said means for selecting, said means for positioning, and said means for connecting creating a site specific infrastructure wiring diagram;

means for displaying said one or more components, spatially positioned relative to each other, with said site map being absent or reduced in prominence relative to said site specific infrastructure wiring diagram.

203. The system of claim 202 wherein said means for displaying allows for establishing or adjusting a viewing angle from 0°

to 90°

with respect to a z-axis passing through said site map.

204. The system of claim 202 wherein said means for displaying allows for rotating a perspective view of said site map from 0°

to 360°

about a z-axis passing through said site map.

205. The system of claim 202 wherein at least one of said one or more components are wireless communication components.

206. The system of claim 205 wherein said wireless communication components are selected from the group consisting of base stations, base station controllers, amplifiers, attenuators, antennas, coaxial cabling, fiber optic cabling, splitters, repeaters, transducers, converters, couplers, leaky feeder cables, hubs, switches, routers, MIMO systems, sensors, firewalls, power distribution lines, wiring, twisted pair cabling and wireless or other access points.

207. The system of claim 202 wherein at least one of said one or more components is selected from the group consisting of micro machines and micro electrical mechanical machines.

208. The system of claim 202 further comprising a means for calculating or measuring at least one performance characteristic for said network modeled by said computer database model.

209. The system of claim 208 wherein said performance characteristic is selected from the group consisting of radio signal strength intensity, network throughput, bit error rate, frame error rate, signal-to-interference ratio, signal-to-noise ratio, frame resolution per second, traffic, capacity, signal strength, throughput, error rates, packet latency, packet jitter, symbol jitter, quality of service, security, coverage area, bandwidth, server identification parameters, transmitter identification parameters, best server locations, transmitter location parameters, billing information, network performance parameters, C/I, C/N, body loss, height above floor, height above ground, noise figure, secure coverage locations, propagation loss factors, angle of arrival, multipath components, multipath parameters, antenna gains, noise level reflectivity, surface roughness, path loss models, attenuation factors, throughput performance metrics, packet error rate, round trip time, dropped packet rate, queuing delay, signal level, interference level, quality of service, bandwidth delay product, handoff delay time, signal loss, data loss, number of users serviced, user density, locations of adequate coverage, handoff locations, locations of adequate throughput, E_CI_O, system performance parameters, equipment price, maintenance and cost information, all in either absolute or relative terms.

210. The system of claim 208 wherein said means for selecting permits changing at least one of said one or more components which may be used in said network, and wherein said means for calculating or measuring and said means for displaying reflect changes made with said means for selecting.

211. The system of claim 210 wherein said means for calculating or measuring and said means for displaying reflect changes in real time or near real time.

212. The system of claim 208 wherein said means for calculating or measuring performs calculations.

213. The system of claim 208 wherein said means for calculating or measuring performs measurements.

214. The system of claim 213 further comprising a means for inputting measurements taken from said site into said computer database model.

215. The system of claim 202 wherein said site map is two dimensional.

216. The system of claim 202 wherein said site map is three dimensional.

217. The system of claim 208 wherein said site map provides representations of physical objects which may be used in said site.

218. The system of claim 217 wherein said physical objects are assigned physical, electrical, or aesthetic values which are considered in calculations or measurements performed by said means for calculating or measuring.

219. The system of claim 218 wherein said physical, electrical or aesthetic values include at least one of height, attenuation or RF penetration loss, surface roughness, reflectivity, and color.

220. The system of claim 217 wherein said physical objects include at least one of door, wall, ceiling, buildings, window, tree, person, furniture, hill, and climactic condition.

221. The system of claim 202 wherein said site map presents one of a part of a building, a building, a collection of buildings, terrain, and foliage.

222. The system of claim 202 wherein said network is a communications network.

223. The system of claim 222 wherein said components in said communications network include wireless communication components.

224. The system of claim 202 further comprising a means for selecting a viewing angle displayed by said means for displaying.

225. The system of claim 224 wherein said means for selecting a viewing angle allows for re-orienting the viewing angle a plurality of times.

226. The system of claim 202 wherein said means for displaying adjusts one of elevation and coloring based on values for a performance characteristic.

227. The system of claim 226 wherein said means for displaying adjusts at least one of saturation, hue, brightness, line type, line width, transparency, and surface texture.

228. The system of claim 202 wherein said means for displaying said one or more components spatially positioned relative to each other displays said components with said site map absent.

229. The system of claim 202 wherein said means for displaying said one or more components spatially positioned relative to each other displays said components with said site map reduced in prominence relative to said site specific infrastructure wiring diagram.

230. A method for generating, viewing or exporting a spatially positioned infrastructure wiring diagram of a network which includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics, comprising the steps of:

providing a computer database model of a site where a network may be deployed that includes or will include one or more components with electromagnetic characteristics;

displaying a site map of said site;

selecting computer representations of one or more components which may be used in said network from amongst a database of computer representations of components, said computer representations of each of said one or more components including performance data;

positioning said one or more components on said site map of said site;

connecting two or more components together, said steps of selecting, positioning and connecting creating a site specific infrastructure wiring diagram;

displaying said one or more components, spatially positioned relative to each other, with said site map being absent or reduced in prominence relative to said site specific infrastructure wiring diagram.

231. The method of claim 230 further comprising the step of saving the site specific infrastructure wiring diagram in a computer readable format.

232. The method of claim 230 further comprising the step of exporting or transferring the site specific infrastructure wiring diagram to an application program.

233. The method of claim 230 further comprising the step of establishing or adjusting a viewing angle from 0°

to 90°

with respect to a z-axis passing through said site map.

234. The method of claim 230 further comprising the step of rotating a perspective view of said site map from 0°

to 360°

about a z-axis passing through said site map.

235. The method of claim 230 wherein at least one of said one or more components are wireless communication components.

236. The method of claim 230 wherein said wireless communication components are selected from the group consisting of base stations, base station controllers, amplifiers, attenuators, antennas, coaxial cabling, fiber optic cabling, splitters, repeaters, transducers, converters, couplers, leaky feeder cables, hubs, switches, routers, MIMO systems, sensors, firewalls, power distribution lines, wiring, twisted pair cabling and wireless or other access points.

237. The method of claim 230 wherein at least one of said one or more components is selected from the group consisting of micro machines and micro electrical mechanical machines.

238. The method of claim 230 further comprising the step of calculating or measuring at least one performance characteristic for said network modeled by said computer database model.

239. The method of claim 238 wherein said performance characteristic is selected from the group consisting of radio signal strength intensity, network throughput, bit error rate, frame error rate, signal-to-interference ratio, signal-to-noise ratio, frame resolution per second, traffic, capacity, signal strength, throughput, error rates, packet latency, packet jitter, symbol jitter, quality of service, security, coverage area, bandwidth, server identification parameters, transmitter identification parameters, best server locations, transmitter location parameters, billing information, network performance parameters, C/I, C/N, body loss, height above floor, height above ground, noise figure, secure coverage locations, propagation loss factors, angle of arrival, multipath components, multipath parameters, antenna gains, noise level reflectivity, surface roughness, path loss models, attenuation factors, throughput performance metrics, packet error rate, round trip time, dropped packet rate, queuing delay, signal level, interference level, quality of service, bandwidth delay product, handoff delay time, signal loss, data loss, number of users serviced, user density, locations of adequate coverage, handoff locations, locations of adequate throughput, E_CI_O, system performance parameters, equipment price, maintenance and cost information, all in either absolute or relative terms.

240. The method of claim 238 further comprising the step of changing at least one of said one or more components which may be used in said network, and wherein said step of calculating or measuring and said step of displaying reflect changes made in said changing step.

241. The method of claim 240 wherein said calculating or measuring and said displaying steps reflect changes in real time or near real time.

242. The method of claim 238 wherein said site map provides representations of physical objects which may be used in said site.

243. The method of claim 242 wherein said physical objects are assigned physical, electrical, or aesthetic values which are considered in calculations or measurements performed in said calculating or measuring step.

244. The method of claim 243 wherein said physical, electrical or aesthetic values include at least one of height, attenuation or RF penetration loss, surface roughness, reflectivity, and color.

245. The method of claim 242 wherein said physical objects include at least one of door, wall, ceiling, buildings, window, tree, person, furniture, hill, and climactic condition.

246. The method of claim 238 wherein calculations are performed during said calculating or measuring step.

247. The method of claim 238 wherein measurements are performed during said calculating or measuring step.

248. The method of claim 247 further comprising the step of inputting measurements taken from said site into said computer database model.

249. The method of claim 230 wherein said site map is two dimensional.

250. The method of claim 230 wherein said site map is three dimensional.

251. The method of claim 230 wherein said site map presents one of a part of a building, a building, a collection of buildings, terrain, and foliage.

252. The method of claim 230 wherein said network is a communications network.

253. The method of claim 252 wherein said components in said communications network include wireless communication components.

254. The method of claim 230 further comprising the step of selecting a viewing angle displayed by said means for displaying.

255. The method of claim 230 further comprising the step of re-orienting the viewing angle a plurality of times.

256. The method of claim 230 further comprising the step of adjusting one of elevation and coloring based on values for a performance characteristic.

257. The method of claim 256 wherein said adjusting step adjusts at least one of saturation, hue, brightness, line type, line width, transparency, and surface texture.