System and method for automated placement or configuration of equipment for obtaining desired network performance objectives

• US 7,295,960 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2003
• Issued: 11/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Extreme Networks, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Wireless Valley Communications Incorporated (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rappaport, Theodore S., Skidmore, Roger
• Primary Examiner(s): Rodriquez; Paul
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sharon; Ayal
• Application Number:
  US10/386,943
• Publication Number:
  US 20040143428A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,706 Days
• Field of Search: 703/2, 703/13, 715/848, 455/403, 455/422.1, 455/423
• US Class Current: 703/13
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/18 Network design, e.g. design based on topological or interconnect aspects of utility systems, piping, heating ventilation air conditioning [HVAC] or cabling circuit design at the physical level G06F30/39; network planning tools for wireless communication networks H04W16/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5003 Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0823 Errors, e.g. transmission errors
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0864 Round trip delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/20 for indoor coverage or short range network deployment

Abstract

A method is presented for determining optimal or preferred configuration settings for wireless or wired network equipment in order to obtain a desirable level of network performance. A site-specific network model is used with adaptive processing to perform efficient design and on-going management of network performance. The invention iteratively determines overall network performance and cost, and further iterates equipment settings, locations and orientations. Real time control is between a site-specific Computer Aided Design (CAD) software application and the physical components of the network allows the invention to display, store, and iteratively adapt any network to constantly varying traffic and interference conditions. Alarms provide rapid adaptation of network parameters, and alerts and preprogrammed network shutdown actions may be taken autonomously. A wireless post-it note device and network allows massive data such as book contents or hard drive memory to be accessed within a room by a wide bandwidth reader device, and this can further be interconnected to the internet or Ethernet backbone in order to provide worldwide access and remote retrieval to wireless post-it devices.

Claims

1. A system for modeling or controlling a communications network, comprising:

a display for displaying a site map of a site in which a communications network is or will be deployed;

means for configuring a computer representation on said site map on said display a possible configuration of a communications network which includes a plurality of components which are or may be used in the communications network, one or more of said plurality of components having at least one of performance data, cost data, maintenance data, and equipments settings stored in a database;

means for establishing one or more parameters of a desirable configuration of said communications network;

means for changing at least one of

a) one or more components within said configuration of said communications network, and

b) equipment settings of one or more components within said configuration of said communications network;

means for determining predicted or measured parameters for said communications network within said site generated by said means for configuring and said means for changing; and

means for determining one or more optimized or preferred configurations of said communications network based on a comparison of predicted or measured parameters generated by said means for determining and said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established by said means for establishing.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising a means for adjusting equipment settings of one or more components in said communications network based on an optimized or preferred configuration obtained from said means for determining.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein said means for adjusting adjusts one or more of transmit power settings, input and output gain settings, channel settings, frequency settings, bandwidth of transmitted or received signal, modulation schemes, data or symbol rate, protocol stack, coding, user priority settings or allowances, antenna pointing, antenna phasing parameters, orientation of component, and location of component.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein said communications network is deployed within said site, and said means for adjusting is operated locally at said site.

5. The system of claim 2 wherein said communications network is deployed within said site, and said means for adjusting is operated remote from said site.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein said means for adjusting is operated over the Internet.

7. The system of claim 5 wherein said means for adjusting is operated over one of communication protocols, wireless networks, wired networks, and passive or active wireless RF tags.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for determining determines measured parameters for said communications network.

9. The system of claim 8 further comprising means for inputting measured parameters into said computer representation configured by said means for configuring.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for determining determines predicted parameters for said communications network.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established by said means establishing are selected from the group consisting of coverage, capacity, coverage for a specific user class, specific capacity for a user class, coverage for a subset of users, capacity for a subset of users, handoff rate, dropped call rate, blocked call rate, dropped packet rate, symbol error rate, symbol rate, acceptable coverage zones, throughput including average, peak, individual, group, class or subclass, bit error rate, packet error rate, frame error rate, signal level, quality of service, latency, signal-to-noise ratio, carrier-to-noise ratio, signal strength, RSSI, rms delay spread, position location, interference levels, carrier to interference levels, and distortion.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established by said means for establishing are selected from the group consisting of installation cost information, equipment cost information, performance information, relative performance information, and maintenance cost information.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established by said means for establishing includes at least two different parameters for different subsets of users.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein said equipment settings of said one or more components within said configuration of said communications network, are selected from the group consisting of one or more of transmit power settings, input and output gain settings, channel settings, frequency settings, bandwidth of transmitted or received signal, modulation schemes, data or symbol rate, protocol stack, coding, user priority settings or allowances, antenna pointing, antenna phasing parameters, and orientation of component.

15. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for displaying provides a two dimensional display.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for displaying provides a three dimensional display.

17. The system of claim 1 wherein one or more physical objects in said site map are assigned properties which are considered by said means for determining predicted or measured parameters for said communications network.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein said properties are selected from the group consisting of attenuation, surface roughness, width, material, reflection coefficient, absorption, color, motion, scattering effects, weight, thickness, partition type and loss values.

19. The system of claim 1 wherein said site map includes at least one of external walls, internal walls, cubicle walls, doors, ceilings, floors, furniture and windows, of at least part of one building.

20. The system of claim 1 wherein one or more components of said plurality of 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.

21. The system of claim 1 further comprising means for creating or maintaining records for said communications network.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein said records are selected from the group consisting of alarm records, malfunction records, equipment upkeep costs, equipment installation costs, predicted upkeep costs, equipment use costs, equipment maintenance history, depreciation records, tax records, equipment warranty information, licensing information, owner information, tenant information, vendor information, installer information, lessor information, lessee information, electronic equipment identifier information, bar code information, manufacturer information, event statistics, outage rates, internet protocol address information, wireless address information, and digital signature information.

23. The system of claim 1 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration are selected from radio signal strength intensity, connectivity, 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, CII, 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,I, system performance parameters, equipment price, maintenance and cost information, user class or subclass, user type, position location, all in either absolute or relative terms.

24. The system of claim 1 further comprising an alarm which is activated when said measured parameters for said communications network determined by said means for determining is below a pre-established level.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein said alarm issues a page or a call or email alert.

26. The system of claim 24 wherein said alarm triggers a shut down or reduction in power or data rates in the communications network.

27. The system of claim 24 further comprising means for responding to said alarm.

28. The system of claim 1 further comprising an alarm which is activated in response to a self test of at least one of said plurality of components.

29. The system of claim 28 further comprising a means for automatically performing said self test.

30. The system of claim 1 further comprising a means for performing a diagnostic routine on at least one of said plurality of components which are used in the communications network, and means for reporting results of said diagnostic routine to said means for determining.

31. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for changing automatically changes in an iterative process a type of component of said one or more components.

32. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for changing manually changes in an iterative process a type of component of said one or more components.

33. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for changing automatically changes in an iterative process a manufacturer of said one or more components.

34. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for changing manually changes in an iterative process a manufacturer of said one or more components.

35. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for changing automatically changes in an iterative process a location of a component of said one or more components.

36. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for changing manually changes in an iterative process a location of a component of said one or more components.

37. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for changing automatically changes in an iterative process one or more of transmit power, channel or frequency, bandwidth, data rate, antenna type, antenna sector or positioning, modulation or coding type, protocol, data rate, switching in a spare component, resetting, or changing settings of a component of said one or more components.

38. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for changing automatically changes in an iterative process an orientation of a component of said one or more components.

39. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for changing manually changes in an iterative process an orientation of a component of said one or more components.

40. The system of claim 1 further comprising a means for obtaining measured performance data for equivalent components to at least one of said plurality of components in said communications network, wherein said equivalent components are used in another communications network.

41. The system of claim 40 wherein said performance data for equivalent components is stored in a relational database.

42. The system of claim 1 further comprising a means for obtaining at least one of performance data, cost data, maintenance data, and equipment settings for at least one of said components of said plurality of components from a relational database.

43. The system of claim 1 further comprising a means for obtaining at least one of performance data, cost data, maintenance data, and equipment settings for at least one of said components of said plurality of components from a source or sources on the Internet.

44. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for configuring includes a means for automatically identifying a set of possible locations for at least one of said plurality of components on said site map.

45. The system of claim 1 further comprising a feedback means for providing comparisons of measured parameters with predicted parameters.

46. The system of claim 45 wherein said feedback means is operated automatically over time.

189. The system of claim 1 wherein said means for changing manually changes in an iterative process one of transmit power, channel or frequency, bandwidth, data rate, antenna type, antenna sector or positioning, modulation or coding type, protocol, data rate, switching in a spare component, resetting, or changing settings of a component of said one or more components.

47. A method for modeling or controlling a communications network, comprising:

displaying a site map of a site in which a communications network is or will be deployed;

configuring a computer representation on said site map on said display a possible configuration of a communications network which includes a plurality of components which are or may be used in the communications network, one or more of said plurality of components having at least one of performance data, cost data, maintenance data, and equipment settings stored in a database;

establishing one or more parameters of a desirable configuration of said communications network;

changing at least one of

a) one or more components within said configuration of said communications network, and

b) equipment settings of one or more components within said configuration of said communications network;

determining predicted or measured parameters for said communications network within said site generated by said configuring step and said changing step; and

determining one or more optimized or preferred configurations of said communications network based on a comparison of predicted or measured parameters generated by said determining step and said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established by said establishing step.

48. The method of claim 47 further comprising the step of adjusting equipment settings of one or more components in said communications network based on an optimized or preferred configuration obtained from said determining step.

49. The method claim 48 wherein said adjusting step adjusts one or more of transmit power settings, input and output gain settings, channel settings frequency settings, bandwidth of transmitted or received signal, modulation schemes, data or symbol rate, protocol stack, coding, user priority settings or allowances, antenna pointing, antenna phasing parameters, orientation of component, and location of component.

50. The method of claim 48 wherein said communications network is deployed within said site, and said adjusting step is performed locally at said site.

51. The method of claim 48 wherein said communications network is deployed within said site, and said adjusting step performed remote from said site.

52. The method of claim 48 wherein said adjusting step is operated over the Internet.

53. The method of claim 48 wherein said adjusting step is operated over one of communication protocols, wireless networks, wired networks, and passive or active wireless RF tags.

54. The method of claim 47 wherein said determining step determines measured parameters for said communications network.

55. The method of claim 54 further comprising the step of inputting measured parameters into said computer representation configured in said configuring step.

56. The method of claim 47 wherein said determining step determines predicted parameters for said communications network.

57. The method of claim 47 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established in said establishing step are selected from the group consisting of coverage, capacity, coverage for a specific user class, specific capacity for a user class, coverage for a subset of users, capacity for a subset of users, handoff rate, dropped call rate, blocked call rate, dropped packet rate, symbol error rate, symbol rate, acceptable coverage zones, throughput including average, peak, individual, group, class or subclass, bit error rate, packet error rate, frame error rate, signal level, quality of service, latency, signal-to-noise ratio, carrier-to-noise ratio, signal strength, RSSI, rms delay spread, position location, interference levels, carrier to interference levels, and distortion.

58. The method of claim 47 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established in said establishing step are selected from the group consisting of installation cost information, equipment cost information, performance information, relative performance information, and maintenance cost information.

59. The method of claim 47 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established in said establishing step includes at least two different parameters for different subsets of users.

60. The method of claim 47 wherein said equipment settings of said one or more components within said configuration of said communications network, are selected from the group consisting of one or more of transmit power settings, input and output gain settings, channel settings frequency settings, bandwidth of transmitted or received signal, modulation schemes, data or symbol rate, protocol stack, coding, user priority settings or allowances, antenna pointing, antenna phasing parameters, and orientation of component.

61. The method of claim 47 wherein said displaying step provides a two dimensional display.

62. The method of claim 47 wherein said displaying step provides a three dimensional display.

63. The method of claim 47 wherein one or more physical objects in said site map are assigned properties which are considered by said step of determining predicted or measured parameters for said communications network.

64. The method of claim 63 wherein said properties are selected from the group consisting of attenuation, surface roughness, width, material, reflection coefficient, absorption, color, motion, scattering effects, weight, thickness, partition type and loss values.

65. The method of claim 47 wherein said site map includes at least one of external walls, internal walls, cubicle walls, doors, ceilings, floors, furniture and windows, of at least part of one building.

66. The method of claim 47 wherein one or more components of said plurality of components are selected from the group consisting of 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, MJMO systems, sensors power distribution lines, wiring, twisted pair cabling and wireless or other access points.

67. The method of claim 47 further comprising the step of creating or maintaining records for said communications network.

68. The method of claim 67 wherein said records are selected from the group consisting of alarm records, malfunction records, equipment upkeep costs, equipment installation costs, predicted upkeep costs, equipment use costs, equipment maintenance history, depreciation records, tax records, equipment warranty information, licensing information, owner information, tenant information, vendor information, installer information, lessor information, lessee information, electronic equipment identifier information, bar code information, manufacturer information, event statistics, outage rates, internet protocol address information, wireless address information, and digital signature information.

69. The method of claim 47 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration are selected from radio signal strength intensity, connectivity, 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, CII, CIN, 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, EJ, system performance parameters, equipment price, maintenance and cost information, user class or subclass, user type, position location, all in either absolute or relative terms.

70. The method of claim 47 further comprising the step of activating an alarm when said measured parameters for said communications network determined in said determining step is below a pre-established level.

71. The method of claim 70 wherein said alarm issues a page or a call or email alert.

72. The method of claim 70 wherein said alarm triggers a shut down or reduction in power or data rates in the communications network.

73. The method of claim 70 further comprising the step of responding to said alarm.

74. The method of claim 47 further comprising the step of activating an alarm in response to a self test of at least one of said plurality of components.

75. The method of claim 74 further comprising the step of automatically performing said self test.

76. The method of claim 47 further comprising the steps of performing a diagnostic routine on at least one of said plurality of components which are used in the communications network, and reporting results of said diagnostic routine.

77. The method of claim 47 wherein said changing step automatically changes in an iterative process a type of component of said one or more components.

78. The method of claim 47 wherein said changing step manually changes in an iterative process a type of component of said one or more components.

79. The method of claim 47 wherein said changing step automatically changes in an iterative process a manufacturer of said one or more components.

80. The method of claim 47 wherein said changing step manually changes in an iterative process a manufacturer of said one or more components.

81. The method of claim 47 wherein said changing step automatically changes in an iterative process a location of a component of said one or more components.

82. The method of claim 47 wherein said changing step manually changes in an iterative process a location of a component of said one or more components.

83. The method of claim 47 wherein said changing step automatically changes in an iterative process one of transmit power, channel or frequency, bandwidth, data rate, antenna type, antenna sector or positioning, modulation or coding type, protocol, data rate, switching in a spare component, resetting, or changing settings of a component of said one or more components.

84. The method of claim 47 wherein said changing step manually changes in an iterative process one of transmit power, channel or frequency, bandwidth, data rate, antenna type, antenna sector or positioning, modulation or coding type, protocol, data rate, switching in a spare component, resetting, or changing settings of a component of said one or more components.

85. The method of claim 47 wherein said changing step automatically changes in an iterative process an orientation of a component of said one or more components.

86. The method of claim 47 wherein said changing step manually changes in an iterative process an orientation of a component of said one or more components.

87. The method of claim 47 further comprising the step of obtaining measured performance data for equivalent components to at least one of said plurality of components in said communications network, wherein said equivalent components are used in another communications network.

88. The method of claim 87 wherein said performance data for equivalent components is stored in a relational database.

89. The method of claim 47 further comprising the step of obtaining at least one of performance data, cost data, maintenance data, and equipment settings for at least one of said components of said plurality of components from a relational database.

90. The method of claim 47 further comprising the step of obtaining at least one of performance data, cost data, maintenance data, and equipment settings for at least one of said components of said plurality of components from a source or sources on the Internet.

91. The method of claim 47 wherein said configuring step includes the step of automatically identifying a set of possible locations for at least one of said plurality of components on said site map.

92. The method of claim 47 further comprising the step of providing feedback for providing comparisons of measured parameters with predicted parameters.

93. The method of claim 92 wherein said feedback means is operated automatically over time.

188. The method of claim 87 wherein said feedback means is operated automatically over time.

94. A system for modeling a communications network, comprising:

a display for displaying a site map of a site in which a communications network is or will be deployed;

means for identifying locations on said site map where placement of one or more components of said communications network are not desirable or are desirable;

means for establishing one or more parameters of a desirable configuration of said communications network;

means for configuring a computer representation on said site map on said display a possible configuration of a communications network which includes a plurality of said one or more components which are or may be used in the communications network, one or more of said components having at least one of performance data, cost data, maintenance data, and equipment settings stored in a database, said means for configuring positioning on said site map computer representations of said one or more components only at locations which are desirable and not at locations which are not desirable; and

means for determining one or more optimized or preferred configurations of said communications network based on a comparison of predicted or measured parameters for a configuration generated by said means for configuring with said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established by said means for establishing.

95. The system of claim 94 wherein said means for configuring includes a means for iteratively positioning a computer representation of at least one component of said one or more components at a plurality of desirable locations identified by said means for identifying.

96. The system of claim 95 wherein said means for iteratively positioning is automated.

97. The system of claim 96 wherein said means for iteratively positioning is manual.

98. The system of claim 94 wherein said means for determining one or more optimized or preferred configurations includes

means for changing at least one of

a) one or more components within said configuration of said communications network,

b) equipment settings of one or more components within said configuration of said communications network,

c) manufacturer of one or more components within said configuration of said communications network, and

d) orientation of one or more components within said configuration of said communications network;

and

means for determining predicted or measured parameters for said communications network within said site generated by said means for configuring and said means for changing.

99. The system of claim 98 wherein said means for determining determines measured parameters for said communications network.

100. The system of claim 99 further comprising means for inputting measured parameters into said computer representation configured by said means for configuring.

101. The system of claim 98 wherein said means for determining determines predicted parameters for said communications network.

102. The system of claim 94 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established by said means establishing are selected from the group consisting of coverage, capacity, coverage for a specific user class, specific capacity for a user class, coverage for a subset of users, capacity for a subset of users, handoff rate, dropped call rate, blocked call rate, dropped packet rate, symbol error rate, symbol rate, acceptable coverage zones, throughput including average, peak, individual, group, class or subclass, bit error rate, packet error rate, frame error rate, signal level, quality of service, latency, signal-to-noise ratio, carrier-to-noise ratio, signal strength, RSSI, rrns delay spread, position location, position location accuracy, interference levels, carrier to interference levels, and distortion.

103. The system of claim 94 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established by said means for establishing are selected from the group consisting of installation cost information, equipment cost information, relative performance information, and maintenance cost information.

104. The system of claim 94 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established by said means for establishing includes at least two different parameters for different subsets of users.

105. The system of claim 98 wherein said equipment settings of said one or more components within said configuration of said communications network, are selected from the group consisting of one or more of transmit power settings, input and output gain settings, channel settings frequency settings, bandwidth of transmitted or received signal, modulation schemes, data or symbol rate, protocol stack, coding, user priority settings or allowances, antenna pointing, antenna phasing parameters, and orientation of component.

106. The system of claim 94 wherein said means for displaying provides a two dimensional display.

107. The system of claim 94 wherein said means for displaying provides a three dimensional display.

108. The system of claim 98 wherein one or more objects in said site map are assigned properties which are considered by said means for determining predicted or measured parameters for said communications network.

109. The system of claim 108 wherein said properties are selected from the group consisting of attenuation, surface roughness, width, material, reflection coefficient, absorption, color, motion, scattering effects, weight, thickness, partition type and loss values.

110. The system of claim 94 wherein said site map includes at least one of external walls, internal walls, cubicle walls, doors, ceilings, floors, furniture and windows, of at least part of one building.

111. The system of claim 94 wherein one or more components of said plurality of 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.

112. The system of claim 94 further comprising means for creating or maintaining records for said communications network.

113. The system of claim 94 wherein said records are selected from the group consisting of alarm records, malfunction records, equipment upkeep costs, equipment installation costs, predicted upkeep costs, equipment use costs, equipment maintenance history, depreciation records, tax records, equipment warranty information, licensing information, owner information, tenant information, vendor information, installer information, lessor information, lessee information, electronic equipment identifier information, bar code information, manufacturer information, event statistics, outage rates, internet protocol address information, wireless address information, and digital signature information.

114. The system of claim 94 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration are selected from radio signal strength intensity, connectivity, 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,I, system performance parameters, equipment price, maintenance and cost information, user class or subclass, user type, position location, position location accuracy, all in either absolute or relative terms.

115. The system of claim 94 further comprising an alarm which is activated when said measured parameters for said communications network determined by said means for determining is below a pre-established level.

116. The system of claim 115 wherein said alarm issues a page or a call or email alert.

117. The system of claim 115 wherein said alarm triggers a shut down or reduction in power or data rates in the communications network.

118. The system of claim 115 further comprising means for responding to said alarm.

119. The system of claim 94 further comprising an alarm which is activated in response to a self test of at least one of said plurality of components.

120. The system of claim 119 further comprising a means for automatically performing said self test.

121. The system of claim 94 further comprising a means for performing a diagnostic routine on at least one of said plurality of components which are used in the communications network, and means for reporting results of said diagnostic routine to said means for determining.

122. The system of claim 94 wherein said means for changing automatically changes in an iterative process a type of component of said one or more components.

123. The system of claim 94 wherein said means for changing manually changes in an iterative process a type of component of said one or more components.

124. The system of claim 94 wherein said means for changing automatically changes in an iterative process a manufacturer of said one or more components.

125. The system of claim 94 wherein said means for changing manually changes in an iterative process a manufacturer of said one or more components.

126. The system of claim 94 wherein said means for changing automatically changes in an iterative process a location of a component of said one or more components.

127. The system of claim 94 wherein said means for changing manually changes in an iterative process a location of a component of said one or more components.

128. The system of claim 94 wherein said means for changing automatically changes in an iterative process one of transmission power, channel, and frequency of a component of said one or more components.

129. The system of claim 94 wherein said means for changing manually changes in an iterative process one of transmission power, channel, frequency, transmit power, bandwidth, data rate, antenna type, antenna sector or positioning, modulation or coding type, protocol, switching in a spare component, resetting one or more equipments with alternate settings of a component of said one or more components.

130. The system of claim 94 wherein said means for changing automatically changes in an iterative process an orientation of a component of said one or more components.

131. The system of claim 94 wherein said means for changing manually changes in an iterative process an orientation of a component of said one or more components.

132. The system of claim 94 further comprising a means for obtaining measured performance data for equivalent components to at least one of said plurality of components in said communications network, wherein said equivalent components are used in another communications network.

133. The system of claim 132 wherein said performance data for equivalent components is stored in a relational database.

134. The system of claim 94 further comprising a means for obtaining at least one of performance data, cost data, maintenance data, and equipment settings for at least one of said components of said plurality of components from a relational database.

135. The system of claim 94 further comprising a means for obtaining at least one of performance data, cost data, maintenance data, and equipment settings for at least one of said components of said plurality of components from a source or sources on the Internet.

136. The system of claim 94 wherein said means for configuring includes a means for automatically identifying a set of possible locations for at least one of said plurality of components on said site map.

137. The system of claim 94 further comprising a feedback means for providing comparisons of measured parameters with predicted parameters.

138. The system of claim 94 wherein said feedback means is operated automatically over time.

139. A method for modeling a communications network, comprising:

displaying a site map of a site in which a communications network is or will be deployed;

identifying locations on said site map where placement of one or more components of said communications network are not desirable or are desirable;

establishing one or more parameters of a desirable configuration of said communications network;

configuring a computer representation on said site map on said display a possible configuration of a communications network which includes a plurality of said one or more components which are or may be used in the communications network, one or more of said components having at least one of performance data cost data, maintenance data and equipment settings stored in a database, said means for configuring positioning on said site map computer representations of said one or more components only at locations which are desirable and not at locations which are not desirable; and

determining one or more optimized or preferred configurations of said communications network based on a comparison of predicted or measured parameters for a configuration generated by said means for configuring with said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established in said establishing step.

140. The method of claim 139 wherein said configuring step includes the step of iteratively positioning a computer representation of at least one component of said one or more components at a plurality of desirable locations identified in said identifying step.

141. The method of claim 140 wherein said iteratively positioning step is automated.

142. The method of claim 140 wherein said iteratively positioning step is manual.

143. The method of claim 139 wherein said determining one or more optimized or preferred configurations step includes

changing at least one of

a) one or more components within said configuration of said communications network,

b) equipment settings of one or more components within said configuration of said communications network,

c) manufacturer of one or more components within said configuration of said communications network, and

d) orientation of one or more components within said configuration of said communications network;

and

determining predicted or measured parameters for said communications network within said site generated in said configuring step and changes generated in said changing step.

144. The method of claim 143 wherein said determining step determines measured parameters for said communications network.

145. The method of claim 144 further comprising the step of inputting measured parameters into said computer representation configured in said configuring step.

146. The method of claim 143 wherein said determining step determines predicted parameters for said communications network.

147. The method of claim 139 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established in said establishing step are selected from the group consisting of coverage, capacity, coverage for a specific user class, specific capacity for a user class, coverage for a subset of users, capacity for a subset of users, handoff rate, dropped call rate, blocked call rate, dropped packet rate, symbol error rate, symbol rate, acceptable coverage zones, throughput including average, peak, individual, group, class or subclass, bit error rate, packet error rate, frame error rate, signal level, quality of service, latency, signal-to-noise ratio, carrier-to-noise ratio, signal strength, RSSI, rms delay spread, position location, position location accuracy, interference levels, carrier to interference levels, and distortion.

148. The method of claim 139 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established in said establishing step are selected from the group consisting of installation cost information, equipment cost information, relative performance information, and maintenance cost information.

149. The method of claim 139 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration established in said establishing step includes at least two different parameters for different subsets of users.

150. The method of claim 139 wherein said equipment settings of said one or more components within said configuration of said communications network, are selected from the group consisting of one or more of transmit power settings, input and output gain settings, channel settings frequency settings, bandwidth of transmitted or received signal, modulation schemes, data or symbol rate, protocol stack, coding, user priority settings or allowances, antenna pointing, antenna phasing parameters, and orientation of component.

151. The method of claim 139 wherein said displaying step provides a two dimensional display.

152. The method of claim 139 wherein said displaying step provides a three dimensional display.

153. The method of claim 143 wherein one or more objects in said site map are assigned properties which are considered in said determining step for determining predicted or measured parameters for said communications network.

154. The method of claim 153 wherein said properties are selected from the group consisting of attenuation, surface roughness, width, material, reflection coefficient, absorption, color, motion, scattering effects, weight, thickness, partition type and loss values.

155. The method of claim 139 wherein said site map includes at least one of external walls, internal walls, cubicle walls, doors, ceilings, floors, furniture and windows, of at least part of one building.

156. The method of claim 139 wherein one or more components of said plurality of 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 and other access points.

157. The method of claim 139 further comprising the step of creating or maintaining records for said communications network.

158. The method of claim 139 wherein said records are selected from the group consisting of alarm records, malfunction records, equipment upkeep costs, equipment installation costs, predicted upkeep costs, equipment use costs, equipment maintenance history, depreciation records, tax records, equipment warranty information, licensing information, owner information, tenant information, vendor information, installer information, lessor information, lessee information, electronic equipment identifier information, bar code information, manufacturer information, event statistics, outage rates, internet protocol address information, wireless address information, and digital signature information.

159. The method of claim 139 wherein said one or more parameters of said desirable configuration are selected from radio signal strength intensity, connectivity, 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,I, system performance parameters, equipment price, maintenance and cost information, user class or subclass, user type, position location, position location accuracy, all in either absolute or relative terms.

160. The method of claim 143 further comprising the step of activating an alarm when said measured parameters for said communications network determined by said means for determining is below a pre-established level.

161. The method of claim 160 wherein said alarm issues a page or a call or email alert.

162. The method of claim 160 wherein said alarm triggers a shut down or reduction in power or data rates in the communications network.

163. The method of claim 160 further comprising the step of responding to said alarm.

164. The method of claim 139 further comprising the step of activating an alarm in response to a self test of at least one of said plurality of components.

165. The method of claim 164 further comprising the step of automatically performing said self test.

166. The method of claim 143 further comprising the step of performing a diagnostic routine on at least one of said plurality of components which are used in the communications network, and reporting results of said diagnostic routine.

167. The method of claim 143 wherein said changing step automatically changes in an iterative process a type of component of said one or more components.

168. The method of claim 143 wherein said changing step manually changes in an iterative process a type of component of said one or more components.

169. The method of claim 143 wherein said changing step automatically changes in an iterative process a manufacturer of said one or more components.

170. The method of claim 143 wherein said changing step manually changes in an iterative process a manufacturer of said one or more components.

171. The method of claim 143 wherein said changing step automatically changes in an iterative process a location of a component of said one or more components.

172. The method of claim 143 wherein said changing step manually changes in an iterative process a location of a component of said one or more components.

173. The method of claim 143 wherein said changing step automatically changes in an iterative process one of transmission power, channel, frequency, transmit power, bandwidth, data rate, antenna type, antenna sector or positioning, modulation or coding type, protocol, switching in a spare component, resetting one or more equipments with alternate settings of a component of said one or more components.

174. The method of claim 143 wherein said changing step manually changes in an iterative process one of transmission power, channel, frequency, transmit power, bandwidth, data rate, antenna type, antenna sector or positioning, modulation or coding type, protocol, switching in a spare component, resetting one or more equipments with alternate settings of a component of said one or more components.

175. The method of claim 143 wherein said changing step automatically changes in an iterative process an orientation of a component of said one or more components.

176. The method of claim 143 wherein said changing step manually changes in an iterative process an orientation of a component of said one or more components.

177. The method of claim 139 further comprising the step of adjusting equipment settings of one or more components in said communications network in response to said alarm.

178. The method of claim 177 wherein said step of adjusting is activated automatically in response to said alarm.

179. The method of claim 177 wherein said means for adjusting adjusts at least one of transmit power, channel, frequency, bandwidth, modulation, coding type, protocol, data rate, switching in a spare component, resetting, and changing settings of one or more components of said plurality of components in said communications network.

180. The method of claim 178 wherein said step of adjusting is performed automatically in response to said alarm.

181. The method of claim 178 wherein said adjusting step adjusts at least one of transmit power, channel, frequency, bandwidth, modulation, coding type, protocol, data rate, switching in a spare component, resetting, and changing settings of one or more components of said plurality of components in said communications network.

182. The method of claim 139 further comprising the step of obtaining measured performance data for equivalent components to at least one of said plurality of components in said communications network, wherein said equivalent components are used in another communications network.

183. The method of claim 182 wherein said performance data for equivalent components is stored in a relational database.

184. The method of claim 143 further comprising the step of obtaining at least one of performance data, cost data, maintenance data, and equipment settings for at least one of said components of said plurality of components from a relational database.

185. The method of claim 143 further comprising the step of obtaining at least one of performance data, cost data, maintenance data, and equipment settings for at least one of said components of said plurality of components from a source or sources on the Internet.

186. The method of claim 143 wherein said configuring step includes the step of automatically identifying a set of possible locations for at least one of said plurality of components on said site map.

187. The method of claim 143 further comprising the step of providing feedback for providing comparisons of measured parameters with predicted parameters.