Design of communications networks
First Claim
1. A network designing tool for use in designing at least a portion of a communications network, said tool comprising:
- an input for receiving an initial network design and a set of traffic requirements;
a store for storing at least one network design rule;
a rule generator for generating a population of rule sets, each rule set having an identity, and each rule set comprising at least one network design rule;
a network modifier for applying rule sets generated by the rule generator to create at least one modified network design;
performance measurement means for calculating at least one measure of network performance in respect of a modified network design when carrying traffic as defined by an input set of traffic requirements; and
an evaluator for assessing modified network designs using respective performance measures calculated by the performance measurement means, for selecting at least one preferred network design satisfying predetermined performance criteria and for identifying a respective rule set used by the network modifier to create said at least one preferred network design;
wherein the rule generator is arranged to receive, from the evaluator, the identity of at least one rule set used to create a preferred network design and to generate a new population of rule sets comprising rules derived from said at least one rule set, and wherein the network modifier is arranged to apply rule sets from said new population of rule sets to create further modifications of said at least one preferred network design for input to the performance measurement means and for evaluation by the evaluator.
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Accused Products
Abstract
At least a part of a communications network is designed beginning with an initial network design, a set of traffic handling requirements and an initial set of design rules. Each rule includes a condition portion and an action portion and at least one such rule includes a portion expressed in terms of at least one variable parameter. An iterative procedure is implemented to evolve both a network design and a set of design rules including variations to rules from the initial rule set. A population of rule sets is generated with each rule set using a different combination of assigned parameter values. For each rule set in the population of rule sets, rules for which the condition portion is satisfied are applied to generate a modified network design. Measures of performance, including cost of each modified design are determined through simulation of the operation of the design on the basis of the traffic handling requirements and the performance and cost of different designs compared. A preferred design then forms the basis for further modified network designs and the particular rule set that generated the preferred design forms the basis of a new rule set population in the next iteration.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A network designing tool for use in designing at least a portion of a communications network, said tool comprising:
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an input for receiving an initial network design and a set of traffic requirements; a store for storing at least one network design rule; a rule generator for generating a population of rule sets, each rule set having an identity, and each rule set comprising at least one network design rule; a network modifier for applying rule sets generated by the rule generator to create at least one modified network design; performance measurement means for calculating at least one measure of network performance in respect of a modified network design when carrying traffic as defined by an input set of traffic requirements; and an evaluator for assessing modified network designs using respective performance measures calculated by the performance measurement means, for selecting at least one preferred network design satisfying predetermined performance criteria and for identifying a respective rule set used by the network modifier to create said at least one preferred network design; wherein the rule generator is arranged to receive, from the evaluator, the identity of at least one rule set used to create a preferred network design and to generate a new population of rule sets comprising rules derived from said at least one rule set, and wherein the network modifier is arranged to apply rule sets from said new population of rule sets to create further modifications of said at least one preferred network design for input to the performance measurement means and for evaluation by the evaluator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of designing at least a portion of a communications network, the method comprising:
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(i) receiving an initial network design comprising at least an identity of a site for locating a network node; (ii) receiving predetermined traffic requirements relating to a network to be designed; (iii) receiving a rule set containing at least one rule for modifying a network design, said at least one rule comprising at least one condition portion and at least one action portion with at least one of said portions being defined in terms of at least one variable parameter; (iv) generating an initial population of rule sets including rules characterized in having different values assigned to said at least one variable parameter; (v) for each rule set in said population of rule sets, generating a corresponding modified network design by applying each rule from the rule set to components of the initial network design for which the respective rule conditions are satisfied; (vi) calculating at least one measure of network performance in respect of each modified network design generated at step (v) when carrying traffic as defined by traffic requirements received at step (ii); (vii) evaluating the modified network designs from step (v), assessing them on the basis of said at least one respective measure of performance from step (vi) to identify at least one preferred network design and identifying the corresponding network design rules used to create said at least one preferred network design in step (v); (viii) generating a new population of rule sets, derived from at least one network design rule identified in step (vii); (ix) repeating steps (v) to (viii), wherein at step (v) said at least one preferred network design from step (vii) is modified in place of the initial network design. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A method of generating a design for at least one communications network, said method comprising:
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(i) inputting an initial network design comprising at least an identity of a site for locating a network node; (ii) inputting predetermined traffic requirements relating to a network to be designed; (iii) inputting a rule set containing at least one rule for modifying a network design, said rule set including at least one rule comprising at least one condition portion and at least one action portion with at least one of said portions being defined in terms of at least one variable parameter; (iv) generating an initial population of rule sets including rules characterized in having different values assigned to said at least one variable parameter; (v) for each rule set in said population of rule sets, generating a corresponding modified network design by applying each rule from the rule set to components of the initial network design for which the respective rule conditions are satisfied; (vi) calculating at least one measure of network performance in respect of each modified network design generated at step (v) when carrying traffic as defined by traffic requirements input at step (ii); (vii) evaluating the modified network designs from step (v), assessing them based on said at least one respective measure of performance from step (vi) to identify at least one preferred network design and identifying the corresponding network design rules used to create said at least one preferred network design in step (v); (viii) generating a new population of rule sets, derived from at least one network design rule identified in step (vii); (ix) repeating steps (v) to (viii), wherein at step (v) said at least one preferred network design from step (vii)is modified in place of the initial network design, until at step (vii) at least one preferred network design is identified satisfying predetermined performance criteria. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification