Method and apparatus for designing various network configuration scenarios

• US 7,680,495 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2005
• Issued: 03/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Sackett, Raymond Abbott, Richman, Steven H., Morawski, Thomas B., Abed, Mark I., Pinzon, Luz Elena, Bollapragada, Ramesh
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah, Melur
• Application Number:
  US11/118,728
• Publication Number:
  US 20050202811A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,782 Days
• Field of Search: 455 6711- 6716, 455/422.1, 455/403, 455/414.1, 455/414.4, 455446-449, 455/450, 455/452.1, 455/452.2
• US Class Current: 455/426.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/145 involving simulating, designing, planning or modelling of a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0083 Network planning or design; Modelling of planned or existing networks

Abstract

A method and apparatus are disclosed for analyzing and designing various network configuration scenarios. A modular design allows market assessment and network planning functions to be performed more efficiently and accurately using a single integrated design tool. Wired and wireless access technologies can be modeled and evaluated. In an exemplary implementation for modeling and evaluating fixed wireless access networks, the network planning tool comprises a market scenario planner, a cluster analysis tool, a hub sector planner and a network architecture planner. Generally, the market scenario planner analyzes a listing of potential customers to generate a list of target customers. The cluster analysis tool allows the network planner to identify “clusters” of demand for potential hub placement. The hub sector planner analyzes the hub assignments generated by the cluster analysis tool and allocates each building in a given hub to a particular sector. The network architecture planner processes the output of the hub sector planning tool to (i) generate a complete configuration of the network in terms of equipment requirements at each node (each building, hub and service node); and (ii) compare a set of scenarios using several financial measures.

Claims

1. A method for designing a fixed wireless broadband network, comprising:

analyzing a list of potential end-user buildings, including location and demand forecast information; and

selecting end-user buildings as hubs for said fixed wireless broadband network and assigning additional end-user buildings to said selected hubs based on a distance of said end-user buildings to each possible hub and said forecasted demand served from said hub.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said selecting step considers a selected radio technology.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said selecting step considers an equipment vendor of elements in said fixed wireless broadband.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said selecting step considers climate conditions.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of preselecting a given end-user building as a hub if it has already been established in a given market and removing any associated end-user buildings served by the preexisting hub.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said selecting step further comprises the step of comparing a demand load of each potential hub to a user-configurable minimum threshold.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said selecting step further comprises the step of reducing a radius of a potential hub if a predicted load of said potential hub is above said user-configurable minimum threshold.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said selecting step further comprises the step of increasing a radius of a potential hub in increments up to a predefined technology limit and comparing a load of said potential hub to a user-configurable minimum demand threshold.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of generating a list of said end-user buildings with said location information and said hub assignments.

10. A system for designing a fixed wireless broadband network, comprising:

a memory that stores computer-readable code; and

a processor operatively coupled to said memory, said processor configured to implement said computer-readable code, said computer-readable code configured to;

analyze a list of potential end-user buildings, including location and demand forecast information; and

select end-user buildings as hubs for said fixed wireless broadband network and assigning additional end-user buildings to said selected hubs based on a distance of said end-user buildings to each possible hub and said forecasted demand served from said hub.