Systems and methods providing assisted aiming for wireless links

• US 9,055,455 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2011
• Issued: 06/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pismo Labs Technology Limited
• Original Assignee: Pismo Labs Technology Limited
• Inventors: Durick, Travis, Yeung, Yu, Chong, Ming Pui, Chan, Alex Wing Hong
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Hai V
• Application Number:
  US13/172,228
• Publication Number:
  US 20130149970A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,441 Days
• Field of Search: 455/500, 455/456.6, 455/456.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

Systems and methods which provide local sensor and/or external information derived proactive aiming assistance with respect to wireless nodes for facilitating desired wireless links are shown. Embodiments provide an aiming assistance user interface providing guidance with respect to properly altering the orientation of a wireless node to provide a desired wireless link. To facilitate providing aiming assistance embodiments of wireless nodes are adapted to include a plurality of sensors operable to provide information useful in environmental analysis for determining proactive orientation guidance information. Wireless nodes adapted according to embodiments additionally or alternatively utilize information obtained externally useful in determining proactive orientation guidance information. Embodiments of the invention utilize the foregoing sensor information and externally sourced information to determine proactive orientation guidance information.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

in response to determining, at a wireless node, that the wireless node has been positioned in an initial orientation, determining, at the wireless node, proactive aiming assistance guidance information associated with reorienting the wireless node from the initial orientation into a desired deployment configuration, wherein, when the wireless node is oriented into the desired deployment configuration, the wireless node is operable to establish a wireless link with a second wireless node, and wherein the wireless link is predicted to have one or more desired attributes; and

presenting the proactive aiming assistance guidance information at a user interface of the wireless node, wherein the proactive aiming assistance guidance information presented at the user interface indicates a rotation direction and a tilt direction, wherein the rotation direction corresponds to a direction to rotate the wireless node to orient the wireless node into the desired deployment configuration, and wherein the tilt direction corresponds to a direction to tilt the wireless node to orient the wireless node into the desired deployment configuration.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining sensor information from a plurality of sensors of the wireless node; and

determining, by the wireless node, the initial orientation using at least a portion of the sensor information, wherein at least a portion of the proactive aiming assistance guidance information is determined using the sensor information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of sensors of the wireless node comprise a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, a digital compass, an inclinometer, and at least one sensor selected from a group consisting of a barometric pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a tilt switch, an accelerometer, and a gyroscopic sensor.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

obtaining additional sensor information after the wireless node is reoriented in the desired deployment configuration; and

providing at least a portion of the additional sensor information to an external source, wherein the external source determines at least a portion of the proactive aiming assistance guidance information based on the additional sensor information.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

obtaining information from one or more external sources, wherein the information is wireless node information, and wherein the proactive aiming assistance guidance information is determined using at least a portion of the information obtained from the one or more external sources and the at least a portion of the sensor information.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the initial orientation is determined based on a portion of the information obtained from the one or more external sources.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the information obtained from the one or more external sources comprises wireless node information associated with additional wireless nodes, the method further comprising:

determining, by the wireless node, one or more candidate wireless nodes from among the additional wireless nodes based on the wireless node information, wherein the wireless node information includes information about locations, configurations, and resources corresponding to the additional wireless nodes, and wherein the one or more candidate wireless nodes correspond to additional wireless nodes that are candidates for establishing the wireless link to the wireless node;

determining, by the wireless node, preference hierarchies for the one or more candidate wireless nodes; and

determining, by the wireless node, the desired deployment configuration based upon the preference hierarchies for the one or more candidate wireless nodes.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

providing information to the one or more external sources regarding the deployment configuration that the wireless node has been reoriented into.

9. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

obtaining, by the wireless node, additional sensor information during the reorientation of the wireless node; and

updating, by the wireless node, the proactive aiming assistance guidance information presented at the user interface of the wireless node based upon at least a portion of the additional sensor information obtained during the reorientation of the wireless node.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the proactive aiming assistance guidance information presented at the user interface of the wireless node indicates an amount of rotation and an amount of tilt, wherein the amount of rotation corresponds to a distance to rotate the wireless node in the rotation direction to orient the wireless node into the desired deployment configuration, and wherein the amount of tilt corresponds to a distance to tilt the wireless node in the tilt direction to orient the wireless node into the desired deployment configuration.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the user interface of the wireless node includes a plurality of indicators, wherein the plurality of indicators includes at least one indicator associated with the rotation direction and at least one indicator associated with the tilt direction, wherein the proactive aiming assistance guidance information indicates the amount of rotation to be provided in the rotation direction by selectively flashing the at least one indicator associated with the rotation direction, wherein the proactive aiming assistance guidance information indicates the amount of tilt to be provided in the tilt direction by selectively flashing the at least one indicator associated with the tilt direction, and wherein the at least one indicator associated with the rotation direction and the at least one indicator associated with the tilt direction are selectively flashed until the wireless node is oriented the wireless node into the desired deployment configuration.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the amount of rotation to be provided corresponds to a rate of flashing the at least one indicator associated rotation direction, and wherein the amount of tilt to be provided corresponds to a rate of flashing the at least one indicator associated with the tilt direction.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

activating a hold guidance output of the user interface of the wireless node in response to detecting that the wireless node has been oriented into the desired deployment configuration;

determining a plurality of candidate wireless nodes for providing the wireless link, wherein the plurality of candidate wireless nodes includes the second wireless node as a candidate wireless node;

determining whether the one or more desired attributes of the wireless link between the wireless node and the second wireless node satisfy one or more threshold attribute values in response to activating the hold guidance output;

determining second proactive aiming assistance guidance information for reorienting the wireless node into a second desired deployment configuration in response to determining that one or more desired attributes of the wireless link between the wireless node and the second wireless node do not satisfy the one or more threshold attribute values, wherein, when the wireless node is oriented into the second desired deployment configuration, the wireless node is operable to establish a second wireless link with a third wireless node, and wherein the second wireless link is predicted to have the one or more desired attributes; and

presenting the second proactive aiming assistance guidance at the user interface of the wireless node,

wherein the proactive aiming assistance guidance at the user interface of the wireless node can be manipulated by using a first guidance response input and a second guidance response input.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first guidance response input allows a user to prompt the user interface to display a next proactive aiming assistance guidance information and the second guidance response input allows a user to prompt the user interface to display a previous proactive aiming assistance guidance information.

15. A method comprising:

obtaining, at a wireless node, sensor information from a plurality of sensors of the wireless node;

determining, at the wireless node, an initial orientation of an antenna of the wireless node using at least a portion of the sensor information;

determining proactive aiming assistance guidance information based at least in part on the initial orientation of the antenna of the wireless node, wherein the proactive aiming assistance guidance information is associated with reorienting the antenna of the wireless node into a desired deployment configuration, wherein, when the antenna of the wireless node is oriented into the desired deployment configuration, the wireless node is operable to establish a wireless link with a second wireless node, wherein the wireless link is predicted to have one or more desired attributes, and wherein the wireless link is predicted to have the one or more desired attributes based on signal strength information, signal-to-noise ratio information, and link budget information; and

presenting the proactive aiming assistance guidance information at a user interface of the wireless node, wherein the proactive aiming assistance guidance information presented at the user interface indicates a rotation direction and a tilt direction, wherein the rotation direction corresponds to a direction to rotate the wireless node to orient the antenna of the wireless node into the desired deployment configuration, and wherein the tilt direction corresponds to a direction to tilt the wireless node to orient the antenna of the wireless node into the desired deployment configuration.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of sensors comprise a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, a digital compass, an inclinometer, and at least one sensor selected from a group consisting of a barometric pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a tilt switch, an accelerometer, and a gyroscopic sensor.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the proactive aiming assistance guidance information indicates an amount of rotation and an amount of tilt, wherein the amount of rotation corresponds to a distance to rotate the wireless node in the rotation direction to orient the antenna of the wireless node into the desired deployment configuration, and wherein the amount of tilt corresponds to a distance to tilt the wireless node in the tilt direction to orient the antenna of the wireless node into the desired deployment configuration.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

obtaining information from one or more external sources, wherein the desired deployment configuration is determined based at least in part on the information obtained from the one or more external sources.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the information obtained from the one or more external sources comprises wireless node information, the method further comprising:

determining, by the wireless node, one or more candidate wireless nodes for establishing the wireless link with the wireless node based on the wireless node information, wherein the wireless node information comprises information about locations, configurations, and resources corresponding to the one or more candidate wireless nodes, and wherein the one or more candidate wireless nodes includes the second wireless node;

determining, by the wireless node, preference hierarchies for the one or more candidate wireless nodes; and

determining, by the wireless node, the desired deployment configuration based upon the preference hierarchies for the one or more candidate wireless nodes.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the initial orientation is determined based at least in part on the information obtained from the one or more external sources.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

providing information to the one or more external sources regarding the desired deployment configuration of the wireless node after the wireless node has been oriented into the desired deployment configuration based on the proactive aiming assistance guidance information presented at the user interface.

22. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

obtaining additional sensor information during the reorientation of the wireless node into the desired deployment configuration; and

dynamically updating the proactive aiming assistance guidance information presented at the user interface of the wireless node based upon at least a portion of the additional sensor information obtained during the orienting of the wireless node.

23. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

activating a hold guidance output of the user interface of the wireless node in response to a determination that the wireless node has been reoriented into the desired deployment configuration, wherein the hold guidance output indicates that the wireless node has been oriented into the desired deployment configuration;

obtaining additional sensor information in response to activating the hold guidance output;

determining whether the one or more desired attributes of the wireless link between the wireless node and the second wireless node satisfy one or more threshold attribute values based on the additional sensor information;

determining a second candidate wireless node from a plurality of candidate wireless nodes for providing the wireless link, wherein the plurality of candidate wireless nodes includes the second wireless node as a first candidate wireless node;

determining second proactive aiming assistance guidance information for reorienting the wireless node into a second desired deployment configuration in response to determining that one or more desired attributes of the wireless link between the wireless node and the second candidate wireless node do not satisfy the one or more threshold attribute values, wherein, when the wireless node is oriented into the second desired deployment configuration, the wireless node is operable to establish a second wireless link with a second candidate wireless node, and wherein the second wireless link is predicted to have the one or more desired attributes; and

presenting the second proactive aiming assistance guidance at the user interface of the wireless node.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein a first guidance response input allows a user to prompt the user interface to display a next proactive aiming assistance guidance information and a second guidance response input allows a user to prompt the user interface to display a previous proactive aiming assistance guidance information.

25. A wireless node comprising:

an antenna;

a plurality of sensors to provide configuration information, wherein the plurality of sensors include a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, a digital compass, an inclinometer, and at least one sensor selected from a group consisting of a barometric pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a tilt switch, an accelerometer, and a gyroscopic sensor;

a processor to receive configuration information and to determine proactive orientation guidance information using the received configuration information;

an aiming assistance user interface to receive signals corresponding to the proactive orientation guidance information from the processor and to present information representative of the proactive guidance information at the aiming assistance user interface responsive to the signals, wherein the information presented at the aiming assistance user interface indicates a rotation direction and a tilt direction, wherein the rotation direction corresponds to a direction to rotate the wireless node to orient the antenna of the wireless node into a desired deployment configuration, wherein the tilt direction corresponds to a direction to tilt the wireless node to orient the antenna of the wireless node into the desired deployment configuration, wherein the indicated rotation direction and the indicated tilt direction guide orientation of the wireless node from an initial orientation into the desired deployment configuration, wherein the desired deployment configuration is calculated to provide a wireless link to a second wireless node, and wherein one or more attributes of the wireless link are predicted to be within a threshold amount of a desired value selected for each of the one or more attributes when the wireless node is oriented into the desired deployment configuration, wherein the one or more attributes comprise signal strength, signal-to-noise ratio, and link budget information; and

dynamically updating the information presented at the aiming assistance user interface during the reorientation of the wireless node into the desired deployment configuration.

26. The wireless node of claim 25, wherein the information presented at the aiming assistance user interface indicates an amount of rotation and an amount of tilt, wherein the amount of rotation corresponds to a distance to rotate the wireless node in the rotation direction to orient the antenna of the wireless node into the desired deployment configuration, and wherein the amount of tilt corresponds to a distance to tilt the wireless node in the tilt direction to orient the antenna of the wireless node into the desired deployment configuration.

27. The wireless node of claim 26, wherein the rotation direction instructs a user to alter an azimuth orientation of the wireless node.

28. The wireless node of claim 27, wherein the information presented at the aiming assistance user interface indicates a magnitude of azimuth orientation alteration.

29. The wireless node of claim 28, wherein the tilt direction instructs a user to alter an elevation orientation of the wireless node.

30. The wireless node of claim 29, wherein the information presented at the aiming assistance user interface indicates magnitude of elevation orientation alteration.

31. The wireless node of claim 30, wherein the aiming assistance user interface of the wireless node comprises:

one or more azimuth guidance outputs, wherein the one or more azimuth guidance outputs are responsive to the signals to indicate the rotation direction and the magnitude of azimuth alteration; and

one or more elevation guidance outputs, wherein the one or more elevation guidance outputs are responsive to the signals to indicate the tilt direction and the magnitude of elevation alteration.

32. The wireless node of claim 31, wherein the one or more azimuth guidance outputs comprises a left movement guidance output and a right movement guidance output, and wherein the one or more elevation guidance output comprises an up-tilt movement guidance output and a down-tilt movement guidance output.

33. The wireless node of claim 31, wherein the aiming assistance user interface further comprises:

a hold guidance output that is distinct from the one or more azimuth guidance outputs and the one or more elevation guidance outputs; and

a first guidance response input and a second guidance response input, wherein a first guidance response input allows a user to prompt the aiming assistance user interface to display a next proactive orientation guidance information and a second guidance response input allows a user to prompt the aiming assistance user interface to display a previous proactive orientation guidance information.

34. The wireless node of claim 25, wherein the deployment configuration is selected, by the wireless node, from a plurality of candidate deployment configurations.

35. The wireless node of claim 34, wherein the processor selects a second deployment configuration from the plurality of candidate deployment configurations when the one or more desired attributes of the wireless link to the second wireless node are not within the threshold amount of the desired value selected for each of the one or more desired attributes.

36. The wireless node of claim 35, wherein the processor determines second proactive orientation guidance information based on second deployment configuration information, and wherein the aiming assistance user interface receives second signals corresponding to the second proactive orientation guidance information from the processor and presents second information representative of the second proactive guidance information at the aiming assistance user interface responsive to the second signals to guide orientation of the wireless node into the second deployment configuration, wherein the user can choose between deployment configurations using a first guidance response input and a second guidance response input.

37. The wireless node of claim 35, wherein processor determines a rank for each of the plurality of candidate deployment configurations, wherein a particular deployment configuration of the plurality of candidate deployment configurations is ranked based on whether the one or more desired attributes of a particular wireless link are within the threshold amount of the desired value selected for each of the one or more desired attributes, wherein the rank for each of the plurality of candidate deployment configurations is stored in a storage medium of the wireless node.