Deployment criteria for unmanned aerial vehicles to improve cellular phone communications

• US 9,363,008 B2
• Filed: 07/22/2014
• Issued: 06/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Boss, Gregory J., Hamilton, Rick A. II, Mukherjee, Maharaj, Mukherjee, Monimala
• Primary Examiner(s): HTUN, SAN A
• Application Number:
  US14/337,598
• Publication Number:
  US 20160028471A1
• Time in Patent Office: 686 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18504 Aircraft used as relay or high altitude atmospheric platform
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2606 Arrangements for base station coverage control, e.g. by using relays in tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/68 Payment of value-added services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8038 Roaming or handoff
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/00 Network planning, e.g. coverage or traffic planning tools; Network deployment, e.g. resource partitioning or cells structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/18 Network planning tools
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/26 Cell enhancers or enhancement, e.g. for tunnels, building shadow
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0289 Congestion control load shedding arrangements in network planning H04W16/08; performing reselection for handling the traffic H04W36/22; wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/005 Moving wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/06 Airborne or Satellite Networks space-based or airborne stations H04B7/185

Abstract

System, method and computer program product for extending mobile device cellular carrier network coverage using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with telecommunications devices to act as temporary mobile device cellular network towers. The system and method extends cellular phone coverage of a land-based cellular phone network by: receiving information for determining a predicted or actual increase in aggregate cellular phone usage demand in an area at a determined time; identifying, based on an the predicted or actual increased aggregate cellular phone usage demand for the area, whether there exists a mismatch of existing usage coverage compared with the determined increased aggregate demand for that area; determining, based on an identified mismatch, a plan for sending signals to and deploying one or more mobile cellular unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) having telecommunications equipment configured to extend cellular phone network coverage of an existing land-based cellular phone network at the mismatched area.

Claims

1. A system for extending cellular phone coverage of a land-based cellular phone network comprising:

a memory storage device;

a computing device implementing a hardware processor coupled to said memory storage device and configured to;

receive information to determine a predicted or actual increase in aggregate cellular phone usage demand in an area at a determined time, said received information comprising data indicating a convergence or migration of a plurality of mobile phone users to the area;

predict clustering of said plurality of mobile phone users based on said information indicating a convergence or migration;

generate a usage demand map indicating the predictive clustering of said plurality of mobile phone users movement at the area,

identify, using said usage demand map, a predicted or actual increased aggregate cellular phone usage demand for said area; and

determine whether there exists a mismatch of existing coverage compared with said predicted or actual increased aggregate cellular phone usage demand for said area such that additional coverage is needed at the determined time;

wherein to predict clustering, said hardware processor is configured to;

detect a destination of people movement;

or

detect a directional aspect of people movement; and

said hardware processor is configured to;

generate, based on a determined mismatch and in response to a destination or directional aspect detection, a plan for deploying said one or more mobile cellular unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) having telecommunications equipment configured to extend cellular phone network coverage of an existing land-based cellular phone network to a roaming pattern to accommodate said destination or directional aspect; and

send signals to a facility configured to deploy and dispatch said one or more mobile cellular UAVs according to said plan, wherein, responsive to said signal, two or more mobile cellular UAVs are deployed to said determined area to connect with said existing land-based cellular phone network and extend cellular phone usage coverage at said area, and

said hardware processor is further configured to;

detect a merging of two or more mobile phone users group movements that provides a composite load to an area;

determine whether two or more mobile cellular UAVs approach that area, and one of;

share increased mobile cellular phone coverage by the two or more mobile cellular UAVs, or

determine whether one deployed mobile cellular UAV may handle the composite load.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein to determine said predicted or actual increase in aggregate cellular phone usage demand, said hardware processor is configured to:

detect one or more of;

incoming signal strengths from mobile phone users received at a fixed land-based cellular phone tower associated with said area, or a number of dropped call events detected of from a fixed land-based mobile cellular tower to other fixed land-based mobile cellular towers.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein to determine said predicted or actual increase in aggregate cellular phone usage demand, said hardware processor is configured to:

monitor said cellular phone network land-based fixed cellular phone tower bandwidth, and calculate a metric using said monitored fixed cellular phone tower bandwidth divided by a number of registered users.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said information indicating a convergence or migration includes one or more customer requests for increased coverage at said area for a specific time duration, wherein to identify said area, said hardware processor is configured to:

detect customer requests from one or more of;

high profile users, very important customers or customers having a contract with a cellular phone network carrier, emergency responders, personal calendar events shared voluntarily with the cellular phone network carrier.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said data indicating a convergence or migration is based on received transportation information including one or more of:

data representing hired vehicle destination pick-up and drop-off locations, data representing current use of public transportation vehicles, data representing subway tickets sold to mobile phone users, wherein to determine from said information indicating a convergence or migration, said hardware processor is configured to;

analyze from said received transportation information a location where people are going and a rate of change to that location; and

detect if a rate of change compared to threshold is achieved that indicates a significant number of people will move in that same direction.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said data indicating a convergence or migration of many mobile phone users is based on financial transactions information, said financial transactions data including one or more types of:

credit, debit, cash, ATM withdrawals transactions, wherein to determine, said hardware processor is further configured to one or more of;

monitor for occurrence of an increased number of financial transactions of a particular transaction type;

determine if it is a type of transaction that implies said physical convergence or migration; and

determine for a trends or changes in velocity or rate of change of said as compared to a baseline measure; and

in response to a determined trend or change, generate a plan for deploying said one or more mobile cellular UAVs to a roaming pattern to accommodate said destination or directional aspect.

8. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein to determine a plan to deploy a mobile cellular unmanned aerial vehicle, said hardware processor is configured to:

configure an autonomic network of mobile cellular UAVs and sending signals to deploy one or more clusters of said mobile cellular UAVs network in a vicinity of or at the area;

detect one or more events indicating a need for new or additional requirements;

update said usage demand map based on said detected events; and

autonomically redeploy or regroup one or more mobile cellular UAVs of a cluster to self correct said autonomic network based on said updated usage demand map.

9. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein to autonomically redeploy or regroup one or more mobile cellular UAVs of a cluster, said hardware processor is further configured to:

establish communication among each mobile cellular UAV and a designated leader in the cluster, each said UAV'"'"'s communicating data according to said updated usage demand map;

monitor that one or more mobile cellular UAVs of said cluster support a particular cell phone usage demand in said area or vicinity according to said updated usage demand map, and

self-correct a capacity of said cluster according to said updated usage demand map.

7. The system as claimed in 1, wherein said data indicating a convergence or migration of many mobile phone users is based on received social media information or conventional media information implying said convergence or migration, said social media network information data including:

data from geo-tagged tweets or social media network messages from said user mobile devices, said clustering of group movement prediction being based on said geo-tagged tweets or said social media network messages.

10. A method for extending cellular phone coverage of a land-based cellular phone network comprising:

receiving, at a hardware processor of a computing device, information to determine a predicted or actual increase in aggregate cellular phone usage demand in an area at a determined time, said received information comprising data indicating a convergence or migration of a plurality of mobile phone users to the area;

predicting, using the hardware processor of a computing device, a clustering of said plurality of mobile phone users based on said information indicating a convergence or migration;

generating, by the hardware processor of a computing device, a usage demand map indicating the predictive clustering of said plurality of mobile phone users movement at the area;

identifying, using said usage demand map, a predicted or actual increased aggregate cellular phone usage demand for said area;

determining whether there exists a mismatch of existing coverage compared with said predicted or actual increased aggregate cellular phone usage demand for said area such that additional coverage is needed at the determined time;

wherein for predicting a clustering;

detecting, using said hardware processor, a destination of people movement;

or

detecting, using said hardware processor, a directional aspect of people movement; and

generating, based on a determined mismatch and in response to a destination or directional aspect detection, a plan for deploying said one or more mobile cellular unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) having telecommunications equipment configured to extend cellular phone network coverage of an existing land-based cellular phone network to a roaming pattern to accommodate said destination or directional aspect; and

sending signals to a facility configured to deploy and dispatch said one or more mobile cellular UAVs according to said plan, wherein, responsive to said signal, two or more mobile cellular UAVs are deployed to said determined area to connect with said existing land-based cellular phone network and extend cellular phone usage coverage at said area, and

said method further comprising;

detecting, using said hardware processor, a merging of two or more mobile phone users group movements that provides a composite load to an area;

determining, using said hardware processor, whether two or more mobile cellular UAVs approach that area, and one of;

sharing increased mobile cellular phone coverage by the two or more mobile cellular UAVs, or

determining whether one deployed mobile cellular UAV may handle the composite load.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said determining said predicted or actual increase in aggregate cellular phone usage demand includes:

detecting one or more of;

incoming signal strengths from mobile phone users received at a fixed land-based cellular phone tower associated with said area, or a number of dropped call events detected from a fixed land-based mobile cellular tower to other fixed land-based mobile cellular towers.

12. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said determining said predicted or actual increase in aggregate cellular phone usage demand includes:

monitoring said cellular phone network land-based fixed cellular phone tower bandwidth and calculating a metric using said monitored fixed cellular phone tower bandwidth divided by a number of registered users.

13. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said information includes data indicating a convergence or migration of many mobile phone users to said identified area at a current or future time, said data including one or more customer requests for increased coverage at said area for a specific time duration, wherein said identifying said area comprises detecting customer requests from one or more of:

high profile users, very important customers or customers having a contract with a cellular phone network carrier, emergency responders, or personal calendar events shared voluntarily with a cellular phone network carrier.

14. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said information includes data indicating a convergence or migration of many mobile phone users to said identified area at a current or future time, said data comprising:

transportation information including one or more of;

data representing hired vehicle destination pick-up and drop-off locations, data representing current use of public transportation vehicles;

data representing subway tickets sold to mobile phone users, wherein said determining said predicted or actual increase in aggregate cellular phone usage demand further comprises;

analyzing from said received transportation information a location where people are going and a rate of change to that location; and

detecting if a rate of change compared to threshold is achieved that indicates a significant number of people will move in that same direction.

15. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said data indicating a convergence or migration of many mobile phone users is based on received transportation information including one or more of:

data representing received financial transaction information, said financial transactions data including one or more types of;

credit, debit, cash, ATM withdrawals transactions, wherein to determine, said hardware processor is further configured to one or more of;

monitor for occurrence of an increased number of financial transactions of a particular transaction type;

determine if it is a type of transaction that implies said physical convergence or migration; and

determine for a trends or changes in velocity or rate of change of said as compared to a baseline measure; and

in response to a determined trend or change, generate a plan for deploying said one or more mobile cellular UAVs to a roaming pattern to accommodate said destination or directional aspect.

16. The method as claimed in 10, wherein said information includes data indicating a convergence or migration of many mobile phone users to said identified area at a current or future time, said data indicating a convergence or migration of many mobile phone users is based on received social media information or conventional media information implying said convergence or migration, said social media network information data including:

data from geo-tagged tweets or social media network messages from said user mobile devices, said predictive clustering of group movement being based on said geo-tagged tweets or said social media network messages.

17. The method as claimed in 10, wherein said deploying according to said generated plan comprises:

configuring an autonomic network of mobile cellular UAVs and sending signals to deploy one or more clusters of said mobile cellular UAVs network in a vicinity of or at the area;

detecting one or more events indicating a need for new or additional requirements;

updating said usage demand map based on said detected events; and

autonomically redeploying or regrouping one or more mobile cellular UAVs of a cluster to self correct said autonomic network based on said updated usage demand map.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein said autonomically redeploying or regrouping one or more mobile cellular UAVs of a cluster comprises:

establishing communication among each mobile cellular UAV and a designated leader in the cluster, each said UAV'"'"'s communicating data according to said updated usage demand map;

monitoring that one or more mobile cellular UAVs of said cluster support a particular cell phone usage demand in said area or vicinity, and

self-correct a capacity of said cluster according to said updated usage demand map.

19. A computer program product for extending cellular phone coverage of a land-based cellular phone network, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, wherein the computer readable storage medium is not a transitory signal per se, the program instructions readable by a processing circuit to cause the processing circuit to perform a method to:

receive information to determine a predicted or actual increase in aggregate cellular phone usage demand in an area at a determined time, said received information comprising data indicating a convergence or migration of a plurality of mobile phone users to the area;

predict clustering of said plurality of mobile phone users based on said information indicating a convergence or migration;

generate a usage demand map indicating the predictive clustering of said plurality of mobile phone users movement at the area,

identify, using said usage demand map, a predicted or actual increased aggregate cellular phone usage demand for said area; and

determine whether there exists a mismatch of existing coverage compared with said predicted or actual increased aggregate cellular phone usage demand for said area such that additional coverage is needed at the determined time;

wherein to predict clustering, said program instructions cause the processing circuit to;

detect a destination of people movement;

or

detect a directional aspect of people movement; and

said program instructions further causing the processing circuit to;

generate, based on a determined mismatch and in response to a destination or directional aspect detection, a plan for deploying said one or more mobile cellular unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) having telecommunications equipment configured to extend cellular phone network coverage of an existing land-based cellular phone network to a roaming pattern to accommodate said destination or directional aspect; and

send signals to a facility configured to deploy and dispatch said one or more mobile cellular UAVs according to said plan, wherein, responsive to said signal, two or more mobile cellular UAVs are deployed to said determined area to connect with said existing land-based cellular phone network and extend cellular phone usage coverage at said area, and

said program instructions further causing the processing circuit to;

detect a merging of two or more mobile phone users group movements that provides a composite load to an area;

determine whether two or more mobile cellular UAVs approach that area, and one of;

share increased mobile cellular phone coverage by the two or more mobile cellular UAVs, or

determine whether one deployed mobile cellular UAV may handle the composite load.