U.S. patent application number 12/554895 was filed with the patent office on 2010-02-04 for method of automatic coverage measuring for a wireless communication system.
Invention is credited to Yuan-Huei Chang, Yuan-Lung CHANG.
Application Number | 20100029264 12/554895 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39303642 |
Filed Date | 2010-02-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100029264 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CHANG; Yuan-Lung ; et
al. |
February 4, 2010 |
METHOD OF AUTOMATIC COVERAGE MEASURING FOR A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION
SYSTEM
Abstract
This invention uses multi-tier indexing methods to organize the
wireless communication industry standard Radio Resource Management
(RRM) parameters, compression techniques to compress the indexed
RRM parameters, model the RRM parameters to identify the
relationships between the parameters, simulate the model by
eliminating predefined non-influential parameters, to conclude the
signal-noise-ratio values in order to determine signal coverage.
This invention is used to replace the Road Tests currently
implemented by the service carriers for determining actual service
coverage.
Inventors: |
CHANG; Yuan-Lung;
(Singapore, SG) ; Chang; Yuan-Huei; (Taipei,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SINORICA, LLC
2275 Research Blvd., Suite 500
ROCKVILLE
MD
20850
US
|
Family ID: |
39303642 |
Appl. No.: |
12/554895 |
Filed: |
September 5, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11549966 |
Oct 16, 2006 |
7616951 |
|
|
12554895 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/423 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 16/18 20130101;
H04W 24/06 20130101; H04W 16/22 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/423 |
International
Class: |
H04W 24/00 20090101
H04W024/00 |
Claims
1. A method of automatic coverage measuring for wireless
communications comprising: providing a definition module; providing
a modeling module; the definition module defines radio resource
management parameters; the modeling module creates models by first
mathematical expressions in terms of the resource management
parameters; providing a simulation module; providing a
characterizing module; the simulation module performs simulations
by using radio resource management parameters and a baseline
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) value; and the characterizing module
defines characterizations of the radio resource management
parameters by second mathematical expressions, V={RRM0, RRM1, RRM2,
. . . RRMq, BSNR} where BSNR: baseline SNR RRM.sub.q: q.sup.th
number of RRM parameters F i = [ Vi ^ 0 Vi ^ 1 Vi ^ 2 Vi ^ j Vi sin
( R ) Vi sin ( 2 R ) Vi sin ( mR ) ] ##EQU00005## where V.sub.i j:
V.sub.i to the j.sup.th power; An array of RRM parameters and a
baseline SNR F.sub.i: characterizing array for the i.sup.th member
in array V M.sub.i=(V.sub.i,t0 V.sub.i,t1 V.sub.i,t2 . . .
V.sub.i,tk) where tk: timepoint of k M.sub.i: Array of sampling for
RRM.sub.i by K samples at different timepoints P.sub.i=(F.sub.i,t0
F.sub.i,t1 F.sub.i,t2 . . . F.sub.i,tk) where P.sub.i:
characterizing array for RRM.sub.i at k timepoints
2. The method of automatic coverage measuring for wireless
communications of claim 1 comprising: providing an index module;
and the index module performs multiple-tier indexing on the radio
resource management parameters.
3. The method of automatic coverage measuring for wireless
communications of claim 2 comprising: the multiple-tier indexing
includes Replica-tree indexing method and Move-To-Front (MTF)
indexing method and Run-length Indexing method and Huffman Indexing
methods.
4. The method of automatic coverage measuring for wireless
communications of claim 1 comprising: the first mathematical
expressions are, Mi = Wi { [ Pa 0 Pa 1 Pa 2 Pan ] + Ri }
##EQU00006## where M.sub.i: relationships array representing the
relationships between the RRM.sub.i and all other RRM parameters
W.sub.i: an intermediate factor P.sub.an: characterizing array for
RRM.sub.an for all k timepoints R.sub.i: probability array for each
Pan. 0.ltoreq.a0 . . . an.ltoreq.q, and a0 . . . an.noteq.i
a0.noteq.a1.noteq.a2.noteq. . . . .noteq.an
5. The method of automatic coverage measuring for wireless
communications of claim 1 comprising: the simulations are performed
in accordance with third mathematical expressions, C = U [ Fb 0 Fb
1 Fb 2 Fbu Fc 0 Fd 0 Fc 1 Fd 1 Fcy Fdy Fe 0 / Ff 0 Fe 1 / Ff 1 Fev
/ Ffv ] ##EQU00007## where C: a constant (any number) 0.ltoreq.b0 .
. . bn.ltoreq.q, and b0 . . . bu.noteq.i c0.noteq.c1.noteq. . . .
.noteq.cy d0.noteq.d1.noteq. . . . .noteq.dy e0.noteq.e1.noteq. . .
. .noteq.ev f0.noteq.f1.noteq. . . . .noteq.fv U: Balancing array
to balance the influential RRMs in the communication
environment
6. A method of automatic coverage measuring for wireless
communications comprising: providing a definition module; providing
an index module; the definition module defines radio resource
management parameters; and the index module performs multiple-tier
indexing on the radio resource management parameters, wherein the
multiple-tier indexing include Replica-tree indexing method and
Move-To-Front (MTF) indexing method and Run-length Indexing method
and Huffman Indexing methods.
7. The method of automatic coverage measuring for wireless
communications of claim 6 comprising: providing a modeling module;
and the modeling module creates models by first mathematical
expressions in terms of the resource management parameters.
8. The method of automatic coverage measuring for wireless
communications of claim 7 comprising: providing a characterizing
module and a simulation module; and the simulation module performs
simulations by using radio resource management parameters and a
baseline signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) value; and the characterizing
module defines characterizations of the radio resource management
parameters by second mathematical expressions, V={RRM0, RRM1, RRM2,
. . . RRMq, BSNR} where BSNR: baseline SNR RRM.sub.q: q.sup.th
number of RRM parameters F i = [ Vi ^ 0 Vi ^ 1 Vi ^ 2 Vi ^ j Vi sin
( R ) Vi sin ( 2 R ) Vi sin ( mR ) ] ##EQU00008## where V.sub.i j:
V.sub.i to the j.sup.th power; An array of RRM parameters and a
baseline SNR F.sub.i: characterizing array for the i.sup.th member
in array V M.sub.i=(V.sub.i,t0 V.sub.i,t1 V.sub.i,t2 . . .
V.sub.i,tk) where tk: timepoint of k M.sub.i: Array of sampling for
RRM.sub.i by K samples at different timepoints P.sub.i=(F.sub.i,t0
F.sub.i,t1 F.sub.i,t2 . . . F.sub.i,tk) where P.sub.i:
characterizing array for RRM.sub.i at k timepoints
9. The method of automatic coverage measuring for wireless
communications of claim 8 comprising: performing the simulations in
accordance with third mathematical expressions C = U [ Fb 0 Fb 1 Fb
2 Fbu Fc 0 Fd 0 Fc 1 Fd 1 Fcy Fdy Fe 0 / Ff 0 Fe 1 / Ff 1 Fev / Ffv
] ##EQU00009## where C: a constant (any number) 0.ltoreq.b0 . . .
bn.ltoreq.q, and b0 . . . bu.noteq.i c0.noteq.c1.noteq. . . .
.noteq.cy d0.noteq.d1.noteq. . . . .noteq.dy e0.noteq.e1.noteq. . .
. .noteq.ev f0.noteq.f1.noteq. . . . .noteq.fv U: Balancing array
to balance the influential RRMs in the communication
environment
10. A method of automatic coverage measuring for wireless
communications comprising: providing a definition module; providing
a characterizing module; the definition module defines radio
resource management parameters; and the characterizing module
defines characterizations of the radio resource management
parameters by second mathematical expressions, V={RRM0, RRM1, RRM2,
. . . RRMq, BSNR} where BSNR: baseline SNR RRM.sub.q: q.sup.th
number of RRM parameters F i = [ Vi ^ 0 Vi ^ 1 Vi ^ 2 Vi ^ j Vi sin
( R ) Vi sin ( 2 R ) Vi sin ( mR ) ] ##EQU00010## where V.sub.i j:
V.sub.i to the jth power; An array of RRM parameters and a baseline
SNR F.sub.i: characterizing array for the i.sup.th member in array
V M.sub.i=(V.sub.i,t0 V.sub.i,t1 V.sub.i,t2 . . . V.sub.i,tk) where
tk: timepoint of k M.sub.i: Array of sampling for RRM.sub.i by K
samples at different timepoints P.sub.i=(F.sub.i,t0 F.sub.i,t1
F.sub.i,t2 . . . F.sub.i,tk) where P.sub.i: characterizing array
for RRM.sub.i at k timepoints
11. The method of automatic coverage measuring for wireless
communications of claim 10 comprising: providing an index module
and a modeling module; and the modeling module creates models by
first mathematical expressions in terms of the resource management
parameters; and the index module performs multiple-tier indexing on
the radio resource management parameters.
12. The method of automatic coverage measuring for wireless
communications of claim 11 comprising: the multiple-tier indexing
includes Replica-tree indexing method and Move-To-Front (MTF)
indexing method and Run-length Indexing method and Huffman Indexing
methods.
13. The method of automatic coverage measuring for wireless
communications of claim 11 comprising: the first mathematical
expressions are, Mi = Wi { [ Pa 0 Pa 1 Pa 2 Pan ] + Ri }
##EQU00011## where M.sub.i: relationships array representing the
relationships between the RRM.sub.i and all other RRM parameters
W.sub.i: an intermediate factor P.sub.an: characterizing array for
RRM.sub.an for all k timepoints R.sub.i: probability array for each
Pan. 0.ltoreq.a0 . . . an.ltoreq.q, and a0 . . . an.noteq.i
a0.noteq.a1.noteq.a2.noteq. . . . .noteq.an
14. The method of automatic coverage measuring for wireless
communications of claim 11 comprising: providing a simulation
module; and the simulation module performs simulations by using
radio resource management parameters and a baseline signal-to-noise
ratio (SNR) value.
15. The method of automatic coverage measuring for wireless
communications of claim 14 comprising: performing the simulations
in accordance with third mathematical expressions, C = U [ Fb 0 Fb
1 Fb 2 Fbu Fc 0 Fd 0 Fc 1 Fd 1 Fcy Fdy Fe 0 / Ff 0 Fe 1 / Ff 1 Fev
/ Ffv ] ##EQU00012## where C: a constant (any number) 0.ltoreq.b0 .
. . bn.ltoreq.q, and b0 . . . bu.noteq.i c0.noteq.c1.noteq. . . .
.noteq.cy d0.noteq.d1.noteq. . . . .noteq.dy e0.noteq.e1.noteq. . .
. .noteq.ev f0.noteq.f1.noteq. . . . .noteq.fv U: Balancing array
to balance the influential RRMs in the communication environment
Description
RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present invention is a continuation application of and
claims a priority to the U.S. patent application Ser. No.
11/549,966, filed on Oct. 16, 2006, and is herein incorporated in
its entirety by reference for all purposes.
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to a system for measuring and
ensuring wireless communications coverage at various geographic
areas where the service carriers provide its communication
services. The coverage of a cellular system depends on many
different factors including geographical obstacles, traffic load,
signal interferences, handoff, and others. Therefore, the coverage
of a cellar system varies depending on different factors as
mentioned previously. The current system collects and analyzes real
communication traffic data for modeling and simulations to conclude
the quality of signals in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to
determine its coverage.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Signal coverage is a major service concern to all wireless
communication subscribers as well as the service carriers. The
subscribers have to roam from one place to another in order to
obtain a better signal coverage for his desired communications. The
subscriber cannot predict any location where provides expected or
poor signal coverage. The system and environmental factors that
affect signal coverage change dynamically through time period. The
service carriers in the wireless communication industry have
implemented the road tests by sending technicians out to the fields
to detect and record real coverage signals. The technicians use
various signal detecting equipments (i.e., cell phone, global
positioning system, and personal computers) to record live signal
strengths at different geographical locations. The collected signal
data will be analyzed at a later time to determine the field
coverage. This road tests have been tedious, time consuming,
inaccurate due to human factors, and costly tasks.
[0004] The current invention is for determining cell coverage
without performing the road tests repeatedly as the service
carriers perform in nowadays. This invention implements a series of
indexing, modeling, and simulations on the standard Radio Resource
Management (RRM) parameters that are available on the wireless
communication systems. By determining the influential relationships
between all of the RRM factors and in view of a baseline road test
data, this invention concludes a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) value
to determine the signal coverage for a desired coverage
location.
[0005] This invention will save not only costs for the service
carriers to perform road tests but also improves the accuracy of
determining filed signal coverage in a timely manner. The service
carriers therefore can improve its service coverage in a much more
efficient method.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] This invention implements a series of indexing, modeling,
and simulations on the RRM parameters that are available on the
wireless communication systems to determine filed signal
coverage.
[0007] There are five (5) modules performing various tasks of the
current invention. The five modules are Definition Module, Index
Module, Characterizing Module, Modeler Module, and Simulator
Module.
[0008] The "Definition Module" defines the conformations and
relationships between vendor-specific communication traffic data
and the standard RRM parameters.
[0009] The "Index Module" indexes all RRM parameters by
multiple-tier indexing methods for the efficiencies of data access
and data storages.
[0010] The "Characterizing Module" defines the characteristic
elements of each RRM parameter by a mathematical expression for the
later modeling and simulations processes.
[0011] The "Modeler Module" sets a model by all of the RRM
parameters to represent influential relationships between each
other and its impact on the system coverage.
[0012] The "Simulator Module" repeats simulations by using the
model that is set by the Modeler Module. The simulations eliminates
RRM parameters that are unessential per predefined requirements in
order to determine signal-coverage determining parameters. In view
of a baseline SNR that has been established by a road test data,
and the fact of the industry standards that the RRM parameters are
designed to balance the system coverage, the SNR reports are
therefore concluded by end of the simulations when only the
essential parameters are considered.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 is a process flow of the current invention.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a system architecture of the current
invention.
[0015] FIG. 3 is an example of the SNR report.
[0016] FIG. 4 is an example of the SNR report.
DETAIL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE INVENTION
Terminology and Lexicography:
[0017] Multiple-Tier Indexing: Indexing on the data and its
associated indices that were created by a previous tier indexing
process. By the indexing, certain data storage may be saved by
eliminating repeated data in order to achieve the goals of data
compressions. Radio Resource Management (RRM): The RRM refers to
all RRM parameters defined by the Universal Mobile
Telecommunication System (UMTS) standard, or all
Selection/Distribution Unit parameters defined by the Code Division
Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000) standard, or parameters affecting
communication signal coverage that are defined by service carriers.
Modeling: A process of generating an abstract model that uses
mathematical expressions to describe the behavior of a system.
Simulation: The process of creating imitative representations of a
target system that is modeled by mathematical expressions. Baseline
signal-to-noise Ratio (BSNR): An SNR data collected from a road
test that represent a worst coverage signal strength or an average
coverage signal strength. Other SNR data that is collected from a
road test can also be used as a baseline SNR at the invention
operator's choice. R-Tree Indexing: Tree data structures used for
spatial access methods i.e., for indexing multi-dimensional
information; for example, the (X, Y) coordinates of geographical
data. The data structure splits space with hierarchically nested,
and possibly overlapping, boxes. Each node of an R-tree has a
variable number of entries (up to some pre-defined maximum). Each
entry within a non-leaf node stores two pieces of data; a way of
identifying a child node, and the bounding box of all entries
within this child node. Move-To-Front (MTF) indexing: The MTF
indexing is an encoding of data (typically a stream of bytes)
designed to improve the performance of entropy encoding techniques
of compression. Each byte value is encoded by its index in a list,
which changes over the course of the algorithm. The list is
initially in order by byte value (0, 1, 2, 3, . . . , 255).
Therefore, the first byte is always encoded by its own value. After
encoding a byte, that value is moved to the front of the list
before continuing to the next byte. Run-length Indexing: Run-length
encoding is a form of data compression in which runs of data (that
is, sequences in which the same data value occurs in many
consecutive data elements) are stored as a single data value and
count, rather than as the original run. Huffman Indexing: Huffman
coding is an entropy encoding algorithm used for lossless data
compression. The term refers to the use of a variable-length code
table for encoding a source symbol (such as a character in a file)
where the variable-length code table has been derived in a
particular way based on the estimated probability of occurrence for
each possible value of the source symbol. Modeling: A process of
generating an abstract model that uses mathematical language to
describe the behavior of a system. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR): an
electrical engineering concept defined as the ratio of a given
transmitted signal to the background noise of the transmission
medium. Indexing: A method of applying an integer and a symbol to
identify an array element, or a data structure which enables fast
lookup
[0018] According to the wireless communication standards, for
example, but not limited to the Universal Mobil Telecommunication
System (UMTS) and Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000),
RRM parameters are dedicated to guarantee system quality and
maintain the system performance. The RRM provides functions
including power control, handover, admission control, load control,
packet switching, and resource management. However, none of these
functions provides an indication of signal coverage for a specific
cell location.
[0019] Before implementing this invention 10, a baseline road test
20 shall be performed in order to identify the baseline SNR (BSNR)
within a wireless communication sector. This baseline SNR is used
along with other RRM parameter data 42 that are available on the
wireless communication system for the modeling and simulation
processes.
[0020] The system 10 of this invention includes five (5) modules
which are Definition 22, Index 24, Characterizing 26, Modeler 28,
and Simulator 30. The detail functions of each module follow.
[0021] This invention first analyzes all RRM parameters available
from either base station, base station controller (BSC), network
management system (NMS), or from a centralized system archive. The
interfaces of retrieving the RRM parameters is a design issue
depending on preferences and configurations of each service
carrier.
[0022] Once the RRM parameters are collected, the system, by the
Definition Module, organizes the collected parameter data according
to a predefined vendor-specific definition. Due to different system
vendor implementations, the standard RRM parameters may be
implemented in different methods or format. Therefore, the
Definition Module identifies and defines RRM parameters by the
pre-determined vendor-specific definitions. Furthermore, any
non-standard RRM parameters that the service carrier deems to be
signal-coverage-affecting factors can be defined in the Definition
Module.
[0023] When the RRM parameters are identified, the Index Module
indexes the RRM parameter data. Due to the large amount of RRM
parameter data, the Index Module implements multiple-tier indexing
methods. The RRM parameters are first indexed by the Replica-Tree
indexing method. The amount of data from the first-tier indexing is
still considered to be large from the efficiency point-of-view for
data access and storage. The Index Module therefore applies a
additional tiers indexing methods to the data and associated
indices from the first-tier indexing. The multiple-tier indexing
methods after the first-tier indexing, in sequence order, include
Move-To-Front (MTF) indexing methods, Run-length Indexing method,
and Huffman Indexing Method.
[0024] The Characterizing Module characterizes each RRM parameter
in terms of each parameter's characteristic elements by the
following mathematical expression. The process of characterizing
RRM parameters is to define the detail influential elements of each
RRM parameter.
V={RRM0, RRM1, RRM2, . . . RRMq, BSNR}
[0025] where [0026] BSNR: baseline SNR [0027] RRM.sub.q: q.sup.th
number of RRM parameter [0028] V.sub.i j: V.sub.i to the jth power;
An array of RRM parameters and a baseline SNR
[0028] F i = [ Vi ^ 0 Vi ^ 1 Vi ^ 2 Vi ^ j Vi sin ( R ) Vi sin ( 2
R ) Vi sin ( mR ) ] ##EQU00001##
[0029] where [0030] F.sub.i: characterizing array for the i.sup.th
member in array V [0031] 0.ltoreq.i.ltoreq.q
[0031] M.sub.i=(V.sub.i,t0 V.sub.i,t1 V.sub.i,t2 . . .
V.sub.i,tk)
[0032] where [0033] tk: timepoint of k [0034] M.sub.i: Array of
sampling for RRM.sub.i by K samples at different timepoints
[0034] P.sub.i=(F.sub.i,t0 F.sub.i,t1 F.sub.i,t2 . . .
F.sub.i,tk)
[0035] where P.sub.i: characterizing array for RRM.sub.i for all k
timepoints
[0036] The Modeling Module sets a coverage environment model in
terms of the RRM parameters for the purpose of simulations. The
modeling processes include steps by using the following
mathematical expressions.
[0037] The first step, by knowing Pan and M.sub.i, is to determine
the W.sub.i in the following mathematical expression.
M i = W i [ Pa 0 Pa 1 Pa 2 Pan ] ##EQU00002##
[0038] Once the W.sub.i is determined, the second step is to
determine the R.sub.i in the following mathematical expression.
Mi = Wi { [ Pa 0 Pa 1 Pa 2 Pan ] + Ri } ##EQU00003##
[0039] where [0040] M.sub.i: relationships array representing the
relationships between the RRM.sub.i and all other RRM parameters
[0041] W.sub.i: an intermediate factor [0042] P.sub.an:
characterizing array for RRM.sub.an for all k timepoints [0043]
R.sub.i: probability array for each Pan. [0044] 0.ltoreq.a0 . . .
an.ltoreq.q, and a0 . . . an.noteq.i [0045]
a0.noteq.a1.noteq.a2.noteq. . . . .noteq.an
[0046] Multiple iterations of the above modeling processes are
performed in order to eliminate any Pan whose associated
probability is less than 0.5 (R.sub.i<0.5).
[0047] Upon the RRM parameters' influential probabilities are all
within a predetermined requirement, for example, smaller than 0.5,
the modeling processes are terminated.
[0048] The Simulation Module simulates the RRM parameters'
influences among each other by using the following mathematical
expressions.
C = U [ Fb 0 Fb 1 Fb 2 Fbu Fc 0 Fd 0 Fc 1 Fd 1 Fcy Fdy Fe 0 / Ff 0
Fe 1 / Ff 1 Fev / Ffv ] ##EQU00004##
[0049] where [0050] C: a constant (any number) [0051] 0.ltoreq.b0 .
. . bn.ltoreq.q, and b0 . . . bu.noteq.i [0052] c0.noteq.c1.noteq.
. . . .noteq.cy [0053] d0.noteq.d1.noteq. . . . .noteq.dy [0054]
e0.noteq.e1.noteq. . . . .noteq.ev [0055] f0.noteq.f1.noteq. . . .
.noteq.fv [0056] U: Balancing array to balance the influential RRMs
in the communication environment
[0057] The simulations begins by determining the U array based on
the assumption that all influential RRM parameters should balance
the signal coverage by adjusting the RRM parameter values itself.
When the U array is determined, different simulations among the
influential RRM parameters may be performed in order to determine
the SNR values of the characterizing array (F).
[0058] The model with the final list of RRM parameters is a
representative model of the communication coverage environment. The
SNR reports therefore generated based on the simulations to
indicate communication signal coverage.
[0059] It is to be understood that the embodiments and variations
shown and described herein are merely illustrative of the
principles of this invention and that various modifications may be
implemented by those skilled in the art without departing from the
scope and spirit of the invention.
* * * * *