U.S. patent application number 15/258716 was filed with the patent office on 2018-03-08 for techniques for generating a composite color to represent values of a communication metric.
The applicant listed for this patent is QUALCOMM Incorporated. Invention is credited to Diego CALZOLARI, Chintan Pravin TURAKHIA.
Application Number | 20180070251 15/258716 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 59351107 |
Filed Date | 2018-03-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180070251 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CALZOLARI; Diego ; et
al. |
March 8, 2018 |
TECHNIQUES FOR GENERATING A COMPOSITE COLOR TO REPRESENT VALUES OF
A COMMUNICATION METRIC
Abstract
Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless
communications. In some aspects, a device may receive information
identifying a plurality of measurements of a communication metric
related to a network at a plurality of time intervals. The device
may determine a plurality of colors corresponding to a plurality of
values of the communication metric. The plurality of values may
correspond to the plurality of measurements of the communication
metric at the plurality of time intervals. The device may combine
the plurality of colors to generate a composite color for the
communication metric.
Inventors: |
CALZOLARI; Diego; (San
Diego, CA) ; TURAKHIA; Chintan Pravin; (San Diego,
CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
QUALCOMM Incorporated |
San Diego |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
59351107 |
Appl. No.: |
15/258716 |
Filed: |
September 7, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 72/0446 20130101;
H04L 41/16 20130101; H04L 43/045 20130101; H04W 24/02 20130101;
H04W 24/08 20130101; H04W 24/10 20130101; H04W 16/18 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04W 24/08 20060101
H04W024/08; H04W 72/04 20060101 H04W072/04 |
Claims
1. A method, comprising: receiving, by a device, information
identifying a plurality of measurements of a communication metric
related to a network at a plurality of time intervals; determining,
by the device, a plurality of colors corresponding to a plurality
of values of the communication metric, wherein each color, of the
plurality of colors, is associated with a different time interval,
of the plurality of time intervals, and wherein the plurality of
values correspond to the plurality of measurements of the
communication metric at the plurality of time intervals; and
combining, by the device, the plurality of colors, associated with
different time intervals, to generate a composite color for the
communication metric.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing information
identifying the composite color for processing using a machine
learning technique to train a model.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: utilizing the model
to identify a pattern associated with the communication metric.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication metric is one
of a plurality of communication metrics; and further comprising:
providing information identifying a plurality of composite colors
for the plurality of communication metrics.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the composite color is one of a
plurality of composite colors associated with the communication
metric, each composite color, of the plurality of composite colors,
to represent another plurality of time intervals at which the
communication metric is measured; and further comprising: providing
information identifying the plurality of composite colors for the
communication metric.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication metric
represents a metric associated with a modem of the network.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: normalizing the
plurality of values of the communication metric; and wherein
determining the plurality of colors comprises determining the
plurality of colors based at least in part on normalizing the
plurality of values of the communication metric.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the plurality of
colors comprises: determining, for a first time interval of the
plurality of time intervals, a first shade of a first color based
at least in part on a first value of the plurality of values; and
determining, for a second time interval of the plurality of time
intervals, a second shade of a second color based at least in part
on a second value of the plurality of values, the first color being
different from the second color.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of colors
correspond to at least one of: a red green blue (RGB) color model
plurality of colors, a cyan, magenta, yellow, key (CMYK) color
model plurality of colors, a Pantone model plurality of colors, or
a grayscale plurality of colors.
10. A device, comprising: one or more processors to: receive
information identifying a plurality of measurements of a
communication metric related to a network at a plurality of time
intervals; determine a plurality of colors corresponding to a
plurality of values of the communication metric, wherein each
color, of the plurality of colors, is associated with a different
time interval, of the plurality of time intervals, and wherein the
plurality of values correspond to the plurality of measurements of
the communication metric at the plurality of time intervals; and
combine the plurality of colors, associated with different time
intervals, to generate a composite color for the communication
metric.
11. The device of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are
further to: provide the information identifying the composite color
for processing using a machine learning technique to train a
model.
12. The device of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are
further to: utilize the model to identify a pattern associated with
the communication metric.
13. The device of claim 10, wherein the communication metric is one
of a plurality of communication metrics; and wherein the one or
more processors are further to: provide information identifying a
plurality of composite colors for the plurality of communication
metrics.
14. The device of claim 10, wherein the composite color is one of a
plurality of composite colors associated with the communication
metric, each composite color, of the plurality of composite colors,
representing another plurality of time intervals at which the
communication metric is measured; and wherein the one or more
processors are further to: provide information identifying the
plurality of composite colors for the communication metric.
15. The device of claim 10, wherein the communication metric
represents a metric associated with a modem of the network.
16. The device of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are
further to: normalize the plurality of values of the communication
metric; and wherein the one or more processors, when determining
the plurality of colors, are to determine the plurality of colors
based at least in part on normalizing the plurality of values of
the communication metric.
17. The device of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors,
when determining the plurality of colors, are to: determine, for a
first time interval of the plurality of time intervals, a first
shade of a first color based at least in part on a first value of
the plurality of values; and determine, for a second time interval
of the plurality of time intervals, a second shade of a second
color based at least in part on a second value of the plurality of
values, the first color being different from the second color.
18. The device of claim 10, wherein the plurality of colors
correspond to at least one of: a red green blue (RGB) color model
plurality of colors, a cyan, magenta, yellow, key (CMYK) color
model plurality of colors, a Pantone model plurality of colors, or
a grayscale plurality of colors.
19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions,
the instructions comprising: one or more instructions that, when
executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the one or
more processors to: receive information identifying a plurality of
measurements of a communication metric related to a network at a
plurality of time intervals; determine a plurality of colors
corresponding to a plurality of values of the communication metric,
wherein each color, of the plurality of colors, is associated with
a different time interval, of the plurality of time intervals, and
wherein the plurality of values correspond to the plurality of
measurements of the communication metric at the plurality of time
intervals; and combine the plurality of colors, associated with
different time intervals, to generate a composite color for the
communication metric.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19,
wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or
more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:
provide the information identifying the composite color for
processing using a machine learning technique to train a model.
21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20,
wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or
more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:
utilize the model to identify a pattern associated with the
communication metric.
22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19,
wherein the communication metric is one of a plurality of
communication metrics; and wherein the one or more instructions,
when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one
or more processors to: provide information identifying a plurality
of composite colors for the plurality of communication metrics.
23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19,
wherein the composite color is one of a plurality of composite
colors associated with the communication metric, each composite
color, of the plurality of composite colors, representing another
plurality of time intervals at which the communication metric is
measured; and wherein the one or more instructions, when executed
by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more
processors to: provide information identifying the plurality of
composite colors for the communication metric.
24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19,
wherein the communication metric represents a metric associated
with a modem of the network.
25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19,
wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or
more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:
normalize the plurality of values of the communication metric; and
wherein the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more
processors to determine the plurality of colors, cause the one or
more processors to determine the plurality of colors based at least
in part on normalizing the plurality of values of the communication
metric.
26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19,
wherein the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more
processors to determine the plurality of colors, cause the one or
more processors to: determine, for a first time interval of the
plurality of time intervals, a first shade of a first color based
at least in part on a first value of the plurality of values; and
determine, for a second time interval of the plurality of time
intervals, a second shade of a second color based at least in part
on a second value of the plurality of values, the first color being
different from the second color.
27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19,
wherein the plurality of colors correspond to at least one of: a
red green blue (RGB) color model plurality of colors, a cyan,
magenta, yellow, key (CMYK) color model plurality of colors, a
Pantone model plurality of colors, or a grayscale plurality of
colors.
28. An apparatus, comprising: means for receiving information
identifying a plurality of measurements of a communication metric
related to a network at a plurality of time intervals; means for
determining a plurality of colors corresponding to a plurality of
values of the communication metric, wherein each color, of the
plurality of colors, is associated with a different time interval,
of the plurality of time intervals, and wherein the plurality of
values correspond to the plurality of measurements of the
communication metric at the plurality of time intervals; and means
for combining the plurality of colors, associated with different
time intervals, to generate a composite color for the communication
metric.
29. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising: means for
providing the information identifying the composite color for
processing using a machine learning technique to train a model.
30. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising: means for
utilizing the model to identify a pattern associated with the
communication metric.
Description
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to
wireless communications, and more particularly to techniques and
apparatuses for generating a composite color to represent values of
a communication metric.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to
provide various telecommunication services, such as telephony,
video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Typical wireless
communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies
capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing
available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.).
Examples of such multiple-access technologies include code division
multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access
(TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems,
orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems,
single-carrier frequency divisional multiple access (SC-FDMA)
systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple
access (TD-SCDMA) systems.
[0003] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in
various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol
that enables different wireless devices to communicate on a
municipal, national, regional, and even global level. An example of
a telecommunication standard is Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE is a
set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications
System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by Third Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP). LTE is designed to better support
mobile broadband Internet access by improving spectral efficiency,
lowering costs, improving services, using new spectrum, and
integrating with other open standards using OFDMA on the downlink
(DL), SC-FDMA on the uplink (UL), and multiple-input
multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology.
SUMMARY
[0004] In some aspects, a method may include receiving, by a
device, information identifying a plurality of measurements of a
communication metric related to a network at a plurality of time
intervals. The method may include determining, by the device, a
plurality of colors corresponding to a plurality of values of the
communication metric. The plurality of values may correspond to the
plurality of measurements of the communication metric at the
plurality of time intervals. The method may include combining, by
the device, the plurality of colors to generate a composite color
for the communication metric.
[0005] In some aspects, a device may include one or more processors
configured to receive information identifying a plurality of
measurements of a communication metric related to a network at a
plurality of time intervals. The one or more processors may be
configured to determine a plurality of colors corresponding to a
plurality of values of the communication metric. The plurality of
values may correspond to the plurality of measurements of the
communication metric at the plurality of time intervals. The one or
more processors may be configured to combine the plurality of
colors to generate a composite color for the communication
metric.
[0006] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium
may store one or more instructions. The one or more instructions,
when executed by one or more processors of a device, may cause the
one or more processors to receive information identifying a
plurality of measurements of a communication metric related to a
network at a plurality of time intervals. The one or more
instructions may cause the one or more processors to determine a
plurality of colors corresponding to a plurality of values of the
communication metric. The plurality of values may correspond to the
plurality of measurements of the communication metric at the
plurality of time intervals. The one or more instructions may cause
the one or more processors to combine the plurality of colors to
generate a composite color for the communication metric.
[0007] In some aspects, an apparatus may include means for
receiving information identifying a plurality of measurements of a
communication metric related to a network at a plurality of time
intervals. The apparatus may include means for determining a
plurality of colors corresponding to a plurality of values of the
communication metric. The plurality of values may correspond to the
plurality of measurements of the communication metric at the
plurality of time intervals. The apparatus may include means for
combining the plurality of colors to generate a composite color for
the communication metric.
[0008] Aspects generally include a method, apparatus, system,
computer program product, non-transitory computer-readable medium,
and user equipment as substantially described herein with reference
to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
[0009] The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and
technical advantages of examples according to the disclosure in
order that the detailed description that follows may be better
understood. Additional features and advantages will be described
hereinafter. The conception and specific examples disclosed may be
readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other
structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present
disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the
scope of the appended claims. Characteristics of the concepts
disclosed herein, both their organization and method of operation,
together with associated advantages will be better understood from
the following description when considered in connection with the
accompanying figures. Each of the figures is provided for the
purpose of illustration and description, and not as a definition of
the limits of the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] So that the manner in which the above-recited features of
the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more
particular description, briefly summarized above, may be had by
reference to aspects, some of which are illustrated in the appended
drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings
illustrate only some typical aspects of this disclosure and are
therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the
description may admit to other equally effective aspects. The same
reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or
similar elements.
[0011] FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example wireless
communication system, in accordance with various aspects of the
present disclosure;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example access network
in an LTE network architecture, in accordance with various aspects
of the present disclosure;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a downlink
(DL) frame structure in LTE, in accordance with various aspects of
the present disclosure;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an uplink
(UL) frame structure in LTE, in accordance with various aspects of
the present disclosure;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a radio
protocol architecture for a user plane and a control plane in LTE,
in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;
[0016] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating example components of a
communication system including a base station and a UE, in
accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;
[0017] FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating an example of
generating a composite color to represent values of a communication
metric, in accordance with various aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0018] FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams illustrating another example of
generating a composite color to represent values of a communication
metric, in accordance with various aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0019] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of an example process for
generating a composite color to represent values of a communication
metric, in accordance with various aspects of the present
disclosure; and
[0020] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of another example process for
generating a composite color to represent values of a communication
metric, in accordance with various aspects of the present
disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0021] The detailed description set forth below, in connection with
the appended drawings, is intended as a description of various
configurations and is not intended to represent the only
configurations in which the concepts described herein may be
practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for
providing a thorough understanding of the various concepts.
However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these
concepts may be practiced without these specific details.
[0022] Network management procedures may be used to manage one or
more network devices, such as a base station, a user equipment
(UE), or the like. Each network device may identify communication
metrics regarding the network, such as communication metrics
relating to a modem connected to the network or the like, and may
provide the communication metrics to the network management device
for processing. For example, the network device may identify a
signal strength metric, a bit error rate metric, a data rate
metric, a reference signal received power metric, or the like. The
network management device may receive the communication metrics
from the network device, and may process the communication metrics
to identify an alteration to improve network performance. For
example, the network management device may cause the device to
alter a configuration to reduce a likelihood of a radio link
failure. In another example, the device may process the
communication metrics, and may alter a configuration of the device
to improve network performance. For example, a base station using a
self-organizing network (SON) functionality may adjust a
transmission frequency, a transmission strength, a beam form, or
the like based at least in part on processing communication metrics
regarding the base station and/or one or more other base
stations.
[0023] However, processing a plurality of communication metrics
including values relating to a plurality of time periods may
involve an excessive utilization of processing resources. Moreover,
storing and/or transmitting information identifying the values of
the plurality of communication metrics may involve excessive memory
resources and/or may generate excessive network traffic.
Furthermore, designing customized algorithms to process the
communication metrics and/or to identify a state of a network for
which to perform an alteration to a configuration may involve
costly and error prone development procedures.
[0024] Techniques described herein may generate a composite color
to represent values of a communication metric, thereby permitting
storage of information identifying the communication metric using a
reduced amount of data storage resources and/or transmission of
information identifying the communication metric using a reduced
utilization of network resources relative to storing and/or
transmitting numeric data identifying the communication metric.
Moreover, a plurality of composite colors representing a plurality
of communication metrics and/or a plurality of time intervals may
be processed using a deep learning algorithm for image recognition
to identify a state of a network. Based at least in part on
representing the plurality communication metrics graphically and
using an image recognition technique to identify the state of the
network, a need to develop custom pattern recognition algorithms
for the communication metrics is obviated and a utilization of
processing resources is reduced.
[0025] The techniques described herein may be used for one or more
of various wireless communication networks, such as code division
multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division multiple access
(TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA)
networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, single carrier FDMA
(SC-FDMA) networks, or other types of networks. A CDMA network may
implement a radio access technology (RAT), such as universal
terrestrial radio access (UTRA), CDMA2000, or the like. UTRA may
include wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and/or other variants of CDMA.
CDMA2000 may include Interim Standard (IS)-2000, IS-95 and IS-856
standards. IS-2000 may also be referred to as 1.times. radio
transmission technology (1.times.RTT), CDMA2000 1.times., or the
like. A TDMA network may implement a RAT such as global system for
mobile communications (GSM), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution
(EDGE), or GSM/EDGE radio access network (GERAN). An OFDMA network
may implement a RAT such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), ultra mobile
broadband (UMB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20,
Flash-OFDM, or the like. UTRA and E-UTRA may be part of the
universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS). 3GPP long-term
evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are example releases of
UMTS that use E-UTRA, which employs OFDMA on the downlink and
SC-FDMA on the uplink. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are
described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation
Partnership Project" (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are described in
documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership
Project 2" (3GPP2). The techniques described herein may be used for
the wireless networks and RATs mentioned above as well as other
wireless networks and RATs.
[0026] FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example wireless
communication system 100, in accordance with various aspects of the
disclosure. The wireless communication system 100 may include a
WWAN network, such as a cellular network, and a WLAN network, such
as a Wi-Fi network. The cellular network may include one or more
base stations 105, 105-A, one or more UEs 115, 115-A, and a core
network 130. The Wi-Fi network may include one or more WLAN access
points 135, 135-A (e.g., Wi-Fi access points) and one or more WLAN
stations 140, 140-A (e.g., Wi-Fi stations).
[0027] With reference to the cellular network of the wireless
communication system 100, the core network 130 may provide user
authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol
(IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility
functions. The base stations 105, 105-A may interface with the core
network 130 through backhaul links 132 (e.g., S1, etc.) and may
perform radio configuration and scheduling for communication with
the UEs 115, 115-A, or may operate under the control of a base
station controller (not shown). In various examples, the base
stations 105, 105-A may communicate, either directly or indirectly
(e.g., through core network 130), with each other over backhaul
links 134 (e.g., X2, etc.), which may be wired or wireless
communication links.
[0028] The base stations 105, 105-A may wirelessly communicate with
the UEs 115, 115-A via one or more base station antennas. Each of
the base station 105, 105-A sites may provide communication
coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In some
examples, a base station 105, 105-A may be referred to as a base
transceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radio
transceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB,
or some other suitable terminology. The geographic coverage area
110 for a base station 105, 105-A may be divided into sectors
making up a portion of the coverage area (not shown). The cellular
network may include base stations 105, 105-A of different types
(e.g., macro and/or small cell base stations). There may be
overlapping geographic coverage areas 110 for different
technologies.
[0029] In some examples, the cellular network may include an
LTE/LTE-A network. In LTE/LTE-A networks, the term evolved Node B
(eNB) may be used to describe the base stations 105, 105-A, while
the term UE may be used to describe the UEs 115, 115-A. The
cellular network may be a Heterogeneous LTE/LTE-A network in which
different types of eNBs provide coverage for various geographical
regions. For example, each eNB or base station 105, 105-A may
provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a small cell,
and/or another type of cell. The term "cell" is a 3GPP term that
can be used to describe a base station, a carrier or component
carrier associated with a base station, or a coverage area (e.g.,
sector, etc.) of a carrier or base station, depending on
context.
[0030] A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area
(e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted
access by UEs with service subscriptions with the network provider.
A small cell may be a lower-powered base station, as compared with
a macro cell that may operate in the same or different (e.g.,
licensed, unlicensed, etc.) radio frequency spectrum bands as macro
cells. Small cells may include pico cells, femto cells, and micro
cells according to various examples. A pico cell may cover a
relatively smaller geographic area and may allow unrestricted
access by UEs with service subscriptions with the network provider.
A femto cell also may cover a relatively small geographic area
(e.g., a home) and may provide restricted access by UEs having an
association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber
group (CSG), UEs for users in the home, and the like). An eNB for a
macro cell may be referred to as a macro eNB. An eNB for a small
cell may be referred to as a small cell eNB, a pico eNB, a femto
eNB, or a home eNB. An eNB may support one or multiple (e.g., two,
three, four, or the like) cells (e.g., component carriers).
[0031] The cellular network may support synchronous or asynchronous
operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations may have
similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base
stations may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous
operation, the base stations may have different frame timing, and
transmissions from different base stations may not be aligned in
time. The techniques described herein may be used for either
synchronous or asynchronous operations.
[0032] The cellular network may in some examples include a
packet-based network that operates according to a layered protocol
stack. In the user plane, communications at the bearer or Packet
Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer may be IP-based. A Radio
Link Control (RLC) layer may perform packet segmentation and
reassembly to communicate over logical channels. A MAC layer may
perform priority handling and multiplexing of logical channels into
transport channels. The MAC layer may also use Hybrid ARQ (HARQ) to
provide retransmission at the MAC layer to improve link efficiency.
In the control plane, the Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol
layer may provide establishment, configuration, and maintenance of
an RRC connection between a UE 115, 115-A and the base stations
105, 105-A or core network 130 supporting radio bearers for the
user plane data. At the Physical (PHY) layer, the transport
channels may be mapped to Physical channels.
[0033] The UEs 115, 115-A may be dispersed throughout the wireless
communication system 100, and each UE 115, 115-A may be stationary
or mobile. A UE 115, 115-A may also include or be referred to by
those skilled in the art as a mobile station, a subscriber station,
a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a
mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device,
a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a
mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset,
a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable
terminology. A UE 115, 115-A may be a cellular phone, a personal
digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication
device, a handheld device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a
cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, or the like. A
UE may be able to communicate with various types of base stations
105, 105-A and network equipment, including macro eNBs, small cell
eNBs, relay base stations, or the like.
[0034] The communication links 125 shown in wireless communication
system 100 may carry downlink (DL) transmissions from a base
station 105, 105-A to a UE 115, 115-A, and/or uplink (UL)
transmissions from a UE 115, 115-A to a base station 105, 105-A.
The downlink transmissions may also be called forward link
transmissions, while the uplink transmissions may also be called
reverse link transmissions.
[0035] In some examples, each communication link 125 may include
one or more carriers, where each carrier may be a signal made up of
multiple sub-carriers (e.g., waveform signals of different
frequencies) modulated according to the various radio technologies
described above. Each modulated signal may be sent on a different
sub-carrier and may carry control information (e.g., reference
signals, control channels, etc.), overhead information, user data,
etc. The communication links 125 may transmit bidirectional
communications using a frequency division duplexing (FDD) operation
(e.g., using paired spectrum resources) or a time division
duplexing (TDD) operation (e.g., using unpaired spectrum
resources). Frame structures for FDD operation (e.g., frame
structure type 1) and TDD operation (e.g., frame structure type 2)
may be defined.
[0036] In some aspects of the wireless communication system 100,
base stations 105, 105-A and/or UEs 115, 115-A may include multiple
antennas for employing antenna diversity schemes to improve
communication quality and reliability between base stations 105,
105-A and UEs 115, 115-A. Additionally or alternatively, base
stations 105, 105-A and/or UEs 115, 115-A may employ
multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) techniques that may take
advantage of multi-path environments to transmit multiple spatial
layers carrying the same or different coded data.
[0037] The wireless communication system 100 may support operation
on multiple cells or carriers, a feature which may be referred to
as carrier aggregation (CA) or multi-carrier operation. A carrier
may also be referred to as a component carrier (CC), a layer, a
channel, etc. The terms "carrier," "component carrier," "cell," and
"channel" may be used interchangeably herein. A UE 115, 115-A may
be configured with multiple downlink CCs and one or more uplink CCs
for carrier aggregation. Carrier aggregation may be used with both
FDD and TDD component carriers.
[0038] With reference to the Wi-Fi network of the wireless
communication system 100, the WLAN access points 135, 135-A may
wirelessly communicate with the WLAN stations 140, 140-A via one or
more WLAN access point antennas, over one or more communication
links 145. In some examples, the WLAN access points 135, 135-A may
communicate with the WLAN stations 140, 140-A using one or more
Wi-Fi communication standards, such as an Institute of Electrical
and Electronics (IEEE) Standard 802.11 (e.g., IEEE Standard
802.11a, IEEE Standard 802.11n, or IEEE Standard 802.11ac).
[0039] In some examples, a WLAN station 140, 140-A may be a
cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless
communication device, a handheld device, a tablet computer, a
laptop computer, or the like. In some examples, an apparatus may
include aspects of both a UE 115, 115-A and a WLAN station 140,
140-A, and such an apparatus may communicate with one or more base
stations 105, 105-A using a first radio access technology (RAT)
(e.g., a cellular RAT or multiple cellular RATs), and communicate
with one or more WLAN access points 135, 135-A using a second RAT
(e.g., a Wi-Fi RAT or multiple Wi-Fi RATs).
[0040] In some examples, the base stations 105, 105-A and UEs 115,
115-A may communicate over a licensed radio frequency spectrum band
and/or an unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band, whereas the
WLAN access points 135, 135-A and WLAN stations 140, 140-A may
communicate over the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band. The
unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band may therefore be shared by
the base stations 105, 105-A, the UEs 115, 115-A, the WLAN access
points 135, 135-A, and/or the WLAN stations 140, 140-A.
[0041] The number and arrangement of components shown in FIG. 1 are
provided as an example. In practice, wireless communication system
100 may include additional devices, fewer devices, different
devices, or differently arranged devices than those shown in FIG.
1. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more devices of wireless
communication system 100 may perform one or more functions
described as being performed by another one or more devices of
wireless communication system 100.
[0042] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example access network
200 in an LTE network architecture, in accordance with various
aspects of the present disclosure. As shown, access network 200 may
include a plurality of eNBs 210 that serve a corresponding
plurality of cellular regions (cells) 220, a plurality of low power
eNBs 230 that serve a corresponding plurality of cells 240, and a
plurality of UEs 250.
[0043] Each eNB 210 may be assigned to a respective cell 220 and
may be configured to provide an access point to a RAN. For example,
eNB 210 may provide an access point for UE 250 to a RAN (e.g., eNB
210 may correspond to base station 105, shown in FIG. 1). UE 250
may correspond to UE 115, shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 does not
illustrate a centralized controller for example access network 200,
but access network 200 may use a centralized controller in some
aspects. The eNBs 210 may perform radio related functions including
radio bearer control, admission control, mobility control,
scheduling, security, and network connectivity.
[0044] As shown in FIG. 2, one or more low power eNBs 230 may serve
respective cells 240, which may overlap with one or more cells 220
served by eNBs 210. The low power eNBs 230 may correspond to base
station 105, shown in FIG. 1. A low power eNB 230 may be referred
to as a remote radio head (RRH). The low power eNB 230 may include
a femto cell eNB (e.g., home eNB (HeNB)), a pico cell eNB, a micro
cell eNB, or the like.
[0045] A modulation and multiple access scheme employed by access
network 200 may vary depending on the particular telecommunications
standard being deployed. In LTE applications, OFDM is used on the
downlink (DL) and SC-FDMA is used on the uplink (UL) to support
both frequency division duplexing (FDD) and time division duplexing
(TDD). The various concepts presented herein are well suited for
LTE applications. However, these concepts may be readily extended
to other telecommunication standards employing other modulation and
multiple access techniques. By way of example, these concepts may
be extended to Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) or Ultra Mobile
Broadband (UMB). EV-DO and UMB are air interface standards
promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) as
part of the CDMA2000 family of standards and employs CDMA to
provide broadband Internet access to mobile stations. As another
example, these concepts may also be extended to UTRA employing
WCDMA and other variants of CDMA (e.g., such as TD-SCDMA, GSM
employing TDMA, E-UTRA, or the like), UMB, IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi),
IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM employing OFDMA, or
the like. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE and GSM are described in
documents from the 3GPP organization. CDMA2000 and UMB are
described in documents from the 3GPP2 organization. The actual
wireless communication standard and the multiple access technology
employed will depend on the specific application and the overall
design constraints imposed on the system.
[0046] The number and arrangement of devices and cells shown in
FIG. 2 are provided as an example. In practice, there may be
additional devices and/or cells, fewer devices and/or cells,
different devices and/or cells, or differently arranged devices
and/or cells than those shown in FIG. 2. Furthermore, two or more
devices shown in FIG. 2 may be implemented within a single device,
or a single device shown in FIG. 2 may be implemented as multiple,
distributed devices. Additionally, or alternatively, a one or more
devices shown in FIG. 2 may perform one or more functions described
as being performed by another one or more devices shown in FIG.
2.
[0047] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example 300 of a
downlink (DL) frame structure in LTE, in accordance with various
aspects of the present disclosure. A frame (e.g., of 10 ms) may be
divided into 10 equally sized sub-frames with indices of 0 through
9. Each sub-frame may include two consecutive time slots. A
resource grid may be used to represent two time slots, each time
slot including a resource block (RB). The resource grid is divided
into multiple resource elements. In LTE, a resource block includes
12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and, for a
normal cyclic prefix in each OFDM symbol, 7 consecutive OFDM
symbols in the time domain, or 84 resource elements. For an
extended cyclic prefix, a resource block includes 6 consecutive
OFDM symbols in the time domain and has 72 resource elements. Some
of the resource elements, as indicated as R 310 and R 320, include
DL reference signals (DL-RS). The DL-RS include Cell-specific RS
(CRS) (also sometimes called common RS) 310 and UE-specific RS
(UE-RS) 320. UE-RS 320 are transmitted only on the resource blocks
upon which the corresponding physical DL shared channel (PDSCH) is
mapped. The number of bits carried by each resource element depends
on the modulation scheme. Thus, the more resource blocks that a UE
receives and the higher the modulation scheme, the higher the data
rate for the UE.
[0048] In LTE, an eNB may send a primary synchronization signal
(PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) for each cell in
the eNB. The primary and secondary synchronization signals may be
sent in symbol periods 6 and 5, respectively, in each of subframes
0 and 5 of each radio frame with the normal cyclic prefix (CP). The
synchronization signals may be used by UEs for cell detection and
acquisition. The eNB may send a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH)
in symbol periods 0 to 3 in slot 1 of subframe 0. The PBCH may
carry some system information.
[0049] The eNB may send a Physical Control Format Indicator Channel
(PCFICH) in the first symbol period of each subframe. The PCFICH
may convey the number of symbol periods (M) used for control
channels, where M may be equal to 1, 2 or 3 and may change from
subframe to subframe. M may also be equal to 4 for a small system
bandwidth, e.g., with less than 10 resource blocks. The eNB may
send a Physical HARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH) and a Physical
Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) in the first M symbol periods of
each subframe. The PHICH may carry information to support hybrid
automatic repeat request (HARQ). The PDCCH may carry information on
resource allocation for UEs and control information for downlink
channels. The eNB may send a Physical Downlink Shared Channel
(PDSCH) in the remaining symbol periods of each subframe. The PDSCH
may carry data for UEs scheduled for data transmission on the
downlink.
[0050] The eNB may send the PSS, SSS, and PBCH in the center 1.08
MHz of the system bandwidth used by the eNB. The eNB may send the
PCFICH and PHICH across the entire system bandwidth in each symbol
period in which these channels are sent. The eNB may send the PDCCH
to one or more UEs in portions of the system bandwidth. The eNB may
send the PDSCH to specific UEs in specific portions of the system
bandwidth. The eNB may send the PSS, SSS, PBCH, PCFICH, and PHICH
in a broadcast manner to all UEs, may send the PDCCH in a unicast
manner to specific UEs, and may also send the PDSCH in a unicast
manner to specific UEs.
[0051] A number of resource elements may be available in each
symbol period. Each resource element (RE) may cover one subcarrier
in one symbol period and may be used to send one modulation symbol,
which may be a real or complex value. Resource elements not used
for a reference signal in each symbol period may be arranged into
resource element groups (REGs). Each REG may include four resource
elements in one symbol period. The PCFICH may occupy four REGs,
which may be spaced approximately equally across frequency, in
symbol period 0. The PHICH may occupy three REGs, which may be
spread across frequency, in one or more configurable symbol
periods. For example, the three REGs for the PHICH may all belong
in symbol period 0 or may be spread in symbol periods 0, 1, and 2.
The PDCCH may occupy 9, 18, 36, or 72 REGs, which may be selected
from the available REGs, in the first M symbol periods, for
example. Only some combinations of REGs may be allowed for the
PDCCH.
[0052] A UE may know the specific REGs used for the PHICH and the
PCFICH. The UE may search different combinations of REGs for the
PDCCH. The number of combinations to search is typically less than
the number of allowed combinations for the PDCCH. An eNB may send
the PDCCH to the UE in any of the combinations that the UE will
search.
[0053] As indicated above, FIG. 3 is provided as an example. Other
examples are possible and may differ from what was described above
in connection with FIG. 3.
[0054] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example 400 of an uplink
(UL) frame structure in LTE, in accordance with various aspects of
the present disclosure. The available resource blocks for the UL
may be partitioned into a data section and a control section. The
control section may be formed at the two edges of the system
bandwidth and may have a configurable size. The resource blocks in
the control section may be assigned to UEs for transmission of
control information. The data section may include all resource
blocks not included in the control section. The UL frame structure
results in the data section including contiguous subcarriers, which
may allow a single UE to be assigned all of the contiguous
subcarriers in the data section.
[0055] A UE may be assigned resource blocks 410a, 410b in the
control section to transmit control information to an eNB. The UE
may also be assigned resource blocks 420a, 420b in the data section
to transmit data to the eNB. The UE may transmit control
information in a physical UL control channel (PUCCH) on the
assigned resource blocks in the control section. In some aspects,
the UE may transmit only data or both data and control information
in a physical UL shared channel (PUSCH) on the assigned resource
blocks in the data section. A UL transmission may span both slots
of a subframe and may hop across frequencies.
[0056] A plurality of resource blocks may be used to perform
initial system access and achieve UL synchronization in a physical
random access channel (PRACH) 430. The PRACH 430 carries a random
sequence and cannot carry any UL data/signaling. Each random access
preamble occupies a bandwidth corresponding to six consecutive
resource blocks. The starting frequency is specified by the
network. That is, the transmission of the random access preamble is
restricted to some time and frequency resources. There is no
frequency hopping for the PRACH. The PRACH attempt is carried in a
single subframe (e.g., of 1 ms) or in a sequence of few contiguous
subframes.
[0057] As indicated above, FIG. 4 is provided as an example. Other
examples are possible and may differ from what was described above
in connection with FIG. 4.
[0058] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example 500 of a radio
protocol architecture for a user plane and a control plane in LTE,
in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The
radio protocol architecture for the UE and the eNB is shown with
three layers: Layer 1, Layer 2, and Layer 3. Layer 1 (L1 layer) is
the lowest layer and implements various physical layer signal
processing functions. The L1 layer will be referred to herein as
the physical layer 510. Layer 2 (L2 layer) 520 is above the
physical layer 510 and is responsible for the link between the UE
and eNB over the physical layer 510.
[0059] In the user plane, the L2 layer 520 includes a media access
control (MAC) sublayer 530, a radio link control (RLC) sublayer
540, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) 550 sublayer,
which are terminated at the eNB on the network side. Although not
shown, the UE may have several upper layers above the L2 layer 520
including a network layer (e.g., IP layer) that is terminated at a
packet data network (PDN) gateway on the network side, and an
application layer that is terminated at the other end of the
connection (e.g., far end UE, server, etc.).
[0060] The PDCP sublayer 550 provides multiplexing between
different radio bearers and logical channels. The PDCP sublayer 550
also provides header compression for upper layer data packets to
reduce radio transmission overhead, security by ciphering the data
packets, and handover support for UEs between eNBs. The RLC
sublayer 540 provides segmentation and reassembly of upper layer
data packets, retransmission of lost data packets, and reordering
of data packets to compensate for out-of-order reception due to
hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ). The MAC sublayer 530
provides multiplexing between logical and transport channels. The
MAC sublayer 530 is also responsible for allocating the various
radio resources (e.g., resource blocks) in one cell among the UEs.
The MAC sublayer 530 is also responsible for HARQ operations.
[0061] In the control plane, the radio protocol architecture for
the UE and eNB is substantially the same for the physical layer 510
and the L2 layer 520 with the exception that there is no header
compression function for the control plane. In some aspects,
integrity protection may be provided for the control plane data.
The control plane also includes a radio resource control (RRC)
sublayer 560 in Layer 3 (L3 layer). The RRC sublayer 560 is
responsible for obtaining radio resources (i.e., radio bearers) and
for configuring the lower layers using RRC signaling between the
eNB and the UE.
[0062] As indicated above, FIG. 5 is provided as an example. Other
examples are possible and may differ from what was described above
in connection with FIG. 5.
[0063] FIG. 6 is an illustration of example components of a
communication system 600 including a base station 610 and a UE 615,
in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In
some aspects, base station 610 may correspond to one or more of the
base stations and/or eNBs 105, 105-A, 210, or 230 described with
reference to FIG. 1 or 2. In some aspects, UE 615 may correspond to
one or more of the UEs 115, 115-A, or 250 described above with
reference to FIG. 1 or 2. Base station 610 may be equipped with
antennas 634.sub.1-t, and UE 615 may be equipped with antennas
652.sub.1-r, wherein t and r are integers greater than or equal to
one.
[0064] At base station 610, a base station transmit processor 620
may receive data from a base station data source 612 and control
information from a base station controller/processor 640. The
control information may be carried on the Physical Broadcast
Channel (PBCH), the Physical Control Format Indicator Channel
(PCFICH), the Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH), the
Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), or the like. The data
may be carried on the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), for
example. Base station transmit processor 620 may process (e.g.,
encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain
data symbols and control symbols, respectively. Base station
transmit processor 620 may also generate reference symbols, e.g.,
for the PSS, SSS, and cell-specific reference signal (RS). A base
station transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)
processor 630 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on
the data symbols, the control symbols, and/or the reference
symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to
base station modulators/demodulators (MODs/DEMODs) 632.sub.1-t.
Each base station modulator/demodulator 632 may process a
respective output symbol stream (e.g., for orthogonal
frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), or the like) to obtain an
output sample stream. Each base station modulator/demodulator 632
may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and
upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal.
Downlink signals from modulators/demodulators 632.sub.1-t may be
transmitted via antennas 634.sub.1-t, respectively.
[0065] At UE 615, UE antennas 652.sub.1-r may receive the downlink
signals from base station 610 and may provide received signals to
UE modulators/demodulators (MODs/DEMODs) 654.sub.1-r, respectively.
Each UE modulator/demodulator 654 may condition (e.g., filter,
amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to
obtain input samples. Each UE modulator/demodulator 654 may further
process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received
symbols. A UE MIMO detector 656 may obtain received symbols from
all UE modulators/demodulators 654.sub.1-r, and perform MIMO
detection on the received symbols, if applicable, and provide
detected symbols. A UE reception processor 658 may process (e.g.,
demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide
decoded data for UE 615 to a UE data sink 660, and provide decoded
control information to a UE controller/processor 680.
[0066] On the uplink, at UE 615, a UE transmit processor 664 may
receive and process data (e.g., for the Physical Uplink Shared
Channel (PUSCH)) from a UE data source 662 and control information
(e.g., for the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)) from UE
controller/processor 680. UE transmit processor 664 may also
generate reference symbols for a reference signal. The symbols from
UE transmit processor 664 may be precoded by a UE TX MIMO processor
666, if applicable, may be further processed by UE
modulator/demodulators 654.sub.1-r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and
may be transmitted to base station 610. At base station 610, the
uplink signals from UE 615 may be received by base station antennas
634, processed by base station modulators/demodulators 632,
detected by a base station MIMO detector 636, if applicable, and
further processed by a base station reception processor 638 to
obtain decoded data and control information sent by UE 615. Base
station reception processor 638 may provide the decoded data to a
base station data sink 646 and the decoded control information to
base station controller/processor 640.
[0067] Base station controller/processor 640 and UE
controller/processor 680 may direct operation of base station 610
and UE 615, respectively. Base station controller/processor 640
and/or other processors and modules at base station 610 may perform
or direct, for example, execution of one or more blocks illustrated
in FIG. 9, FIG. 10, and/or other processes for the techniques
described herein. UE controller/processor 680 and/or other
processors and modules at UE 615 may also perform or direct, for
example, execution of one or more blocks illustrated in FIG. 9,
FIG. 10, and/or other processes for the techniques described
herein. A base station memory 642 and a UE memory 682 may store
data and program code for base station 610 and UE 615,
respectively. A scheduler 644 may schedule UEs 615 for data
transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.
[0068] In some aspects, base station 610 may include means for
generating a composite color to represent a communication metric.
In some aspects, UE 615 may include means for generating a
composite color to represent a communication metric, as described
herein. In some aspects, the aforementioned means may be base
station controller/processor 640 or UE controller/processor 680,
base station memory 642 or UE memory 682, base station reception
processor 638 or UE reception processor 658, base station MIMO
detector 636 or UE MIMO detector 656, base station
modulators/demodulators 632 or UE modulators/demodulators 654,
and/or base station antennas 634 or UE antennas 652 configured to
perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means. In some
aspects, the aforementioned means may be a module, at least
partially implemented in hardware, or any apparatus configured to
perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.
[0069] The number and arrangement of components shown in FIG. 6 are
provided as an example. In practice, there may be additional
components, fewer components, different components, or differently
arranged components than those shown in FIG. 6. Furthermore, two or
more components shown in FIG. 6 may be implemented within a single
component, or a single components shown in FIG. 6 may be
implemented as multiple, distributed components. Additionally, or
alternatively, one or more components shown in FIG. 6 may perform
one or more functions described as being performed by another one
or more components shown in FIG. 6.
[0070] FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating examples 700 of
generating a composite color to represent a communication metric,
in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. FIGS.
7A and 7B show an example of generating a composite color to
represent a communication metric.
[0071] As shown in FIG. 7A, example 700 may include a UE 705, an
eNB 710, and a device 715. In some aspects, UE 705 may correspond
to one or more of the UEs 115, 115-A, 250, or 615 described above
with reference to FIG. 1, 2, or 6. In some aspects, eNB 710 may
correspond to one or more of the base stations and/or eNBs 105,
105-A, 210, 230, or 610 described with reference to FIG. 1, 2, or
6. In some aspects, device 715 may correspond to one or more UEs
115, 115-A, 250, 615, or 705 described herein with reference to
FIG. 1, 2, 6, 7A, or 7B; one or more eNBs 105, 105-A, 210, 230,
610, or 710 described herein with reference to FIG. 1, 2, 6, 7A, or
7B; a network management device; or the like.
[0072] As further shown in FIG. 7A, and by reference number 720, UE
705 may perform a plurality of measurements of a communication
metric. For example, UE 705 may determine a value for a
communication metric, such as a metric relating to a result of a
checksum (e.g., a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) result), a
reference signal received power (RSRP) metric, or the like, at a
plurality of time intervals. In this case, UE 705 may determine a
first value for the communication metric at a first time interval
(e.g., time T=1 second), a second value for the communication
metric at a second time interval (e.g., time T=2 seconds), and a
third value for the communication metric at a third time interval
(e.g., time T=3 seconds). As shown by reference number 725, UE 705
may provide the plurality of measurements of the communication
metric to device 715 (e.g., via eNB 710) for processing. Device 715
may receive the plurality of measurements of the communication
metric and/or one or more other pluralities of measurements of one
or more other communication metrics from one or more other UEs 705,
eNBs 710, or the like. In some aspects, device 715 may receive the
plurality of measurements of the communication metric based at
least in part on requesting the plurality of measurements of the
communication metric.
[0073] As shown in FIG. 7B, and by reference number 730, device 715
may determine a plurality of colors corresponding to a plurality of
values of the communication metric, and may combine the plurality
of colors to generate a composite color representing the
communication metric. For example, device 715 may determine three
colors corresponding to three color channels, such as a red color
of a red color channel, a green color of a green color channel, and
a blue color of a blue color channel for a red green blue (RGB)
color model. In this case, for a composite color representing the
communication metric at the third time interval (e.g., time
T=T.sub.0=3 seconds), device 715 may determine the red color of the
red color channel based at least in part on the first value of the
communication metric at the first time interval (e.g., time
T=T.sub.0-2=1 second), the green color of the green color channel
based at least in part on the second value of the communication
metric at the second time interval (e.g., time T=T.sub.0-1=2
seconds), and the blue color of the blue color channel based at
least in part on the third value of the communication metric at
this third time interval.
[0074] In another example, device 715 may utilize another color
model, such as a cyan, magenta, yellow, key (CMYK) color model, a
Pantone model, a grayscale model, or the like, and may determine a
plurality of colors for a plurality of color channels of the other
color model.
[0075] As further shown in FIG. 7B and by reference number 735,
device 715 determines the red color (e.g., a color shade of red)
for the red color channel corresponding to the first value of the
communication metric at 1 second. Device 715 may normalize the
first value of the communication metric at T.sub.0-2 (e.g., on a
scale, such as -1 to 1, 0 to 1, or the like), and may select the
first shade for the red color channel based at least in part on the
normalized value (e.g., a shade of red, 204/255). As shown by
reference number 740, device 715 determines the green color for the
green color channel corresponding to T.sub.0-1 based at least in
part on a normalized value of the communication metric at
T.sub.0-1. As shown by reference number 745, device 715 determines
a blue color for the blue color channel corresponding to a
normalized value of the communication metric at T.sub.0.
[0076] As further shown in FIG. 7B, and by reference number 750,
device 715 may combine the plurality of colors to generate the
composite color corresponding to T.sub.0. For example, device 715
may overlay the plurality of colors to generate the composite
color, add the plurality of colors to generate the composite color,
average the plurality of colors to generate the composite color, or
the like. In this way, device 715 generates a composite color that
represents a time-change (e.g., a trend) in the communication
metric at T.sub.0. For example, when the composite color is red
dominant (e.g., appears as a shade of red), the composite color may
indicate that a value of the communication metric is decreasing at
T.sub.0 based at least in part on the shade of the red color
channel being a darker shade than the shade of the blue color
channel. Similarly, when the composite color is blue dominant
(e.g., appears as a shade of blue), the composite color may
indicate that a value of the communication metric is increasing at
T.sub.0 based at least in part on the shade of the blue color
channel being a darker shade than the shade of the red color
channel. Similarly, when the composite color is white dominant or
black dominant (e.g., appears as a shade of white or a shade of
black), the composite color may indicate that a value of the
communication metric is stabilized at a minimum normalized value or
a maximum normalized value based at least in part on the three
color channels being relatively light shades or relatively dark
shades.
[0077] As indicated above, FIGS. 7A and 7B are provided as an
example. Other examples are possible and may differ from what was
described in connection with FIGS. 7A and 7B.
[0078] FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams illustrating an example 800 of
generating a composite color to represent values of a communication
metric, in accordance with various aspects of the present
disclosure. FIGS. 8A and 8B show an example of utilizing a
plurality of composite colors representing a plurality of
communication metrics to identify a condition of a network.
[0079] As shown in FIG. 8A, example 800 may include a device 805.
In some aspects, device 805 may correspond to one or more of the
devices 715 described above with reference to FIG. 7A or 7B; one or
more of the UEs 115, 115-A, 250, 615, or 705 described above with
reference to FIG. 1, 2, 6, 7A, or 7B; one or more eNBs 105, 105-A,
210, 230, 610, or 710 described above with reference to FIG. 1, 2,
6, 7A, or 7B; a network management device; or the like.
[0080] As further shown in FIG. 8A, and by reference number 810,
device 805 may generate a first plurality of composite colors 815
and a second plurality of composite colors 820 corresponding to
values of a plurality of communication metrics at a plurality of
time intervals. For example, device 805 may generate, for the first
plurality of composite colors and the second plurality of composite
colors, a plurality of composite colors representing a CRC result
metric at a plurality of time intervals, a modulation and coding
scheme (MCS) metric at the plurality of time intervals, a transport
block (TB) size metric at the plurality of time intervals, or the
like.
[0081] Device 805 may identify first plurality of composite colors
815 for the plurality of communication metrics at a first plurality
of time intervals during which a network is in a stable condition
(e.g., a radio link failure is not occurring). Device 805 may
identify second plurality of composite colors 820 for the plurality
of communication metrics at a second plurality of time intervals
during which the network is entering a failure condition (e.g., a
radio link failure is predicted to occur within a threshold period
of time). Device 805 may process first plurality of composite
colors 815 and second plurality of composite colors 820 using a
machine learning technique (e.g., a deep learning algorithm) to
train a model associated with identifying the stable condition of
the network and the failure condition of the network based at least
in part on image analysis of a plurality of composite colors.
[0082] As shown in FIG. 8B, and by reference number 825, device 805
may receive a plurality of measurements of values of a plurality of
communication metrics from UE 830. In some aspects, UE 830 may
correspond to one or more of the UEs 115, 115-A, 250, 615, 705
described above with reference to FIG. 1, 2, 6, 7A, or 7B.
[0083] As further shown in FIG. 8B, and by reference number 835,
device 805 may generate a plurality of composite colors 840 based
at least in part on the values of the plurality of communication
metrics. As shown by reference number 845, device 805 may identify
a condition of a network based at least in part on the plurality of
composite colors and the model. For example, device 805 may perform
an image analysis using the model generated based at least in part
on the deep learning algorithm to determine that plurality of
composite colors 840 and plurality of composite colors 820 are
associated with a threshold similarity score indicating that the
network is associated with entering a failure condition (e.g., a
radio link failure). As shown by reference number 850, device 805
transmits an alert to UE 830 indicating that the radio link failure
(RLF) is predicted for the network, and identifying an alteration
to a parameter of UE 830 to configure UE 830 to improve network
performance for the UE 830 and/or the network.
[0084] In this way, device 805 utilizes a composite color
representation of a plurality of communication metrics to identify
a condition of a network with a reduced utilization of processing
resources relative to another technique that utilizes values of the
plurality of communication metrics rather than the composite color
representation, thereby improving network performance. Moreover,
based at least in part on identifying the condition of the network,
device 805 causes an alteration to a network configuration to
improve network performance relative to another technique that
utilizes a static network configuration.
[0085] As indicated above, FIGS. 8A and 8B are provided as an
example. Other examples are possible and may differ from what was
described in connection with FIGS. 8A and 8B.
[0086] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of an example process 900 for
generating a composite color to represent a communication metric,
in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In
some aspects, one or more process blocks of FIG. 9 may be performed
by a device, such as a base station 610, a UE 615, or the like. In
some aspects, one or more process blocks of FIG. 9 may be performed
by another type of device, such as a network management device, a
SON device, or the like.
[0087] As shown in FIG. 9, process 900 may include receiving
information identifying a plurality of measurements of a
communication metric related to a network at a plurality of time
intervals (block 910). For example, the device may receive
information identifying the plurality of measurements of the
communication metric related to the network at the plurality of
time intervals. In some aspects, the device may receive information
identifying a type of communication metric relating to a modem
using the network, such as a CRC result metric, an MCS metric, a TB
size metric, a new data indicator (NDI) metric, a metric relating
to a number of layers used in a transmission, a metric relating to
a number of radio base stations used for the network, a physical
uplink control channel (PUCCH) metric (e.g., PUCCH TX power, PUCCH
RX power, PUCCH TB size, or a number of PUCCH resource blocks), a
reference signal received power (RSRP) metric, a reference signal
received quality (RSRQ) metric, a metric relating to a number of
detected cells, a plurality of metrics relating to a neighbor cell,
or the like.
[0088] In some aspects, the device may receive information
identifying a plurality of measurements of a communication metric
at a plurality of time intervals. For example, the device may
receive information identifying results of a plurality of
measurements of a plurality of RSRQ values at a plurality of time
intervals. Additionally, or alternatively, the device may receive
information identifying a plurality of measurements of a plurality
of communication metrics at a time interval. For example, the
device may receive information identifying, for a time interval, an
RSRP value and an RSRQ value. Additionally, or alternatively, the
device may receive information identifying a plurality of
measurements of a plurality of communication metrics at a plurality
of time intervals. For example, the device may receive information
identifying a plurality of RSRP values at a plurality of time
intervals and a plurality of RSRQ values at the plurality of time
intervals.
[0089] In some aspects, the device may receive the information
identifying the plurality of measurements from a UE. For example,
the device may cause a plurality of UEs to perform a plurality of
measurements relating to the network, and provide information
identifying the plurality of measurements to permit the device to
identify a condition of the network (e.g., a radio link failure
condition). Additionally, or alternatively, the device may receive
the information identifying the plurality of measurements from an
access point (e.g., a base station or an eNB). For example, the
device may cause the access point to perform a plurality of
measurements and provide the plurality of measurements to the
device for processing. Additionally, or alternatively, the device
may cause a combination of UEs and access points to perform a
plurality of measurements, a component of the device to perform the
plurality of measurements, or the like.
[0090] As shown in FIG. 9, process 900 may include determining a
plurality of colors corresponding to the plurality of values of the
communication metric (block 920). For example, the device may
determine the plurality of colors corresponding to the plurality of
values of the communication metric. In some aspects, the device may
determine the plurality of colors for each of a plurality of color
channels of a color model. For example, when the device is
utilizing a red-green-blue (RGB) color model, the device may
identify a first red color for a red color channel, a second green
color for a green color channel, and a third blue color for a blue
color channel. In this case, each color, of the plurality of
colors, may represent a shade of a color channel, such as a shade
of red, a shade of green, or a shade of blue. In some aspects, the
device may utilize another color model, such as a CMYK color model,
a Pantone color model, a greyscale color model, or the like.
[0091] In some aspects, the plurality of color channels may be
associated with values for a plurality of time intervals. For
example, the device may select the red color for the red color
channel based at least in part on a value for the communication
metric at a first time interval (e.g., time T-2 seconds), the green
color for the green color channel based at least in part on a value
for the communication metric at a second time interval (e.g., time
T-1 second), and the blue color for the blue color channel based at
least in part on a value for the communication metric at a third
time interval (e.g., time T).
[0092] In some aspects, the device may normalize the plurality of
values to determine the plurality of colors. For example, the
device may normalize a value of the communication metric on a
scale, such as a 0 to 1 scale, a -1 to 1 scale, or the like,
relative to other values of the communication metric (e.g., other
values of the communication metric at other time intervals, other
potential values of the communication metric, or the like). In this
case, the device may select a shade of a color for a color channel
based at least in part on a normalized value of the value, such as
based at least in part on determining a value of a shade (e.g., on
a scale for the shade) that corresponds to the normalized value. In
some aspects, the device may normalize the plurality of values
using a scale, such as a linear scale, a non-linear scale (e.g., a
logarithmic scale or an exponential scale), or the like.
[0093] As shown in FIG. 9, process 900 may include combining the
plurality of colors to generate a composite color for the
communication metric (block 930). For example, the device may
combine the plurality of colors to generate the composite color for
the communication metric. In some aspects, the device may overlay
the plurality of colors using an additive procedure. For example,
the device may overlay a shade of red of a red color channel, a
shade of blue of a blue color channel, and a shade of green of a
green color channel, to generate the composite color for the
communication metric. In this case, the composite color for a time
interval may represent the communication metric at a plurality of
time intervals, such as a first time interval associated with the
red color channel, a second time interval associated with the blue
color channel, and a third time interval associated with the green
color channel. In other words, the composite color at a time
interval represents a trend of the communication metric at the time
interval.
[0094] In some aspects, the device may combine the plurality of
colors by adding a plurality of hexadecimal values representing the
plurality of colors. For example, the device may add a first
hexadecimal value of a first color representing a first value of
the communication metric at a first time interval, a second
hexadecimal value of a second color representing a second value of
the communication metric at a second time interval, and a third
hexadecimal value of a third color representing a third value of
the communication metric at a third time interval. In this case,
the device may identify a fourth hexadecimal value (e.g., a sum of
the first, second, and third hexadecimal vales) as the composite
color. In some aspects, the device may utilize another technique to
combine the plurality of colors, such as by averaging a plurality
of values associated with the plurality of colors (e.g., the
plurality of hexadecimal values) or another technique.
[0095] In some aspects, the device may provide the composite color
for processing. For example, the device may provide a plurality of
composite colors (e.g., representing the communication metric at a
plurality of time intervals, representing a plurality of
communication metrics at a time interval, or representing a
plurality of communication metrics at the plurality of time
intervals), including the composite color, to train a model to
identify a state of a network. In this case, the device may utilize
the model to identify a subsequent state of a network based at
least in part on a subsequently determined composite color, thereby
permitting network maintenance and optimization to be performed.
For example, the device may perform an image analysis of a
plurality of composite colors to match the plurality of composite
colors to a network state based on the model. In some aspects, the
device may provide the composite color for storage. For example,
the device may provide a plurality of composite colors for storage,
thereby reducing a storage requirement for a plurality of
communication metrics relative to another technique that stores
time-series or numeric data representing the plurality of
communication metrics.
[0096] Although FIG. 9 shows example blocks of process 900, in some
aspects, process 900 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks,
different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than those
depicted in FIG. 9. Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of
the blocks of process 900 may be performed in parallel.
[0097] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of an example process 1000 for
generating a composite color to represent a communication metric
and utilizing the composite color to identify a state of a network,
in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In
some aspects, one or more process blocks of FIG. 10 may be
performed by a device, such as base station 610, UE 615, or the
like. In some aspects, one or more process blocks of FIG. 10 may be
performed by another type of device, such as a network management
device, a SON device, or the like.
[0098] As shown in FIG. 10, process 1000 may include receiving
information identifying a plurality of measurements of a
communication metric related to a network at a plurality of time
intervals (block 1010). For example, a device may receive
information identifying the plurality of measurements of the
communication metric related to the network at the plurality of
time intervals. In some aspects, the device may receive the
information based at least in part on requesting the information.
For example, the device may request that one or more UEs, eNBs, or
the like provide information identifying the plurality of
measurements of the communication metric at the plurality of time
intervals to permit the device to determine a condition of a
network. In some aspects, the device may receive the information
identifying the plurality of measurements without requesting the
information. For example, periodically, a UE, an eNB, or the like
may transmit the information to the device without receiving a
request. Additionally, or alternatively, the UE maIn some aspects,
the device may receive information identifying values of a
plurality of communication metrics at the plurality of time
intervals.
[0099] As shown in FIG. 10, process 1000 may include determining a
plurality of colors corresponding to a plurality of values of the
communication metric (block 1020). For example, the device may
determine the plurality of colors corresponding to the plurality of
values of the communication metric. In some aspects, the device may
determine a plurality of colors for each time interval for which
the device receives a value of the plurality of values. For
example, the device may identify a first plurality of colors for a
first time interval, T=4 seconds, and a second plurality of colors
for a second time interval, T=5 seconds. In this case, the device
may determine a first red color for the first time interval
representing a value of the communication metric at T=2 seconds, a
first green color for the first time interval representing a value
of the communication metric at T=3 seconds, and a first blue color
for the first time interval representing a value of the
communication metric at T=4 seconds. Similarly, the device may
determine a second red color for the second time interval
representing the communication metric at T=3 seconds, a second
green color for the second time interval representing the
communication metric at T=4 seconds, and a second blue color for
the second time interval representing the communication metric at
T=5 seconds. In this way, the device determines a plurality of
colors, which are combined into a composite color, to represent a
change to the value of the communication metric over time at a time
interval.
[0100] In some aspects, the device may determine a color, of the
plurality of colors based on a value of the communication metric.
For example, the device may normalize the value of the
communication metric and determine a shade of a color channel
corresponding to the normalized value of the communication metric,
as described herein with regard to FIG. 9.
[0101] As shown in FIG. 10, process 1000 may include combining the
plurality of colors to generate a composite color for the
communication metric (block 1030). For example, the device may
combine the plurality of colors to generate the composite color for
the communication metric. In some aspects, the device may combine
colors of the plurality of colors to generate a plurality of
composite colors for the communication metric. For example, the
device may combine a first red color for a first time interval
representing a value of the communication metric at T=2 seconds, a
first green color for the first time interval representing a value
of the communication metric at T=3 seconds, and a first blue color
for the first time interval representing a value of the
communication metric at T=4 seconds to generate a first composite
color for the first time interval of T=4 seconds. Similarly, the
device may combine a second red color for a second time interval
representing the value of the communication metric at T=3 seconds,
a second green color for the second time interval representing the
value of the communication metric at T=4 seconds, and a second blue
color for the second time interval representing a value of the
communication metric at T=5 seconds to generate a second composite
color for the second time interval of T=5 seconds. In this way, the
device generates a plurality of composite colors each associated
with representing a change to the value of the communication metric
over time at a time interval.
[0102] In some aspects, the device may generate a plurality of
composite colors representing a plurality of communication metrics,
as described herein with regard to FIG. 9. For example, the device
may generate a first composite color representing an RSRP metric at
a first time interval, a second composite color representing the
RSRP metric at a second time interval, a third composite color
representing an RSRQ metric at the first time interval, and a
fourth composite color representing the RSRQ metric at the second
time interval. In some aspects, the device may combine the
plurality of composite colors to generate an image representing the
network. For example, the device may combine the plurality of
composite colors representing a plurality of communication metrics
at a plurality of time intervals into an image, and may utilize the
image to represent a state of a network.
[0103] As shown in FIG. 10, process 1000 may include providing
information identifying the composite color for processing using a
machine learning technique to train a model (block 1040). For
example, the device may provide the information identifying the
composite color for processing using the machine learning technique
to train the model. In some aspects, the device may provide the
information identifying the composite color for processing using a
type of machine learning technique. For example, the device may
provide information identifying a plurality of composite colors
(e.g., one or more images representing one or more states of one or
more networks) for processing utilizing a deep learning network
technique, such as a neural tensor network technique, a
convolutional neural network technique, or the like. In some
aspects, the device may utilize an image processing technique. For
example, the device may provide an image representing a state of a
network for processing using an image processing technique, such as
a computer vision technique, a neural network technique, or the
like to train the model to identify the state of the network
associated with the image.
[0104] In this way, based at least in part on representing a state
of a network using a plurality of composite colors, a need to
develop a customized machine learning solution is obviated relative
to representing the state of the network using raw data from a
modem, such as numeric data, time series data, or the like, thereby
reducing cost, utilization of processing resources, and/or
utilization of time resources associated with training the model.
Moreover, deep learning network techniques may be poorly optimized
for time-series or numeric data relative to image data. In this
way, by utilizing a composite color representation of communication
metrics, the device permits improved utilization of deep learning
network techniques to identify the state of the network relative to
maintaining the communication metrics as time-series or numeric
data.
[0105] As shown in FIG. 10, process 1000 may include utilizing the
model to identify a pattern associated with the communication
metric (block 1050). For example, the device may utilize the model
to identify the pattern associated with the communication metric.
In some aspects, the device may generate another plurality of
composite colors to utilize the model. For example, subsequent to
training the model to identify a state of a network based at least
in part on an image of a plurality of composite colors representing
a plurality of communication metrics, the device may determine
another plurality of composite colors representing a state of a
network. In this case, the device may utilize the model to
determine a state of the network associated with the plurality of
composite colors. In some aspects, the device may alter a network
configuration based at least in part on utilizing the model to
identify the pattern. For example, based at least in part on
predicting a radio link failure using the model, the device may
transmit information identifying a configuration parameter to alter
a configuration of a network device, such as a UE, an eNB, or the
like to improve performance of the network based at least in part
on identifying the state of the network.
[0106] Although FIG. 10 shows example blocks of process 1000, in
some aspects, process 1000 may include additional blocks, fewer
blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than those
depicted in FIG. 10. Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of
the blocks of process 1000 may be performed in parallel.
[0107] Techniques described herein may be used to generate a
composite color to represent a communication metric associated with
a network. In this way, a utilization of computing resources
associated with communicating a plurality of communication metrics,
storing a plurality of communication metrics, or identifying a
state of a network based at least in part on a plurality of
communication metrics is reduced relative to utilizing raw data
regarding the plurality of communication metrics.
[0108] The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and
description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the
aspects to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations
are possible in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired
from practice of the aspects.
[0109] As used herein, the term component is intended to be broadly
construed as hardware, firmware, or a combination of hardware and
software. As used herein, a processor is implemented in hardware,
firmware, or a combination of hardware and software.
[0110] Some aspects are described herein in connection with
thresholds. As used herein, satisfying a threshold may refer to a
value being greater than the threshold, greater than or equal to
the threshold, less than the threshold, less than or equal to the
threshold, equal to the threshold, not equal to the threshold, or
the like.
[0111] It will be apparent that systems and/or methods, described
herein, may be implemented in different forms of hardware,
firmware, or a combination of hardware and software. The actual
specialized control hardware or software code used to implement
these systems and/or methods is not limiting of the aspects. Thus,
the operation and behavior of the systems and/or methods were
described herein without reference to specific software code--it
being understood that software and hardware can be designed to
implement the systems and/or methods based at least in part on the
description herein.
[0112] Even though particular combinations of features are recited
in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification, these
combinations are not intended to limit the disclosure of possible
aspects. In fact, many of these features may be combined in ways
not specifically recited in the claims and/or disclosed in the
specification. Although each dependent claim listed below may
directly depend on only one claim, the disclosure of possible
aspects includes each dependent claim in combination with every
other claim in the claim set. A phrase referring to "at least one
of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items,
including single members. As an example, "at least one of: a, b, or
c" is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a,
b and c.
[0113] No element, act, or instruction used herein should be
construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as
such. Also, as used herein, the articles "a" and "an" are intended
to include one or more items, and may be used interchangeably with
"one or more." Furthermore, as used herein, the terms "set" and
"group" are intended to include one or more items (e.g., related
items, unrelated items, etc.), and may be used interchangeably with
"one or more." Where only one item is intended, the term "one" or
similar language is used. Also, as used herein, the terms "has,"
"have," "having," or the like are intended to be open-ended terms.
Further, the phrase "based on" is intended to mean "based, at least
in part, on" unless explicitly stated otherwise.
* * * * *