System, method, and apparatus for portable design, deployment, test, and optimization of a communication network

Abstract

A system and method which employ one or more portable hand held computers and one or more servers, allows a field engineer to complete the entire design, deployment, test, optimization, and maintenance cycle required to implement successful communications networks. The portable hand held computer provides the user with a three-dimensional display of the physical environment in which a communications network will be deployed or optimized. The engineer may take the portable hand held computer into the field, and make alterations to the components, position of the components, orientation of the components, etc. based on on-site inspection. As these alterations to the computerized model are made, predictions for the effects these changes will have on the communications network are displayed to the engineer. Measurements may also be made using equipment connected to or contained in the portable hand held computer, and these measurements may be used to optimize performance criteria. Information can be transmitted to and from the portable hand held computer and the server to allow for complex processing to be performed using portable computer. The system allows the engineer to remain in the field while deploying the communications network, making measurements within the network, receiving optimized predictions on the performance of the network, re-configuring the communications network and associated components, and repeating the entire cycle to achieve maximum possible performance with minimal required time or effort.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The invention generally relates to a miniature portable system for design, deployment, test, and optimization of a communications system, such as an indoor or campus-wide wireless or wired communication network. A handheld computing platform is used for the collection and display of communication signal properties, the manipulation of communication system components in a communications network design, and the prediction and optimization of communication systems during design, deployment, or maintenance operations. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] In recent years the use of wireless communication technology, such as cellular phone networks, has greatly increased. Moreover, it has become common to implement wireless communication systems within buildings or large facilities comprising several buildings. Examples of typical wireless communication systems are local area networks (LAN), wide area networks ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides a system for designing and modeling communication systems in real-time using a computer program. The system allows for the placement and movement of various components in a virtual environment, and the visualization of their impact on overall system performance. The system can also be used to predict the performance of the system in different locations and to optimize its performance. The invention also includes a handheld computer with a display and measurement capabilities, which can be used to on-site manipulate the model and obtain valuable information for optimizing the system. The system can also represent complex 3D vector databases of buildings and campsuses, allowing for the selection and placement of components in real-time."

Problems solved by technology

Due to the increasingly diverse applications of wireless communication systems, system designs have become increasingly complicated and difficult to implement.

However, measurement acquisition within in-building environments is much more tedious and time consuming than in the macrocellular environment where measurement acquisition is carried out using Global Positioning System data to determine the location of the measurement being taken.

Global Positioning System (GPS) data, which so many RF engineers have come to rely upon for outdoor measurement acquisition, is not an option for microcell environments.

Therefore, recording real-time measurement data within a building becomes a laborious, time-consuming task involving scratched notes and blueprints and manual data entry which are both expensive and ineffectual in many respects.

While the above-mentioned design and verification tools have aided wireless system designers in creating indoor wireless communication systems using building drawings and linking data measurements to building drawings, none of the devices, except for InFielder™ and Predictor™, incorporate three-dimensional building drawings to enhance the design process.

Further, the above-mentioned devices and systems lack the ability to track a roving user while autonomously or passively measuring or collecting network performance data while uploading or downloading the data to a remote monitoring location.

These products do not address the complexities of the three dimensional world of in-building systems, which is significantly more difficult to model and visualize due to multiple stories or unique three dimensional features.

Furthermore, these products only allow viewing and retrieval, and do not permit on-site or remote adjustment and manipulation of modeled features.

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