Optimizing coverage of infrastructure equipment utilizing network density information

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10499257-B2
Application number	US-201815948726-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 9, 2018
Priority date	Dec 30, 2016
Publication date	Dec 3, 2019
Grant date	Dec 3, 2019

Abstract

Traditional configuration of infrastructure equipment relates to the adjustment of horizontal tilt for antennas. Given the potential overlap of infrastructure equipment, varying tilt angles can result in either interference with nearby equipment (“over-tilt”) or reduced coverage areas within a specific infrastructure equipment (“under-tilt”). A tool for determining appropriate tilt angles for infrastructure antennas across a mobile network is provided. The tool automatically determines a range of tilt angles between a selected source antenna and adjacent antennas and optimizes based on a threshold intersecting point. Additionally, the tool can update calculated tilt angles based on network congestion information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
identifying a target infrastructure equipment, wherein the target infrastructure equipment is associated with an antenna height;
identifying one or more adjacent infrastructure equipment;
determining, based at least in part on the antenna height associated with the target infrastructure equipment, a relative height of the one or more adjacent infrastructure equipment;
determining a relative distance between the target infrastructure equipment and the one or more adjacent infrastructure equipment;
determining, based at least in part on the relative height and the relative distance, a lower bound for intersecting signals between the target infrastructure equipment and the one or more adjacent infrastructure equipment;
determining, based at least in part on the relative height and the relative distance, an upper bound for intersecting signals between the target infrastructure equipment and the one or more adjacent infrastructure equipment;
obtaining network density information indicative of geographic proximity between the target infrastructure equipment and one or more mobile devices;
selecting a tilt angle for the target infrastructure equipment based at least in part on the upper bound, the lower bound, and the geographic proximity between the target infrastructure equipment and the one or more mobile devices; and
causing a configuration of the target infrastructure equipment based at least in part on the tilt angle.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the tilt angle is associated with a direction of radio signals associated with the target infrastructure equipment on a geographic area associated with the one or more mobile devices.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the network density information is indicative of data throughput of the one or more mobile devices.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein selecting a tilt angle for the target infrastructure equipment based at least in part on the upper bound, the lower bound, and the geographic proximity between the target infrastructure equipment and the one or more mobile devices includes selecting the tilt angle based at least in part on the network density information indicative of data throughput of the one or more mobile devices.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising determining that the network density information satisfies a threshold, wherein selecting a tilt angle for the target infrastructure equipment is responsive to the determination that the network density information exceeds a threshold.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein selecting a tilt angle for the target infrastructure equipment further includes selecting the tilt angle based at least in part on terrain information.

7. A system comprising:
a data store configured to store computer-executable instructions; and
a processor in communication with the data store, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to:
identify, for a selected infrastructure equipment associated with an antenna height, one or more adjacent infrastructure equipment;
determine, based at least in part on a relative height and distance between the selected infrastructure equipment and the one or more adjacent infrastructure equipment, a tilt angle range for the selected infrastructure equipment;
obtain network density information indicative of relative proximity between the selected infrastructure equipment and one or more mobile devices;
select, based at least in part on the tilt angle range and the relative proximity between the selected infrastructure equipment and the one or more mobile devices, a tilt angle for the selected infrastructure equipment; and
cause transmission of a configuration of the selected infrastructure equipment based at least in part on the tilt angle.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the tilt angle range is determined based at least in part on a configuration limitation associated with the selected infrastructure equipment.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the configuration limitation comprises at least one of a mechanical tilt angle limit, a known interference source, or historical information regarding a previously selected tilt angle.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine, based at least in part on a characteristic of the selected infrastructure equipment, that the selected infrastructure equipment is available for configuration.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the characteristic is that the selected infrastructure equipment is operable to cause instruction to change the tilt angle in response to receiving the configuration.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the tilt angle is selected based at least in part on a weather condition at a location of the selected infrastructure equipment.

13. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
obtain updated network density information indicative of updated relative proximity between the selected infrastructure equipment and the one or more mobile devices;
select, based at least in part on the tilt angle range and the updated relative proximity between the selected infrastructure equipment and the one or more mobile devices, an updated tilt angle for the selected infrastructure equipment; and
cause transmission of an updated configuration of the selected infrastructure equipment based at least in part on the updated tilt angle.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, configure the processor to:
determine, based at least in part on a relative height and distance between a target infrastructure equipment and one or more adjacent infrastructure equipment, a tilt angle range for the target infrastructure equipment;
select, based at least in part on the tilt angle range and network density information indicative of relative proximity between the target infrastructure equipment and one or more mobile devices, a tilt angle for the target infrastructure equipment; and
cause configuration of the target infrastructure equipment in accordance with the tilt angle.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the tilt angle range is determined based at least in part on a tilt angle of the one or more adjacent infrastructure equipment.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
obtain an indication of an updated tilt angle of the one or more adjacent infrastructure equipment;
select, based at least in part on the updated tilt angle of the one or more adjacent infrastructure equipment, an updated tilt angle for the target infrastructure equipment; and
cause configuration of the target infrastructure equipment in accordance with the updated tilt angle.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine, based at least in part on the updated tilt angle of the one or more adjacent infrastructure equipment, an updated tilt angle range for the target infrastructure equipment.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the updated tilt angle of the target infrastructure equipment is selected based at least in part on the updated tilt angle range.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14

Assignees

• T Mobile Usa Inc

Inventors

• Nolan Patrick
• Berrier Robert

Classifications

• H04W28/0284

  detecting congestion or overload during communication (monitoring arrangements H04L43/00) · CPC title

• H04W16/28 Primary

  using beam steering · CPC title

• H04W16/18

  Network planning tools · CPC title

• H04B17/345 Primary

  Interference values ({signal-to-interference ratio [SIR] or carrier-to-interference ratio [CIR]} H04B17/336) · CPC title

• H04B17/318

  Received signal strength · CPC title