Systems and methods for determining and optimizing performance of wireless networks having multiple access points

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10645593-B2
Application number	US-201715487147-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 13, 2017
Priority date	Apr 15, 2016
Publication date	May 5, 2020
Grant date	May 5, 2020

Abstract

A system for determining and optimizing wireless network performance of a network having at least two access points comprises a plurality of wireless instruments configured to send, receive, and measure received wireless signals in a monitored area. The system further comprises a master controller in communication with the wireless instruments to form a distributed wireless network testing solution. The master controller is configured to send wireless signals to and receive wireless signals from the wireless instruments, measure the received wireless signals, and perform an analysis of the wireless signals to determine a radio frequency environment performance of the distributed wireless network based at least in part on the wireless signals.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for determining and optimizing wireless network performance of a wireless network having a plurality of access points in a deployment environment, comprising:
a master controller configured to:
determine initial placements for each access point of a plurality of access points based on signal coverage;
determine initial channel assignments for each access point of the plurality of access points based on pairs of access points sharing a channel;
receive wireless signal measurements from a plurality of test-dedicated, test-stationary wireless instruments based at least in part on the initial placements and the initial channel assignments;
perform an analysis of the wireless signal measurements to determine a radio frequency environment performance of the wireless network based at least in part on the wireless signal measurements from the plurality of test-stationary wireless instruments; and
adjust at least one parameter for at least one access point based at least in part on the radio frequency environment performance.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one parameter includes a channel assignment for the at least one access point.

3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a user interface device in communication with the master controller, the user interface device configured to generate reports to indicate the radio frequency environment performance of the wireless network.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein:
the user interface device is further configured to receive network access credentials and provide them to the master controller; and
the master controller is further configured to provide the network access credentials to each of the at least one wireless instruments.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the master controller is configured to receive wireless signal measurements from a plurality of wireless instruments based at least in part on the initial placements and the initial channel assignments.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the master controller is configured to receive information based on analysis performed by the plurality of wireless instruments.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of wireless instruments do independent analysis of the quality of the radio frequency environment.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of wireless instruments are configured to emulate data-receiving or transmitting properties of a variety of wireless devices.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one parameter includes a location for the at least one access point.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one parameter includes a suggested location for all of the access points in the plurality.

11. A system for determining and optimizing wireless network performance of a network having a plurality of access points in a deployment environment, comprising:
a master controller;
a user interface device;
at least one static wireless instrument communicatively coupled to an access point of the plurality of access points and configured to:
emulate data-receiving or transmitting properties of a wireless device intended for deployment;
measure wireless signals to and from the access point to obtain wireless signal measurements;
perform analysis based on the wireless signal measurements; and
communicate the analysis performed to the master controller;
wherein the master controller is configured to:
determine initial values for at least one parameter for each access point of the plurality of access points;
communicate the initial values for the least one parameter for each access point of the plurality of access points to the user interface device for display;
receive wireless signal measurements from the at least one wireless instrument based at least in part on the parameters for the plurality of access points;
perform an analysis of the wireless signal measurements to determine a radio frequency environment performance of the wireless network based at least in part on the analysis made by the at least one wireless instrument;
communicate the radio frequency environment performance to the user interface device for display;
adjust at least one parameter for at least one access point based at least in part on the radio frequency environment performance; and
wherein the user interface device is configured to:
display the initial values for the least one parameter for each access point of the plurality of access points;
make a relocation suggestion regarding the at least one access point and
display a visual representation of the radio frequency environment performance.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the user interface device is part of the master controller.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein
the user interface is further configured to:
receive, from a user, a constraint on a determined initial location for an access point of the plurality of access points;
present, to the user, an updated location for the access point; and
the master controller is further configured to:
determine an updated location for the access point based at least in part on the received constraint.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the initial values for at least one parameter for each access point of the plurality of access points comprise an initial location for each access point, an initial transmit power for each access point, and an initial channel assignment for each access point.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the visual representation of the radio frequency environment performance includes a heat map of a quality-of-experience metric over the deployment environment.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein the suggested relocation is made for all of the access points in the plurality.

17. A system for evaluating a deployment for a plurality of access-points (APs) into a network environment, the system, comprising:
a test-dedicated, deployable master controller configured to:
determine initial placements for each access point in the plurality of access points based on signal coverage;
determine initial channel assignments for each access point of the plurality;
receive wireless signal measurements from a plurality of static test-dedicated wireless devices;
perform an analysis of wireless signal measurements in the network environment to determine a performance of the wireless network based at least in part on the wireless signal measurements from the plurality of stationary wireless instruments; and;
the master controller further configured to both: (i) suggest a change in any of the initial channel assignments; and (ii) provide relocation suggestions for each access point in the plurality.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein each wireless instrument in the plurality of wireless instruments is configured to emulate the wireless functional characteristics of a particular sort of wireless device.

Assignees

• Greenlee Textron Inc
• Tempo Communications Inc

Inventors

• Barmettler Mark
• Butchko Jason Edward

Classifications

• H04W16/02

  Resource partitioning among network components, e.g. reuse partitioning · CPC title

• H04W24/02 Primary

  Arrangements for optimising operational condition · CPC title

• H04W88/08

  Access point devices · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04W24/08

  Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic · CPC title