Optimum network performance improvement solutions selection systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11146974-B2
Application number	US-201916730594-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 30, 2019
Priority date	Aug 1, 2019
Publication date	Oct 12, 2021
Grant date	Oct 12, 2021

Abstract

Systems and methods for computing a standardized composite gain metric value for each solution that has been previously deployed to fix degradation issues at cell sites or other wireless nodes is disclosed. The method selects a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), each of which is highly correlated to customer experience. For example, the method selects the following KPIs: traffic, numbers of users, Physical Resource Block (PRB) utilization, Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), throughput, and so on. The method then assigns a weight to each KPI, such that the weight reflects each KPI's relative importance and ensures that the KPIs are not double counted. For each solution deployed at a cell site, the method computes values of the following composite gain metrics: weighted gain and offload index. The method then can rank the solutions based on the computed composite gain metric values so that an optimum solution can be selected.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium, excluding transitory signals and containing instructions, that when executed by a processor, performs operations for identifying network performance improvement solutions to be deployed at nodes in a telecommunications service network, the operations comprising:
for at least one network performance improvement solution in a set of network performance improvement solutions:
for at least one key performance indicator associated with the at least one network performance improvement solution:
computing a gain percentage value based on a difference between a key performance indicator value before the network performance improvement solution was deployed at a telecommunications network site, and a key performance indicator value after the network performance improvement solution was deployed at the telecommunications network site;
computing a weighted gain value for the key performance indicator based on the computed gain percentage value for the key performance indicator; and

automatically generating a weighted gain value for the network performance improvement solution using the computed weighted gain value for the at least one key performance indicator associated with the at least one network performance improvement solution;

prioritizing network performance improvement solutions in the set of network performance improvement solutions using the automatically generated weighted gain values for the network performance improvement solutions; and
automatically identifying an optimum network performance improvement solution to be implemented at at least one node in the telecommunications service network based on the prioritized network performance improvement solutions.

2. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the at least one key performance indictor is selected from a group comprising:
traffic,
number of users,
Physical Resource Block (PRB) utilization,
Channel Quality Indicator (CQI),
throughput,
carrier aggregation,
advanced Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM),
cost of deploying a network performance improvement solution,
cost of maintaining the network performance improvement solution,
expected lifetime of the network performance improvement solution,
duration of deploying the network performance improvement solution,
lifetime of the network performance improvement solution,
efficacy of the network performance improvement solution, or
any combination thereof.

3. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the optimum network performance improvement solution is further identified based on one or more of the following:
location of the at least one node,
lease information of the at least one node,
duration of deployment of the network performance improvement solution,
entitlements and permits required to deploy the network performance improvement solution,
tower height,
nearest available node,
population served by the at least one node,
households served by the at least one node,
rent cost associated with the network performance improvement solution,
backhaul availability,
or any combination thereof.

4. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
automatically identifying the at least one key performance indicator from a set of performance indicators based on a correlation of each performance indicator with customer experience.

5. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the weighted gain values for the at least one key performance indicator associated with the at least one network performance improvement solution is generated by:
automatically generating the gain percentage value for the at least one key performance indicator reflecting a gain achieved by deploying the at least one network performance improvement solution at the at least one node; and
automatically generating the weighted gain percentage value for the at least one key performance indicator using the automatically generated gain percentage value and reflecting a relative importance of the at least one key performance indicator among other key performance indicators associated with the at least one network performance improvement solution.

6. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
automatically generating a weight for the at least one key performance indicator reflecting a relative importance of the at least one key performance indicator among other key performance indicators associated with the at least one network performance improvement solution.

7. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the set of network performance improvement solutions comprises:
cell split,
small cell deployment,
spectrum addition,
spectrum removal,
sector addition,
sector removal, or
any combination thereof.

8. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium, excluding transitory signals and containing instructions, that when executed by a processor, performs operations for identifying network performance improvement solutions to be deployed at nodes in a telecommunications service network, the operations comprising:
for at least one network performance improvement solution in a set of network performance improvement solutions:
for at least one key performance indicator associated with the at least one network performance improvement solution:
computing an offloaded units metric value based on a difference between a key performance indicator value before the network performance improvement solution was deployed at the telecommunications network site and a key performance indicator value after the network performance improvement solution was deployed at the telecommunications network site; and
computing an offload index value for the key performance indicator based on the computed offloaded units metric value for the key performance indicator; and

automatically generating an offload index value for the network performance improvement solution using the computed offload index values for the at least one key performance indicator associated with the at least one network performance improvement solution;

prioritizing network performance improvement solutions in the set of network performance improvement solutions using the automatically generated offlod index values for each network performance improvement solution; and
automatically identifying an optimum network performance improvement solution to be implemented at at least one node in the telecommunications service network based on the prioritized network performance improvement solutions.

9. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the at least one key performance indicator is selected from a group comprising:
traffic,
number of users,
Physical Resource Block (PRB) utilization,
Channel Quality Indicator (CQI),
throughput,
carrier aggregation,
advanced Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM),
cost of deploying a network performance improvement solution,
cost of maintaining the network performance improvement solution,
expected lifetime of the network performance improvement solution,
duration of deploying the network performance improvement solution,
lifetime of the network performance improvement solution,
efficacy of the network performance improvement solution, or
any combination thereof.

10. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the optimum network performance improvement soluti

Assignees

• T Mobile Usa Inc

Inventors

• Jat Khrum Kashan
• Mahdaoui Ahmed
• Kondapally Spoorthy
• Escudero Otto Fonseca
• Dousson Gary

Classifications

• H04W16/18 Primary

  Network planning tools · CPC title

• H04W24/04

  Arrangements for maintaining operational condition · CPC title

• H04W24/02 Primary

  Arrangements for optimising operational condition · CPC title

• H04W24/08

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

• H04W24/06

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