Facilitating heterogeneous network analysis and resource planning for advanced networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11445379-B2
Application number	US-202017037095-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2020
Priority date	Sep 29, 2020
Publication date	Sep 13, 2022
Grant date	Sep 13, 2022

Abstract

Facilitating analysis and resource planning for advanced heterogeneous networks (e.g., 5G, 6G, and beyond) is provided herein. A system is provided that includes a processor and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations. The operations can include determining that a resource is to be added to existing resources at a grid level of a heterogeneous network. Further, the operations can include selecting candidate locations for placement of the resource based on a coverage-driven objective and a capacity-driven objective defined for the heterogeneous network. The coverage-driven objective can be associated with a demand for services within the grid level of the heterogeneous network. The capacity-driven objective can be associated with demand growth within the grid level of the heterogeneous network. The resource can be a fifth generation millimeter wave node or a cloud radio access network node.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
determining, by a system comprising a memory and a processor, candidate locations for placement of a resource within a defined grid area associated with a communication network based on a determination that a demand for services within the defined grid area exceeds a coverage capability of the defined grid area,
wherein the resource is selected from a group of resources consisting of a cloud radio access network node and a fifth generation millimeter wave node that communicates according to a fifth generation millimeter wave protocol, and
wherein the determining comprises:
determining a load weighted coverage score of the defined grid area based on the placement of the resource, and
selecting the placement of the resource based on the load weighted coverage score satisfying a predefined threshold; and
facilitating, by the system, the placement of the resource within the defined grid area, wherein the placement of the resource is determined to satisfy the demand for services and is based on the candidate locations.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining comprises:
receiving, by the system, one or more conditions identified for the defined grid area; and
transforming, by the system, the one or more conditions into input data for a mixed integer programming model, wherein the input data comprises at least one constraint of the mixed integer programming model and at least one objective of the mixed integer programming model.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resource is the cloud radio access network node, and wherein the facilitating comprises retaining a traffic load weighted coverage score of the defined grid area below a threshold load weighted coverage score level.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resource is the fifth generation millimeter wave node, and wherein the facilitating comprises retaining a fifth generation traffic load weighted coverage score of the defined grid area below a threshold load weighted coverage score level.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resource is the cloud radio access network node, and wherein the load weighted coverage score is selected to retain a quantity of cloud radio access network nodes located in the defined grid area below a defined quantity.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resource is the fifth generation millimeter wave node, and wherein the load weighted coverage score is selected to restrict a quantity of fifth generation millimeter wave nodes in the defined grid area below a defined quantity.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining comprises:
using, by the system, a mixed integer programming model built to solve resource placement issues in a communications network, wherein the mixed integer programming model considers short term planning and long term planning for the defined grid area.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
rendering, by the system, an indication of the candidate locations for the placement of the resource within the defined grid area on a display area of a user equipment.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
prior to the determining, determining, by the system, that a number of dropped communications within the defined grid area exceeds a defined dropped communication level.

10. A method, comprising:
determining, by a system comprising a memory and a processor, candidate locations for positioning a resource within a grid area associated with a communications network based on a determination that demand for services exceeds a current capability of the communications network within the grid area, wherein the resource is one of a cloud radio access network node and a fifth generation millimeter wave node that communicate according to a fifth generation millimeter wave protocol, wherein the determining comprises:
selecting the positioning of the resource based on a load weighted coverage score of the grid area satisfying a predefined threshold, wherein the load weighted coverage score is determined based on the positioning of the resource; and

facilitating, by the system, the positioning of the resource within the grid area based on the candidate locations, wherein the positioning of the resource comprises offloading network traffic from an existing resource to the resource.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the communications network is a heterogeneous network, and wherein the existing resource is a macrocell, and wherein the offloading of the network traffic comprises offloading the network traffic from the macrocell to the cloud radio access network node associated with the communications network.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the offloading comprises avoiding a carrier split within the communications network.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the offloading comprises maintaining a number of carriers for the communications network.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the communications network is a heterogeneous network, wherein the existing resource is a macrocell, wherein the demand for services is classified as fifth generation services, and wherein the offloading of the network traffic comprises offloading the network traffic from the macrocell to the fifth generation millimeter wave node.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising, prior to the facilitating, evaluating, by the system, a value associated with the positioning, wherein the facilitating is performed based on the value satisfying a function with respect to a defined value.

16. A system, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
determining that a resource is to be added to existing resources at a grid level of a network, wherein the resource is selected from a group of resources consisting of a cloud radio access network node and a fifth generation millimeter wave node; and
selecting candidate locations for placement of the resource based on a coverage-driven objective and a capacity-driven objective defined for the network, wherein the coverage-driven objective is associated with a demand for services within the grid level of the network, and
wherein the capacity-driven objective is associated with demand growth within the grid level of the network, and
wherein the selecting the candidate locations comprises selecting the candidate locations based on a load weighted coverage score of the grid level of the network being determined to satisfy a predefined threshold, and
wherein the load weighted coverage score is determined based on the candidate locations.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the selecting comprises:
determining a solution to the coverage-driven objective and the capacity-driven objective using a mixed integer programming model and based on a design configuration defined for the network, wherein the network is a heterogeneous network; and
applying a programming approach to determine the placement of the resource.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the fifth generation millimeter wave node communicates according to a fifth generation millimeter wave protocol.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the load weighted coverage score is selected to restrict a quantity of fifth generation millimeter wave nodes in the grid level of the network below a defined quantity.

20. The system of claim 16 , wherein the load weighted coverage score is selected to retain a quantity of cloud radio access network nodes located i

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• Chen Jie
• Yang Yuning
• Wan Zhen
• Zhao Wenjie

Classifications

• H04W16/18 Primary

  Network planning tools · CPC title

• H04W28/0247 Primary

  based on conditions of the access network or the infrastructure network (central resource management H04W28/16) · CPC title