Systems and methods for coordinating the coverage and capacity of a wireless base station

Abstract

A communications base station is installed at a selected new location and the base station, prior to going “on line” monitors the wireless traffic from other base stations within interference range of the new base station's coverage area. The new base station also monitors the wireless traffic between mobile devices within its coverage area and these other base stations. Based upon these monitored conditions, as well as other known conditions, the new base station then determines the transmitting parameter configuration it should imply in order to achieve a desired optimization between capacity and coverage area. After the new base station is on line, a central control can monitor the entire network to determine if any additional changes are necessary and if so the new transceiver, or any other transceiver, can be instructed to monitor itself with respect to interference and to take corrective action to improve overall network coverage and capacity.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for adding a new base station to a wireless communication network, said network providing wireless communications to a coverage area of said network, said network having multiple base stations, said method comprising:
 sampling, for a period of time, at said new base station upon activation thereof and before said new base station comes on-line, existing transmission data to and from said multiple base stations within a coverage area of said new base station;   deriving, under control of said new base station, a set of transmission parameters calculated to achieve criteria established for said new base station, said set of transmission parameters including frequency channels, said deriving of said set of transmission parameters being based on said sampling of said existing transmission data; and   sending, under control of said new base station, an adjustment command to at least one base station of said multiple base stations changing at least one of a power level, a frequency, and a mode of operation of said at least one base station of said multiple base stations.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 adjusting said deriving of said set of transmission parameters after said activation of said new base station using said set of transmission parameters to take into account anomalies caused by said activation of said new base station.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said frequency channels is at least one of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) subchannels and orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) subchannels. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said anomalies are selected from the list comprising: traffic increases, traffic balances, data losses experienced, increase in call drops, and increase in interference levels. 
     
     
         5 . A wireless communication system, said system comprising:
 at least one established transceiver for bi-directional communication between said at least one established transceiver and a plurality of mobile devices within a transmission area of said at least one established transceiver; and   a newly added transceiver positioned at a location such that a transmission area of said newly added transceiver overlaps, at least partially, with said transmission area of said at least one established transceiver, said newly added transceiver comprising:
 a controller configured to:
 select transmission parameters of said newly added transceiver to achieve a desired coverage criteria, said transmission parameters of said newly added transceiver including frequency channels, said selection of said transmission parameters of said newly added transceiver being based on transmission data measured from said bi-directional communication between said at least one established transceiver and said plurality of mobile devices within said transmission area of said at least one established transceiver; and 
 send an adjustment command to said at least one established transceiver changing at least one of a power level, a frequency, and a mode of operation of said at least one established transceiver. 
 
   
     
     
         6 . The wireless communication system of  claim 5 , wherein said controller of said newly added transceiver is further configured to bring said newly added transceiver online using said transmission parameters of said newly added transceiver. 
     
     
         7 . The wireless communication system o  claim 6 , wherein said at least one established transceiver comprises:
 a controller configured to:
 adjust, after said newly added transceiver is online, transmission parameters of said at least one established transceiver based on said transmission data measured from said bi-directional communication within an overlap transmission area of said newly added transceiver and said at least one established transceiver. 
   
     
     
         8 . The wireless communication system of  claim 6 , wherein said controller of said newly added transceiver is further configured to:
 store said transmission data from said bi-directional communication; and   change said transmission parameters to match anticipated transmissions within an overlap transmission area of said newly added transceiver and said at least one established transceiver, said transmissions within said overlap transmission area of said newly added transceiver and said at least one established transceiver being based on said transmission data measured from said bi-directional communication.   
     
     
         9 . The wireless communication system of  claim 5 , wherein said frequency channels is at least one of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) subchannels and orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) subchannels. 
     
     
         10 . A newly added base station in a wireless communication network, said network providing wireless communications to a coverage area of said network, said network having multiple base stations, said newly added base station comprising:
 a controller configured to:
 sample, for a period of time, at said newly added base station upon activation thereof and before said newly added base station comes on-line, existing transmission data to and from said multiple base stations within a coverage area of said newly added base station; 
 derive, under control of said newly added base station, a set of transmission parameters calculated to achieve criteria established for said newly added base station, said set of transmission parameters including frequency channels, said derivation of said set of transmission parameters being based on said sample of said existing transmission data; and 
 send, under control of said newly added base station, an adjustment command to at least one base station of said multiple base stations changing at least one of a power level, a frequency, and a mode of operation of said at least one base station of said multiple base stations. 
   
     
     
         11 . The newly added base station of  claim 10 , wherein said controller is further configured to:
 adjust said derivation of said set of transmission parameters after said activation of said newly added base station using said set of transmission parameters to take into account anomalies caused by said activation of said newly added base station.   
     
     
         12 . The newly added base station of  claim 11 , wherein said anomalies are selected from the list comprising: traffic increases, traffic balances, data losses experienced, increase in call drops, and increase in interference levels. 
     
     
         13 . The newly added base station of  claim 10 , wherein said frequency channels is at least one of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) subchannels and orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) subchannels.