Augmented Reality Overlay for Wireless Access Point Service Metrics

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Solution Overview

Problem

Individuals face difficulties in locating and identifying suitable wireless signaling access points and assessing their quality, especially in new areas, due to unfamiliarity with locations and uncertainty about the capabilities of access points to meet their wireless service demands.

Innovation Solution

An augmented reality system that uses service coverage information collected from wireless access points to visually represent service metrics, such as signal strength and download speed, overlaid on a real-world context, allowing users to select the best access points based on performance and availability.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If an individual attempts to locate and assess wireless access points in a new area, then service selection capability is improved, but time consumption and operational difficulty increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveservice selection capabilityVSAvoidtime to locate and assess access points

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by pre-collecting and storing service coverage information from multiple wireless access points before the user needs it. The augmented reality environment pre-processes and organizes this data, so when the user enters a new area, the information is already prepared and ready for immediate display, eliminating the need for real-time searching and assessment.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The augmented reality system acts as an intermediary between the user and the physical wireless access points. Instead of directly searching for and assessing access points, the user interacts with the AR overlay that mediates this information, presenting processed service coverage data in an intuitive visual format that simplifies the selection process.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If an individual attempts to locate and assess wireless access points in a new area, then service selection capability is improved, but operational complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveservice selection capabilityVSAvoiddifficulty of locating and assessing access points

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The augmented reality system serves as an intermediary that translates complex wireless network data into simple, intuitive visual representations. The system handles the complexity of collecting, processing, and analyzing service coverage information from multiple access points, while the user only needs to view the AR overlay to make informed decisions, significantly reducing operational difficulty.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system replaces manual mechanical searching and assessment processes with an automated electronic system. Instead of physically moving to test access points or manually checking network parameters, the augmented reality system automatically collects and displays service coverage information, substituting complex manual operations with streamlined electronic processing and visual presentation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

3Measurement precision

If service coverage information is collected and processed in real-time, then information accuracy is improved, but processing time and energy consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveservice coverage information accuracyVSAvoidenergy consumption for data processing

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs data collection and processing in advance, storing service coverage information before it is needed. By pre-processing the information and organizing it in advance, the system eliminates the need for energy-intensive real-time processing when the user is actively using the application, thereby reducing energy consumption while maintaining information accuracy.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system optimizes information processing by focusing on local relevance. Instead of processing all available service coverage data uniformly, the augmented reality system filters and prioritizes information based on the user's current location and context, processing only the locally relevant data that matters most to the user's immediate needs, thereby reducing overall processing energy requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentUS9292951B2Service coverage identification using augmented reality

Publication Date: 2016.03.22 CABLE TELEVISION LAB INC

AI summary

Facilitating service coverage identification using augmented reality is contemplated. The service coverage information may relate to wireless signaling metrics collected for wireless access points. A reality view captured with a mobile device to reflect an area proximate the access points may augmented with the service coverage information such that the resulting augmented reality view identifies variances or other parameters of the service coverage information relative to the mobile device.