Foliage Mapping Grid for Adaptive Wireless Connectivity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile communication devices in environments with obstructions, such as wooded areas, face challenges in accessing communication devices due to signal attenuation and blockage by foliage, leading to impaired connectivity and battery waste.
Innovation Solution
The device captures images to determine obstructed and unobstructed portions, generating a grid to adjust operating characteristics like synchronization, transmission power, antenna selection, and beam direction based on foliage quantities and communication hub positions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the mobile communication device transmits data through foliage-obstructed areas, then connectivity is maintained, but signal power and quality decrease due to attenuation
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by capturing images and generating a spherical upper hemisphere grid to determine foliage obstructions before communication occurs. This allows the device to identify regions with heavy foliage coverage and proactively adjust communication parameters or select alternative hubs, preventing signal attenuation before it degrades connectivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The spherical upper hemisphere grid acts as an intermediary that mediates between the mobile device and communication hubs. By introducing this grid that maps foliage coverage across different regions, the system can select communication hubs in regions with lighter foliage coverage, thereby reducing signal attenuation while maintaining connectivity.
2Reliability
If the device attempts communication through heavily obstructed regions, then connectivity is maintained, but battery power is wasted on poor quality transmissions
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by determining foliage quantities for different regions before establishing communication. By capturing images and generating the spherical grid in advance, the device identifies regions with heavy foliage coverage and avoids selecting communication hubs in those regions, thereby preventing wasteful battery consumption on poor quality transmissions while maintaining connectivity through better regions.
3Device complexity
If the device uses a fixed communication hub regardless of foliage conditions, then device complexity is reduced, but signal quality deteriorates due to obstruction
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies dynamics by making the communication hub selection adaptive rather than fixed. The spherical upper hemisphere grid enables the system to dynamically determine foliage quantities for different regions and adjust hub selection based on current environmental conditions. This dynamic approach improves signal quality by avoiding heavily obstructed regions while adding minimal complexity through image-based foliage detection.
Data Source
AI summary
The embodiments disclosed herein include capturing images via cameras or light sensors of a mobile communication device, processing the image to determine obstructed (e.g., by foliage) portions and unobstructed (e.g., open sky) portions of the images, and generating a grid indicating the obstructed and unobstructed portions. The device may then adjust operating characteristics, such as synchronizing with a communication hub or other mobile communication device, performing a handover with the communication hub or other mobile communication device, determining transmission power or an amount to increase transmission power, selecting an antenna, determining a beam direction, determining a discontinuous reception cycle or a frequency for receiving data, providing an indication to stop or proceed through certain areas (e.g., to take advantage of areas with higher signal quality or avoid areas with lower signal quality), and the like, based on the obstructed and unobstructed portions identified in the grid.