Detecting Faulty Radio Oscillators via Mobile Timing Measurements
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Solution Overview
Problem
Faulty radio oscillators in wireless communication networks lead to dropped calls and instability during soft handover operations, causing user dissatisfaction and network performance issues, as existing detection methods are inefficient and often require costly and time-consuming replacement of entire radio equipment.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilize multiple mobile device measurements to detect radio oscillator instability by analyzing timing measurements, observed time differences, and propagation delays, allowing for the isolation and identification of faulty radio oscillators without replacing the entire radio, thereby mitigating network disruptions and improving handover performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional detection methods are used to identify faulty radio oscillators, then the entire radio equipment must be replaced, but this leads to increased cost and time consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the radio equipment into functional components, specifically isolating the oscillator as a separate detectable entity within the radio. By measuring timing measurements from multiple mobile devices and analyzing observed time differences, the system can identify faults in the oscillator component without requiring replacement of the entire radio equipment, thus reducing replacement time while maintaining detection accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses mobile devices as intermediary measurement tools to collect timing data from the radio equipment. These mobile devices act as mediators that provide observable timing measurements which can be analyzed to detect oscillator faults, enabling indirect detection that avoids direct intervention and replacement of the radio equipment
2Measurement precision
If timing measurements from multiple mobile devices are analyzed to detect oscillator faults, then detection precision is improved, but the complexity of the detection system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention leverages the universal capability of mobile devices to perform timing measurements. Since mobile devices are already ubiquitous and equipped with timing capabilities, the system uses these existing devices for detection purposes, avoiding the need for specialized detection equipment and thereby limiting the increase in system complexity while improving measurement precision through multiple data sources
3Reliability
If the entire radio equipment is replaced instead of isolating the faulty oscillator, then reliability is ensured, but the cost and time for repair increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention enables segmentation of the fault isolation to the oscillator component level. By analyzing timing measurements and observed time differences from multiple mobile devices, the system can pinpoint the faulty oscillator within the radio equipment, allowing for targeted repair or replacement of only the oscillator component rather than the entire radio, thus improving ease of repair while maintaining network reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the fault identification process from the entire radio equipment and focuses specifically on the oscillator component. By taking out the oscillator as the suspected faulty element and analyzing its impact on timing measurements, the system enables isolated repair of the oscillator, simplifying the repair process and reducing the scope of replacement required
Data Source
AI summary
Detection of a faulty radio oscillator is provided herein. Also provided herein is detection of faulty mobile timing measurements. Timing measurements, as observed by a mobile device, and an identification of primary scrambling codes associated with the timing measurements are captured. The primary scrambling codes match each timing measurement with a particular radio. The mobile device can also report its location information. Radios for which timing measurements have been received are paired. Based on the paired radios and an associated observed time delay derived from the timing measurements, comparisons can be made between paired radios having at least one common radio. Radios exhibiting an expected timing value can be removed from the analysis in order to isolate a radio that has a faulty radio oscillator.