Radio Plan Generation for WLANs Using Direct Frequency Planning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current radio plan generation for wireless local area networks (WLANs) is inefficient, particularly in managing a large number of access points, as existing methods take a long time to find high-quality configurations due to the need for exhaustive searches of possible frequency and power settings, and are not scalable to handle growing numbers of access points or dynamic frequency changes without impacting network throughput.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that use a direct frequency planning approach, reducing the number of calculations by focusing on good frequency plans and minimizing the use of computationally intensive metrics, with a single coarse power sweep and a final fine power sweep to determine a 'good-enough' radio plan quickly, rather than uniformly sampling all possible configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If exhaustive search methods are used to find optimal frequency and power configurations, then solution quality is improved, but computation time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the radio plan generation process into distinct phases: frequency assignment phase and power adjustment phase. The frequency assignment uses a simplified metric for rapid evaluation, while power adjustment uses a more refined metric. This segmentation allows the system to quickly eliminate poor frequency configurations before investing computational resources in detailed power optimization, thereby reducing overall computation time while maintaining solution quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by using a coarse evaluation metric for frequency assignment that does not fully capture all performance aspects, but is sufficient to identify promising configurations. Then a refined metric is applied only to the subset of configurations that passed the initial screening. This partial application of different evaluation depths optimizes the trade-off between computation time and solution quality.
2Quantity of substance
If the number of access points is increased to handle growing network demands, then network capacity is improved, but radio plan generation becomes less scalable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the configuration space into frequency assignment and power adjustment components that can be optimized independently. The frequency assignment phase handles the combinatorial complexity of channel allocation using a simplified metric, reducing the search space for the subsequent power optimization phase. This segmentation makes the overall process scalable to large numbers of access points.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary frequency assignment using a fast evaluation metric before conducting the more computationally intensive power optimization. This preliminary action reduces the search space for subsequent optimization steps, making the overall process scalable to networks with many access points by eliminating poor configurations early in the process.
3Adaptability or versatility
If dynamic frequency reassignment is implemented to respond to network changes, then network adaptability is improved, but reassignment speed becomes a critical constraint
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the radio plan generation into frequency assignment and power adjustment phases with different evaluation metrics. The frequency assignment phase uses a simplified Fast Evaluation Metric that enables rapid assessment of candidate configurations, allowing dynamic reassignment to respond quickly to network changes while maintaining adaptability through the subsequent refined optimization phase.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the evaluation parameter from a single comprehensive metric to a two-stage approach: first using a fast, simplified metric for rapid frequency assignment decisions, then applying a refined metric for power optimization. This parameter change enables dynamic reassignment to achieve both speed and adaptability by matching the evaluation complexity to the decision urgency.
Data Source
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AI summary
Described herein are a computer-implemented method of determining a power plan/frequency plan combination assigning transmit frequency channels and transmit powers for a plurality of managed access points (APs) of a wireless network. Also described herein is a carrier medium carrying computer readable code configured to cause one or more processors of a processing system to implement the computer implemented method of determining a power plan/frequency plan combination. The method includes determining candidate power plans for the access points, including determining candidate transmit powers for the access' points, determining a candidate frequency plan corresponding to each of the determined candidate power plans using a frequency plan determining method to determine a set of candidate power plan/frequency plan combinations, and rating each combination of a candidate power plan and candidate frequency plan according to an evaluation criterion, and selecting a preliminary power plan/frequency plan combination based on the rating. One embodiment of the method further includes determining a final power plan for the preliminary frequency plan of the preliminary power plan/frequency plan combination to obtain a final power plan/frequency plan combination.