Method for managing real time bill of materials

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention generally relates to engineering and management systems for wireless communication network design, and more specifically, to a three-dimensional (3-D) representative design, evaluation, Or a method of managing a real-time bill of materials when optimizing the performance and/or cost of a wireless communication system.

Background Description With the increase in the use of wireless communication, radio frequency (RF) coverage in buildings and signal penetration from external sources to buildings have quickly become necessary to design and configure cellular telephone systems, paging systems, or personal Important design items for wireless engineers of new wireless systems and technologies such as communication networks or wireless local area networks. Designers are often required to determine the location of a radio transceiver, or whether the base station cell site can provide reliable services to the entire city, office, building, theater, or campus. A common problem of wireless systems is insufficient coverage in a specific location, such as a conference room, or a "dead zone." It is now known that interference from nearby similar systems can render an indoor wireless PBX (Private Branch Exchange) system or wireless local area network (WLAN) unusable. The cost of providing indoor and micro-cell areas with wireless coverage within a radius of 2 kilometers is constantly decreasing, and the workload of RF engineers and technicians to install these necessary systems is increasing dramatically. The rapid engineering design and deployment methods of wireless systems in micro-cell areas and buildings are critical for cost-benefit compensation.

There are many reasons to prove that it is very important to analyze radio signal coverage penetration and interference. A design engineer must determine whether the existing outdoor large-scale wireless system, or macro cell area, will provide enough coverage to cover the entire building or group of buildings (ie, a campus). Instead, the wireless engineer must determine whether the local area coverage will be adequately compensated by other existing macrocells, or whether indoor wireless transceivers must be increased

00808048.8 No. machine, or picocell area. From a cost and performance point of view, the layout of these cells is critical. If a planned indoor wireless system interferes with a macro cell from outdoors, then the design engineer must anticipate how much the interference will be and where the interference will occur within the building or group of buildings. In addition, it is of great economic significance to provide a wireless system that can minimize equipment infrastructure costs and installation costs. With the proliferation of indoor and micro-cellular wireless systems, these problems must be solved quickly, easily and cheaply in a systematic and repeatable way.

There are many computer-aided design (CAD) products on the market that can be used to design environments for use in businesses or campuses. Examples of wireless CAD products are: WiSE from Lucent Technology, Inc., SingalPro from EDX, PLAnet from Mobile Systems International, Inc., and TEMS and TEMS Light from Ericsson. However, in practice, an unbuilt building Objects or campuses are only designs on drawings, and there is no database that defines the parameters of the environment. In order to plan and realize the purpose of indoor and outdoor RF wireless communication systems, collecting these completely different information and processing data, if not completely impossible, is also very difficult, and each new environment requires tedious manual data formatting. , In order to run with the wireless predictive model generated by the computer. In S. Kim, BJ Guarino, Jr._? Τ. Μ. Willis IIL V. Erceg, SJ Fortune, RA Valenzuela, LW Thmas, J. Lmg and JD Moor are named "Measurement and prediction of radio wave propagation using three-dimensional ray tracing in 908MHZ and 1.9GHz urban environments" ( IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, VOL. 48, No. 3, May 1999); L. Piazzi and HL Bretoni's achievable accuracy of path loss prediction in special areas in the residential environment (IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, VOL. 48_? 3, May 1999); G. Durgin, TS Rappaport and H. Xu's "Measurement and Modeling of Radio Wave Path Loss and Penetration Loss in 5.85Ghz Homes and Around Homes and Trees" (IEEE Transactions on Communications, VOL 46, No.l 1, November 1999); T. S Rappaport, Μ. P. Koushik, JC Liberti, C. Pendyala and Τ. P. Subramanians radio wave propagation prediction technology and computer-aided embedded wireless micro-system Channel modeling (ARPA Annual Report, MPRG Technical Report MPRG-TR-94-12, July 1994, 14 pp., Virginia Tech, Blacksburg); TS

00808048.8 p.

Rappaport, Μ. P. Koushik, C. Carter and M. Ahmeds Radio Wave Propagation Prediction Technology and Computer Aided Channel Modeling for Embedded Wireless Microsystems" (MPRG Technical Report MPRG-TR-95-08, July 1995, 13 pp., Virginia Tech, Blacksburg); TS Rappaport, Μ. P. Koushik, M. Ahmed, C. Carter, B. Newhall and N. Zhangs "Using topographic maps with building information to determine antenna layout and GPS satellites Coverage for radio orientation and tracking in urban environments" (MPRG Technical Report MPRG-TR-95-14, Sept. 15, 1995, 27pp., Virginia Tech, Blacksburg); M. Ahmed, K. Blankenship, C. Cater , P. Koushik, W. Newhall, R. Skidmore, N. Zhang and TS Rappaport uses topographic maps with building information to determine antenna placement and GPS satellite coverage for radio orientation and tracking in urban environments" (MPRG Technical Report MPRG-TR-95-19, November 1995, 188pp., Virginia Tech, Blacksburg); RR Skidmore and TS Rappaport's "A Comprehensive Indoor and Microcellular Wireless Communication System Design Tool" (MPRG-TR-97-13, June 1997, 122pp., Virginia Tech, Blacksburg); S. Sandhu and TS Rappaport's Rosslyn, VA's predicted path loss (MPRG-TR-94-20, December 9, 1994, 19pp., Virginia Tech,

Blacksburg); S. Sandhu, P. Koushik and TS Rappaport's Rosslyn, VA's predicted path loss, the second set of predictions for the ORD plan for propagation predictions in special locations" (MPRG-TR-95-03, March 5, 1995, 51pp., Virginia Tech,

Blacksburg)s papers and technical reports describe the recent research results of AT&T Labs, Brooklyn Polytechnic and Virginia Tech. These papers and technical reports are an illustration of the state of technology in the modelling of propagation in specific locations, and show the difficulty of obtaining an urban environmental database like Rosslyn in Virginia. Although the above-mentioned papers illustrate the comparison of research on measuring and predicting signal coverage, the work does not show a systematic, reproducible and rapid method for establishing environmental databases, nor do they report on performance analysis or assumptions and deployments. In this environment, a method for configuring various wireless device components required to provide signals in a wireless system.

Although there are many methods available for designing wireless networks that provide adequate coverage, there is no easy way to ensure that the system will be cost-effective. For example, do

00808048.8 The coverage of the first tube is sufficient, given the selected wireless infrastructure components, but the total cost of the system may be unacceptable.

Summary of the Invention An object of the present invention is to provide a method for generating a list of material and cost information in real time while specifying a desired wireless communication system components and/or replacing these components with replacement components, while continuously predicting the wireless system Fast and automated method of performance. This automated method of comparing the cost and performance of competing products or competing methods in real time provides wireless engineers with an effective value and provides a significant improvement over today's technology.

According to the present invention, a design engineer builds a model of a desired wireless communication system and specifies each component required to provide sufficient or optimal system performance. Maintain a component list including the definition of each system component and its related performance and cost parameters in real time. Using this method, users can quickly change the physical location of components in the wireless system in order to study the possible use of different components such as antennas and cables; or use different RF distribution methods and/or different types of coaxial or optical components. Alternative designs for router systems, etc. Cost parameters include component cost and installation cost. When changing the system through a series of hypothetical analysis scenarios, replace components with alternative components, modify cable lengths, relocate antenna systems and base stations to alternative locations, and so on.

Every time a component is added or deleted from the system model, the list of materials is automatically updated, and the design engineer can immediately get the component cost, total cost, and replacement system performance description. The designer can choose to replace the components with cheaper ones. When deciding the cost selection, the performance characteristics of the system can be automatically updated, so that the designer can evaluate performance and cost changes at the same time.

Brief Description of the Drawings The following detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings will enable you to have a better understanding of the above and other objectives, aspects and advantages. In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 shows one of a building An example of a simplified layout of a flat floor;

00808048.8 Figure 2 shows the effective penetration of radio frequency (RF) emissions from a macro cell area to a building; Figure 3 shows a floor plan of a building including an outdoor macro cell area and an indoor base station Figure 4 shows the layout of Figure 3, but with a modified base station designed to eliminate interference; Figure 5 is a flowchart of a general method for designing a wireless communication network; Figure 6 is a A flowchart of a method for generating an evaluation based on field measurements; Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a method for matching optimal propagation parameters with measurement data; Fig. 8 is a flowchart of a method for prediction; Fig. 9A and 9B together constitute a detailed flow chart of a method for generating a wireless network design and determining its applicability; Figure 10 is a flow chart showing a method of using observation points during antenna repositioning or modification; Figure 11 shows A simplified layout of a floor plan of a building with a base station and selected observation points is shown; Figure 12 shows a dialog box showing the location of the selected observation point and the selection of display information; Figure 13 shows A simplified layout diagram of a floor plan of a building with the initial RSSI value of a base station and selected observation points; Figure 14 shows an example of a changed RSSI value with a relocated base station and selected observation points A simplified layout drawing of a floor plan of the building; Fig. 15 shows a simplified layout diagram of a floor plan of a building with a restructured base station and the changed RSSI value of the selected observation point; A summary list of materials for drawing; Figure 17 shows a summary list of materials for drawing after the cost is added to the database according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 18 is a flow chart showing the general method of the present invention Figure.

00808048.8 Detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Using this method, it is now possible to quickly view signal strength, interference level, or other wireless system performance measurements to systematically and organize Ways to evaluate the RF environment. This embodiment is specifically designed to be used with the SitePlannerTM series products of Wireless Valley Communication, Inc. of Blacksburg, VA. However, those skilled in the art should know that this method can also be used with other products currently known or developed in the future. (SitePlannerTM is Wireless Valley Communication, A trademark of Inc. ) Referring now to Figure 1, Figure 1 shows a simplified two-dimensional (2-D) example of the floor plan layout of a building. This method uses a 3-D computer-aided design (CAD) representation of a building, or a group of buildings and/or surrounding terrain and plants. However, in order to simplify the description, a 2-D diagram is used. Appropriate physical, electrical, and aesthetic values are given to various physical objects in the environment, such as the outer wall 101, the inner wall 102, and the floor 103. For example, the external wall 101 can be given an attenuation loss of 10dB, the signal passing through the internal wall 102 and the floor 103 can be given an attenuation loss of 3dB, and the window 104 can show an RF penetration loss of 2dB. In addition to attenuation, obstacles 101, 102, and 103 can also be imparted with other properties including reflectivity and surface roughness.

The estimated loss of electrical isolation properties can be extracted from a wide range of published propagation measurements, they can be derived from field tests, or the invention can be used in conjunction with TS Rappaport and RR Skidmore. The serial number is 09/221,985, and the name is The methods described in the co-pending application for "Building a Computer Model of a Wireless Communication Network and a System for Measuring Databases" combine to directly measure and immediately optimize the isolation loss of a specific object. Once the appropriate physical and electrical parameters are specified, any desired number of hardware components of the RF source can be placed in the 3-D building database, and the received signal strength (RSSI) and network throughput can be drawn directly on the CAD drawing , Bit or frame error rate, or carrier-to-interference (C/Ι) ratio graph. There are many ways to build a 3-D environmental data and rescue database. allowable

00808048.8 In the present invention, service capacity analysis, frequency allocation, and co-channel interference analysis are performed together with the RF coverage. Those skilled in the art can easily incorporate other system performance metrics through known formulas.

Figure 2 depicts the effective RF penetration from a long-distance macro-cell area to a building using a short-range virtual macro cell transmitted to a lossless distributed antenna.

Referring to Figure 2, there are several windows 104 on the north wall of the building, and a large glass hall 105. Therefore, as shown in the OdB and -30dB contours 108 and 109, respectively, the RF of this part of the building Penetration is very good. Even so, the interior wall 102 causes the signal level in some areas to drop below the minimum usable signal strength of -90 dBm, especially in some southern rooms, as shown by the contour 110. As a result, the coverage of the macro cell area there may be poor.

You can model other outdoor macro cells in the same way and draw their signal strength contour maps to determine whether the handover can compensate for the lack of the macro cell in the north of the building. If not, you can easily add indoor picocells (and their distributed feed-in systems, antennas, and antenna radiation patterns) when necessary, and use this method to check their performance to supplement the coverage provided by macrocells range.

The mathematical propagation model used to predict and optimize antenna positioning in a desired environment can include many predictive technology models, such as those cited above and the following technical reports and papers: RR Skidmore, TS Rappaport and L. Abbotts multi-layer indoor environment The interactive coverage area and system design simulation of the wireless communication system in China, the prediction technology models described in SMT+ (IEEE, ICUPCT96 Proceedings), the above-mentioned documents are incorporated herein by reference. Some simple models are also briefly described in SitePlanner 3.16 (Wireless Valley Commmunications, Inc. 1999) of the Windows 95/98/NT User Manual, and this document is also incorporated here as a reference. Those familiar with the field should know how to apply other system performance models to this method.

00808048.8 No. Due to the ever-increasing use of wireless communications, in many cases interference is the dominant performance-limiting factor, not the strength of the radio signal. This method can be used directly to model an established or envisioned wireless system from any source. For example, suppose that an indoor wireless communication system is assigned the same frequency set as an outdoor wireless system. Although the indoor system can provide sufficient RSSI for its entire coverage area, interference from external systems can still render the indoor wireless system ineffective in certain parts of the building.

However, care must be taken when modeling and analyzing interference, as harmful effects may also depend on technology and/or signal processing techniques, not just signal power levels. For example, in the 800MHZ cellular frequency band, a geographic area can have the same narrowband and/or broadband, for example, Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, but use either of the two technologies Users of the technology may be able to coexist if their respective demodulation processes filter out interference from undesired systems. This embodiment of the invention allows the user to select the air interface/technology to be used by the wireless system in the design, and therefore automatically adjust the interference prediction.

Figure 3 shows another reproduction of the office building example, but with the addition of an indoor wireless system 107. In this example, 800 MHz APMS technology is given to the two transmitters 106 and 107. Different wireless standards and technologies can also be selected, such as , CDMA and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The present invention uses a database to represent strict physical air interface standards for a wide range of technologies, and can be easily edited for future interface standards. As new technologies are developed, those skilled in the art can easily modify the present invention to include the new technologies.

The outdoor wireless system 106 is now interfering with the indoor network. By drawing the C/Ι contour maps 111 and 112 at OdB and -30dB for the outdoor system respectively, and also drawing the C/Ι contour maps of OdB and -30dB for the indoor system. Figures 113 and 114, check the impact. The OdB contour map 114 shows where the desired and interfering signal levels are equal. Therefore, the signal that interferes with the outdoor system dominates in the area outside this contour. Obviously, the indoor network cannot be used in many parts of the building. There are many possibilities that designers can use the present invention to analyze

00808048.8 No. solution.

One solution is to change the antenna position of the indoor system or increase the transmit power, add more nodes, or choose a different frequency set. In the present invention, these changes can be made by simply clicking the mouse, making it possible to quickly evaluate new channel sets, antenna positions, or alternative antenna systems (such as indoor distributed systems, directional antennas, or leaky feeder antennas). Eliminate guesswork and/or expensive field trials with actual hardware. The present invention also allows users to specify fixed or movable observation points that can indicate or display predictive performance at specific points in the environment in an extremely fast manner, instead of displaying coverage or interference contours.

For example, Figure 4 shows when connected to a distributed indoor antenna consisting of a two-way splitter 401 (3dB consumption + insertion loss) and two 40-foot cables 402 to a common commercial indoor omnidirectional antenna 403 How can the same indoor wireless system of Figure 3 provide adequate C/I protection when it comes to the system? Observing the new OdB contours 111 and 215, and the 30dB contours 112a and 216, it is shown that the coverage area appearing in the building is sufficient; the outdoor system 106 no longer causes significant interference to most of the building. Observation points allow users to immediately determine the field coverage or other system performance without having to wait for the calculation and display of the contour graph.

This method enables to model any type of distributed antenna system within a few seconds, while continuously monitoring and analyzing component and installation costs and generating link budgets, as disclosed below, enabling immediate implementation with minimal guesswork and wasted time. What-if analysis (what-if)" design.

In this embodiment of the invention, the designer identifies locations in the 3-D environment database where certain levels of performance of the wireless system are desired or critical. These positions, called "viewpoints", are points in the three-dimensional space identified by the designer by visually pointing and/or clicking the desired position in the 3-D environment database with a mouse or other input device. Many such observation points can be placed anywhere in the entire 3-D environment. The observation point can be specified before the performance prediction of a given wireless communication system is performed, or it can be specified by using

00808048.8 The first user uses the same point-and-click technology described above to dynamically establish it at any time during the execution of the wireless system performance calculation process.

Viewpoints provide designers with graphical and/or textual feedback on the performance of the wireless system in the overall environment. According to the type of visible feedback desired by the designer, the observation point can take one or more of the following forms:? Displayed as text on behalf of the received signal strength (RSSI), signal to interference ratio (SIR), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), frame Error rate (FER), bit error rate (BER), or other calculated numbers of wireless system performance metrics; Monochrome cells whose shape and/or color change relative to some calculated wireless system performance metrics; Connection observation point location and The color line of the position of one or more antennas in the wireless communication system, where the color, thickness, and/or other physical aspects of the connecting line are relative to some calculated wireless system performance metrics and according to whether the analysis is forward or reverse wireless The system channel changes;? Other forms given by the designer; or? Any combination of the above-mentioned various forms.

In all cases, the graphical and/or text representation of each observation point is updated in real time as the result of the instant calculation of wireless system performance metrics, they are linked to the 3-D environment database, and due to the users wireless system configuration and/or The observer position itself is dynamically changed and initialized. For example, if the user uses a mouse or other input device to reposition an antenna, then the effect of such repositioning on the performance of the entire wireless system is calculated, and the result is displayed by changing the appearance of the observation point. In addition, the numerical values predicted at the observation point are displayed in a summary table in a dialog window and written into a text file for later analysis. This process is explained in more detail in the following paragraphs.

This preferred embodiment of the invention uses a 3-D environment database containing predicted information about the performance of the wireless communication system. This information includes, but is not limited to, the location of obstacles in the 3-D environment, as well as physical and electromagnetic properties. One of the obstacles can be

00808048.8 Any physical objects or topographic features in the environment (for example, walls, doors, windows, buildings, trees, topographic features, etc.), as well as the location and physical and electrical properties of the communications hardware to be simulated in the environment.

The designer identifies the location and type of all wireless communication system equipment in the 3-D environment database. This point-and-click process includes designers selecting desired components from a computer component database, and then visibly positioning, orienting, and interconnecting various hardware components in the 3-D environment database to form a complete wireless communication system. The preferred embodiment of the computer component database is explained more fully below. It is best to use drag-and-drop technology or pick-and-place technology to assemble the RF hardware components generated by the Internet (usually called wireless distributed antennas), and overlay them on the 3D environment database for graphical display, and use the passed parts list library for each The electromechanical information of the components in order to fully explain the physical operating characteristics of the wireless communication system (for example, system noise figure, antenna radiation characteristics, frequency, etc.). This information is used directly in the process of wireless system performance measurement prediction, and this information will be discussed later.

The present invention provides real-time feedback on the performance of the wireless system to the designer Wang Cheng when the user changes the physical location of the transmitter, receiver, and other components, or modifies the antenna system, showing a great improvement over the prior art. . The current embodiment uses the concept of observation points to achieve this improvement. There are a variety of display methods and a wide range of settings for designers to use in optimizing the antenna placement based on the performance of the wireless system displayed at each observation point. Those familiar with the field can see how the observation points described here can also be applied to different implementations. In the following paragraphs, descriptions of the different technologies implemented in the present invention will be provided.

One form of the method allows the designer to dynamically change the location, orientation, and/or type of any hardware components used in a wireless communication system modeled in a 3-D environment database. Using this technique, designers can identify observation points that represent key areas of the 3-D environment that require a certain level of wireless system performance. These areas can include the office of a company's chief executive officer (CEO), meeting rooms, city parks, or medical and surgical offices. Next, the designer selects the components of interest in the wireless system. In the present invention,

00808048.8 For example, this will be the choice of an antenna or a leaky feeder antenna, but those skilled in the art will know that this can be any physical antenna system component. Once the desired hardware component is selected, the designer can begin to make changes to the state of the component. For example, by moving the cursor of a mouse or other input device, the user can effectively reposition the selected component to another location in the 3-D environment database. This involves the user visibly moving the mouse cursor in real time, so that the cursor resides in another part of the 3-D database. The present invention recalculates the performance of the wireless system based on the RSSL SIR, SNR, FER, BER or other metrics, combined with the change in the position of the selected component desired by the user.

Calculate the electromechanical properties of each component in the combined wireless communication system (for example, noise figure, attenuation loss or amplification, antenna radiation pattern, etc.), electromagnetic properties of the 3-D environmental database, and radio wave propagation technology (detailed later) , To provide an assessment of the performance of the wireless system. Perform calculations at each observation point that the user has identified, and update the graphical display of the observation point to reflect the result of the calculation.

As the user moves the mouse cursor and effectively repositions selected components, the overall performance of the wireless communication system can be changed. For example, if the selected component is an antenna, repositioning the antenna changes the origin of the radio wave signal broadcast from the antenna, and therefore may greatly change the reception of suitable RF signals in the entire environment. Since the graphical display of the observation point is updated in real time when the selected component is repositioned, it provides the designer with instant feedback on the performance of the modified wireless system, and can quickly make it based on multiple suggested locations and/or wireless system configurations Design decisions.

In addition to the above-mentioned functions, the designer is free to add additional observation points at any position in the 3-D environment database at any time during the wireless system performance prediction process. In the current embodiment, the designer uses a mouse or other input device to click on a desired location in the 3-D environment database to establish a new observation point at the selected location, so that all the rest of the performance prediction is updated .

In the same way, this preferred embodiment enables the designer to assign a selected antenna

00808048.8 Real-time reorientation relative to any coordinate axis, and at the same time update the graphical display of all drawn observation points, as the result of the new antenna orientation to reflect the modified wireless system performance measurement.

In the same way, the designer can replace an existing hardware component in the wireless communication system with any component from the parts list library. After doing so, the change in the performance of the wireless communication system is reflected as a substitute result in the graphical display of the observation point.

In the same way, designers can choose to include or exclude any subset of components in the wireless communication system while selecting components to be included in the wireless system performance calculation. For example, the designer may consider the effect of relocating a single antenna, or may consider the composite effect on the combination of observation points when each independent antenna is placed in a wireless system network composed of additional fixed antenna arrangements.

In the same way, the designer can choose to allow the observation point to be mobile. That is, instead of locating an observation point and making the graphical display of the observation point reflect the changing wireless system performance metric, the designer can instead identify an observation point whose position is moving but the graphical display remains constant. In this case, the position of the observation point fluctuates along a linear path drawn between itself and the current position of the mouse until a position is found in the 3-D database, at which the wireless system performance measurement is maintained The level of hope. For example, the designer can establish an observation point to maintain a constant graphical display with the same meaning as -65dBm RSSI. When the user repositions, redirects, or changes components in the wireless communication system, the observation point changes its position in the 3-D environment database until it finds a position that determines the calculated value of -65dBm RSSI.

In addition to enabling designers to reposition, reorient and/or replace wireless system components in real time while observing the effects of these changes at selected observation points in the 3-D database, users can choose to maintain the current configuration of the wireless communication system, and Instead, create a single mobile observation point. By simply repositioning the mouse cursor, the user can dynamically reposition the observation point thus established in the 3-D environment database in real time. Positioning the mouse cursor on a given unit in the 3-D environment database is equivalent to repositioning the observation point

00808048.8 to match that unit. In the present invention, this technique is used to enable the mobile observation point to represent a mobile user in the 3-D environment database. As in the previous case, the graphical display of the observation point is updated in real time to reflect the predicted wireless system performance metrics at that observation point. The designer is free to choose an independent subset of wireless system components to include in the calculation of wireless system performance. Therefore, the graphical display of the observation point can reflect the unique performance metric of each wireless system component, or reflect the composite performance metric due to the combined effect of multiple selected components. For example, the radiated power of multiple antennas can be combined into a single measurement of the received signal strength.

The two main uses of the single mobile observation point technology include the analysis of the forward link (or downlink) and reverse link (or uplink) of a wireless system. The forward link of a wireless communication system involves the flow of radio signals from a fixed wireless system to mobile users, while the reverse link of a wireless communication system involves the flow of radio signals from mobile users to the fixed wireless system. In this embodiment, a line segment is drawn between moving the observation point (also the mouse cursor) to each antenna that the designer has included in the wireless system performance prediction. In addition, by changing the color and/or other physical appearance of the connecting line between the antenna and the observation point, a single antenna or a subset of antennas identified as having the best wireless system performance characteristics can be distinguished from other antennas. When the designer subsequently repositions the mouse cursor, the selected position of the observation point in the 3-D database is adjusted, and thus the effective position of the mobile user is adjusted to match the position of the mouse cursor. The wireless system performance metrics of the antenna components selected by the designer are recalculated at the observation point, thereby updating the graphical display of the observation point and all connecting lines.

Another improvement over the prior art is the ability to dynamically model the repositioning of the leaky feeder antenna and observe the impact on the performance of the wireless system. Think of a leaky feeder antenna as a cable with many holes regularly spaced along its length. Such a cable must suffer signal loss or emission at each hole, and must radiate RF energy along the entire length of the cable. A leaky feeder antenna, or as it is sometimes called a lossy coaxial cable, can be thought of as being similar to a dipper hose, with water flowing into the end of the hose and leaking out of the series of holes in the hose . This method allows the designer to dynamically relocate a part of the missing feeder antenna and see the performance of the wireless system in real time at the specified observation point.

00808048. 8th impact. In this preferred embodiment, the distributed antenna system can be analyzed according to the contribution of individual antennas or a collection of antennas as a whole, providing a "composite" result in the latter case.

Referring to Figure 5, the general method of the present invention is shown in Figure 5. Before an automatic predictive model about a desired environment can be run, a 3-D electronic representation of the environment must be established in function block 10. The resulting definition uses a specially formatted vector database format and includes lines and polygons instead of individual pixels (as in raster format). The arrangement of lines and polygons in the database corresponds to obstacles/spacers in the environment. For example, a line in the database can represent a wall, a door, a tree, a building wall, or other obstacles/spacers in the modeled environment.

From the point of view of radio wave propagation, each obstacle/spacer in an environment has several electromagnetic properties. When a radio wave signal penetrates a physical surface, several events occur. A certain percentage of the radio waves are reflected from the surface and continue to travel along the changed trajectory. A certain percentage of radio waves pass through the surface or are absorbed by the surface, and continue along its path. A certain percentage of radio waves are scattered when they hit the surface. The electromagnetic properties given to the obstacle/spacer define this interaction. Each obstacle/spacer has some parameters including attenuation factor, surface roughness, and reflectivity. The attenuation factor determines the amount of power a radio signal loses when it hits a given obstacle. The reflectivity determines the amount of radio signal reflected from obstacles. The surface roughness provides a way to determine how much radio signal is scattered and/or dissipated when hitting a given type of obstacle.

Once this 3-D database of obstacle data is established, in function block 11, the design engineer performs computer-aided design and tests of the wireless network to be configured in the modeled environment, which will be explained later. Cost and wireless system performance target parameters, transmitters, channel lists, placement options and antenna systems are all considered in the present invention.

In order to finely tune the test prediction, you can choose to perform the RF measurement in the function box 12. If necessary, you can use the RF measurement value as a guide to modify the defined spacer in function box 13.

00808048.8 The database parameters of the first/obstacle characteristics to more accurately represent the modeled 3-D environment.

In the function box 14, the results of the prediction model can be displayed in 3-D at any time, and if there is any RF measurement data, it is overwritten with the RF measurement data. In function block 15 the design engineer analyzes the difference between the predicted and actual measurements, and in function block 16, if necessary, modify the RF prediction model. If necessary, the 3-D environment database can be modified according to the actual measurement value to more accurately represent the wireless system coverage area in the function box 10, and the process is repeated until the end. If desired, the designer can choose any other step in the process to continue.

The method of the present invention can be used in various ways according to the purpose of the design engineer. Figure 6 shows a variation of the above method for generating an evaluation based on RF measurements. In function block 10, a 3-D database of the environment must still be generated. Collect field measurement values in function box 12. Then, in function block 61, the RF measurement data is incorporated into the environment map. Next, in functional block 62, the design engineer can generate an assessment of the power level and potential transmitter location.

Figure 7 shows a variation of the method used to obtain the best prediction accuracy using RF measurement data. A 3-D database of the environment is also generated in function box 10. However, before collecting field measurements, in function block 71, the design engineer generates a channel allocation with "virtual" macro cell location and power level. Then, the field measurements are collected in function block 12, and the "virtual" location of the interfering transmitter can be determined in function block 72. Then, in function block 73, the optimal propagation parameters are matched with the measurement data from the interferer.

A more detailed description of the prediction method used in the present invention will now be described. Referring to FIG. 8, enter the 3-D environment definition in the function box 801. The first step required before predicting the performance of a wireless communication system is to build a wireless system model in a 3-D environment. In the function box 802, select the antenna, the type and location of the relevant component. The desired antenna is selected from a parts list of the wireless milling equipment, and the parts list may include various commercially available equipment. Place each antenna at a desired location within the environment, for example, one in a building

00808048.8 In a specific room on the first floor, or on the top of a flagpole in front of a building. Many other components can be built and arranged in each antenna system, or connected to each antenna system. These components include, but are not limited to: cables, leaky feeder antennas, splitters, connectors, amplifiers, or any other user-defined components.

Figures 9A and 9B show a method for adding an antenna system to a desired environment and is generally used for trade-off analysis. First, if necessary, in function block 901, the designer locates and defines an outdoor wireless communication system. Next, in function block 902, the designer locates and defines indoor base stations. The difference between the methods of function blocks 901 and 902 is that the components of an indoor wireless system are generally different from those of an outdoor wireless system. On these two occasions, through a series of drop-down menus and pointing and clicking options, the designer is guided to define the location, type, and relevant performance characteristics of the antenna system. Store this data in a database that also contains cost and manufacturing specific information to automatically generate a complete material list of the material list for viewing at any time.

In order to fully illustrate the antenna system in a newly established (or modified) wireless system, in function block 903, the designer specifies the air interface/technology and the frequency associated with the wireless system. Then, in function block 904, the designer arranges the complete antenna system of the wireless network. Then, in function block 905, components are selected from a part list library containing information about commercially available hardware components, such as base stations, cables, connectors, amplifiers, and other components of the antenna system. Next, in the light energy box 906, specify the air interface and technology-specific parameters, and customize the channel frequency for the wireless system. In function block 907, a channel frequency is selected from the pre-allocated channel group and allocated to the wireless system. Then, in the function block 908, an antenna system is configured by selecting an antenna from the aforementioned parts list library. In the function block 909, the antenna is arranged on the floor plan using the pointing and clicking of a mouse or other positioning device to visually arrange each component in the 3-D environment.

At this time or any time after the components are placed on the floor, in the function box 910, the designer can view a list of materials. In the function box 911, if necessary, the parts list can be modified to add or delete components, or modify the cost or performance characteristics of the components. in

00808048.8 In the functional block 912, for a quick trade-off analysis of wireless system performance and overall cost, similar components can be replaced or exchanged for components. In the function block 913, components can be added, deleted or modified to more fully define the wireless communication system. In the function box 914, the designer can include 2-D, 3-D contours, 3-D contours with hidden lines, 3-D shading, 3-D coloring, or 3-D photographic reality at any time. Various forms of ideological coloring redisplay the view of the environment including wireless communication systems, RF measurement data, and/or predicted performance results of wireless systems.

The designer will generally continuously add wireless system components, where each newly deployed system component is connected to a previously located component in the wireless network. It should be noted that when cables and leaky feeder antennas are arranged on a floor, they are defined by a series of vertices connected by a line segment representing the length of the cable. In the function box 915, simply increase the apex in the cable, change the height of the apex, and then continue to arrange the cable to a new position. You can also extend the cable and the leaky feeder antenna vertically across the building floor and extend down to the building. Around the object, through the elevator shaft, and so on. The designer does not need to manipulate the 3-D graphics of the environment and try to guide the cables vertically in the 3-D model. In the present invention, the designer can repeat any steps in this process in any order.

Referring again to FIG. 8, once the 3-D environment is defined and antennas, cables, and other objects are selected and located, the wireless system performance prediction model can be run in function block 803. A variety of different models can be used, and can be used continuously, or individually, to generate a sufficient number of "what if" scenarios for the prediction and optimization of antenna placement and component selection.

Refer to FIG. 10, which shows a predictive modeling method according to the present invention. First, in function block 1001, the designer selects a desired wireless system performance prediction model. The preferred models are: wall/floor attenuation factor, multipath loss index model, wall/floor attenuation factor, single path loss index model, true point-to-point multipath loss index model,

00808048.8 The first true point-to-point single path loss index model, the distance-determined multi-break point model, the distance-determined multi-path loss index model, the distance-determined single path loss index model, or other models desired by the design engineer.

In function block 1002, the physical and electrical properties of obstacles in the 3-D environment are set. Although not all parameters are used for every possible prediction model, those familiar with the art should know which parameters are needed for a selected model. The parameters that can be input include: prediction configuration-RSSI, C/Ι, and/or C/Ν (carrier to noise ratio); mobile receiver (RX) parameters-power, antenna gain, body loss, portable RX noise characteristics , The height of the portable RX on the floor; propagation parameters-spacer attenuation factor, floor attenuation factor, path loss index, multiple break points, reflectivity, surface roughness, antenna polarization, other parameters required for a given model Designers can store physical, electrical and aesthetic parameter sets for later use. If such a parameter set is stored in the front, then in the function box 1003, the designer can load the parameter set so as to overwrite any parameter that has been selected.

Then, in function block 1004, the designer can select many observation points to monitor the performance of the wireless system. Referring now to FIG. 11, FIG. 11 shows a simplified layout of a floor plan with a base station 1100. The designer can use a mouse or other pointing device to point and click any number of locations on the floor plan to select key areas or observations

00808048.8 The first point is for monitoring. For example, four observation points 1101, 1102, 1103, and 1104 are selected here.

Figure 12 shows a display graph that lists the location and the selected observation point for the current prediction. Then, the designer can choose RSSI, signal-to-interference ratio (SIR), or signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) prediction. In addition, the designer can see the changes in the predicted value of each observation point in real time as the mouse moves, or can choose to select a new antenna position, especially by clicking a new position. When the designer repositions the mouse cursor, the antenna selected before the initial prediction is effectively repositioned and/or redeployed according to the position of the cursor. Once all observation points are selected, the predictive model starts to run. An alternative embodiment is that the observation points can be entered and modified at any time when running the predictive model, rather than limited to just before the model is run. Another alternative embodiment is to continuously update the RF value of the observation point with the repositioning of the mouse without clicking.

Fig. 13 shows the floor plan of Fig. 11 and also shows the initial RSSI value of each observation point 1101, 1102, 1103, and 1104. The designer can move the antenna 1100 to a new position and monitor the range of the same observation point. Figure 14 shows the floor plan of Figures 11 and 13, where the antenna 1100 has moved to a new position 1400. The RSSI value at each observation point 1101, 1102, 1103 and 1104 is automatically updated with the value associated with the new antenna position . Alternatively, the designer may choose to change the components in the antenna system 1100 for performance or cost reasons. Figure 15 shows the floor plan of Figures 11 and 13, where the base station 1100a is in the same location but with a higher performance antenna assembly. The RSSI values at each observation point 1101, 1102, 1103, and 1104 are again automatically updated with the values associated with the new wireless system performance parameters.

Referring again to FIG. 10, for the RF coverage model, the coverage area and value are displayed in the function box 1005. If this is desired, before running another predictive model in the function block 1001, the designer modifies the electrical parameters of the obstacle in the function block 1006, or modifies the components of the antenna system, or modifies the position or orientation of the antenna system, and so on.

00808048.8 Referring to Fig. 8 again, after running multiple models, the design engineer can determine in decision block 804 that the RF coverage is optimal. If this is the case, then depending on the result, either the change of the position of the antenna and the component is appropriate, or it may only replace one component without changing the position. For example, although the coverage area may be greater than needed, the total cost of the wireless system may not allow it. The following discloses a method for optimizing costs using the dynamic real-time inventory of the material management system. In any case, if the currently modeled wireless network is not considered optimal, then the method will continue in function block 802 to reselect components.

Once the design meets the requirements, the 3-D database keeps all the information needed to obtain the necessary components in the bill of materials. The location of each component is clearly displayed, and a visual 3-D representation can be seen as a guide.

Once the wireless system design meets the needs, the database will keep all the information needed to obtain the necessary components in the bill of materials. The location of each component is clearly shown, superimposed on the physical environment, and a visual 3-D representation can be seen as a guide.

The generation and management of the bill of materials is as described above. More clearly, the present invention uses 3-D computer-aided design (CAD) of buildings, buildings, or any other environment that contains information suitable for wireless system performance prediction. Reappear. The estimated electrical properties of the spacer can be extracted from radio frequency measurements that have been published and/or specified by the designer at any time. Once the appropriate electrical properties are specified, an unlimited number of RF resources can be stored in the 3-D database, and the received signal strength (RSSI) or carrier-to-interference ratio (C/Ι) can be directly plotted on the CAD map.

There are many ways to build a 3-D environmental database. Traffic capacity analysis, frequency allocation, and co-channel or adjacent channel interference analysis can be performed simultaneously with the prediction of RSSI, C/I, and other wireless system performance measurements. There are many ways to build antenna systems and bills of materials. The preferred method of establishing an antenna system is described above.

As mentioned above, when the designer establishes a wireless communication system in a specific environment

00808048.8 In the first model, maintain a complete list of materials for each diagram in the environment. That is, each diagram may contain its own unique group and arrangement of antennas, feeding systems, and related components that represent various changes in the design of the wireless communication system. These components are extracted from a global parts list library. There are a variety of methods that can be used to generate a global parts list library, and those skilled in the art know that various formats can be used.

In the present invention, the design engineer uses the drop-down menu and the displayed dialog window to select a specific wireless system hardware component. The selection criteria of a particular component depend on the wireless system design, but generally involve the desire of the component based on its electrical characteristics and the potential impact on the wireless system performance, material cost, and/or installation cost. The present invention enables the designer to concentrate the selection of components to only those devices with desired characteristics contained in the parts list library. For example, a design engineer may choose to design a wireless system using components from a specific manufacturer or group of manufacturers with desired material costs and/or electrical characteristics. In doing so, in the present invention, only those devices that meet the required standards are displayed for selection from the dialog window.

Once a desired component is selected by pointing and clicking with a mouse or other input device, the design engineer can locate the component in the 3D environment database. This process involves the design engineer using a mouse or other input device to visually identify the appropriate location of the component by clicking (or identifying) the location in the 3-D environment database. For example, an antenna assembly can be placed in a specific room of a building, on the top of a flagpole next to the building, in the center of a park, or other locations deemed reasonable by the designer. In a similar manner, select components that span a distance (for example, coaxial cables, optical cables, leaky feeder antennas, or any components with actual length) by clicking the vertices (or endpoints) of the identified components with a mouse or other input device, and Position them in a 3-D environment, where each pair of vertices are connected by a line segment that represents a part of the cable. Therefore, although some components, such as point antennas or splitters, only need a single point in a 3-D environment to identify their position in the wireless communication system, such as distributed cables or distributed antennas. Other components of the need to use the representation of multiple points connected by line segments to identify reputation. In the present invention, a unique graphic symbol is used to represent each wireless system component, and they are superimposed on a three-dimensional

00808048.8 On the environment database, the designer can visualize the wireless communication system as if it exists in the real world. FIG. 4 shows a base station 107 which is an example of a graphic display and is only displayed in two dimensions for convenience. The base station 107 is connected to two indoor point antennas 403a and 403b via two coaxial cables 402.

This embodiment of the invention provides and links information about the dependencies of wireless system components. These dependencies may include, but are not limited to, impedance matching of the combined component, maximum laying length, and/or appropriate termination. Some components in the parts list library may need to be located in the 3-D environment database before they are selected and added to the wireless system. For example, a splitter or other device designed to connect two or more independent components may require an existing component to exist in a three-dimensional database in order for the splitter to connect to it. In the previous embodiment of the present invention, if the designer chooses to place a hardware component in the 3-D environment database, and the desired component depends on some other devices currently placed in the 3D database, then a selection window prompts The designer identifies the independent component and thereby locates the selected component. In the previous splitter component example, if the designer chooses to connect the splitter to the end of an existing cable assembly by identifying the cable assembly with a mouse or other input device, then the position of the splitter in the three-dimensional database is automatically The ground is designated as the end of the identified cable. Wireless system components that do not have this dependency (for example, base station transceivers) can be freely located anywhere in the 3D environment database deemed appropriate by the designer. Although this description is specific to a specific implementation, those familiar with the field can see how it can be developed and implemented within the scope of this document. Practice different realizations.

Using the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a designer can visually and mechanically model and represent a complex wireless communication system including any number of independent hardware components selected from a library of parts lists, these selected hardware components being interconnected and Link to form a complete antenna system. Since each component has related characteristics related to electrical properties (for example, gain, noise figure, attenuation) and cost, any addition, removal, or change of components will directly affect the performance of the wireless system and the overall system cost. With this preferred embodiment of the present invention, this information is updated in real time as the designer makes changes to the wireless system. If one

00808048.8 The first wireless communication system includes a specific hardware component. The present invention retrieves related electromechanical characteristics and other related information from the parts list library entry dedicated to this component. This information is stored in a database and then used to quantify the impact of this component on various aspects of wireless system design parameters or performance. For example, the parts list library information for a specific cable means that the attenuation of the cable is 3.5 (ffl) per 100 meters, and the designer has added a 200-meter-long cable to the wireless communication system, then the present invention The information about the cable layout and length in the 3-D environmental database is combined with the attenuation loss information from the parts list library to determine the total attenuation loss of the cable 7dB. In addition, the noise figure and the noise figure of the cable are calculated based on the known communication theory. Other related quality. If the designer subsequently adds an amplifier to the wireless system and connects it to the end of the cable as described above, the present invention retrieves information about the amplifier from the parts list library to determine the wireless distributed system Total gain. For example, if the selected amplifier has a relative gain of 10dB and a certain specific noise figure, the present invention combines the characteristics of the interconnected cable and amplifier to determine the 3dB total gain of the combined components and the new system noise figure. If the designer edits or changes the component information in the parts list library, it will be automatically reflected in the wireless system. System performance prediction is in progress. For example, if the amplifier in the above example has a relative gain edited in the parts list library and changes from 10dB to 15dB, then automatically recalculate the cables and amplifiers from the example including but not limited to system gain and system noise figure The characteristics of the combined system result in a total gain of 8dB instead of 3dBo. Similarly, if you reposition the cable to change its total length, or replace it with a different component from the parts list library, then the effect of doing so will be automatically Recalculate and reflect in all future operations. Although the examples given are based on simple gains and losses of independent wireless components, those skilled in the art can apply the same method to any other electrical, electromechanical, financial, aesthetic or related components in the parts list library. Other qualities, and can be applied to the entire system in a similar way.

A preferred parts list library is designed to be general and can be applied to any type of wireless communication system component or wireless communication system design method. There are eight basic types of components in the preferred parts list library used in this preferred embodiment, although more types can be added as needed:

00808048.8 p.

1. Amplifier/attenuator one by one in general, a device that increases or decreases the intensity of radio wave signals;

2. Connector/splitter is a device that connects one or more components to one or more additional components in general one by one;

3. Cables-various types of cables (for example, optical cables, coaxial cables, twisted-pair cables, etc.);

4. Point antenna specified by the manufacturer-any antenna that is manufactured and whose manufacturer provides information about the radiation pattern of the antenna. The radiation pattern of an antenna describes how the antenna radiates radio signals. Antenna manufacturers provide information about the radiation patterns of their antennas, allowing designers to maximize the effectiveness of the antenna configuration;

5. -General point antenna-any general or idealized antenna (that is, an antenna that cannot be physically realized or has a general radiation pattern);

6. Leaky feeder cable/antenna---an antenna type in the form of a dedicated coaxial cable;

7. Base station/repeater-the control part of a wireless communication system. The base station manages all communications that occur in the wireless network; and

8. Other-any component that does not belong to any of the above categories.

Each component has a variety of different correlation values. These values include, but are not limited to: manufacturer name; manufacturing part number; user-supplied description; frequency range of component testing; attenuation/amplification; number of connections; physical cost (material cost of the component); installation cost; and antenna radiation mode.

Base station and repeater components have many additional parameters related to them, including, but not

00808048.8 Limited to: Technology/air interface-Identifies the wireless technology used by the base station (for example, AMPS ("Analog Cell"), IS-136 ("Digital Cell"), IEEE 802.il ("Wireless LAN), etc.) ; Frequency/channel allocation-identify the radio frequency/channel that the base station can use; and transmit power-the amount of power broadcast by the base station.

The following shows an excerpt from a preferred embodiment of a parts list, where the identifying line number does not actually exist in the database:

1: Keywordentrytypemanufacturerpart# I frequency (MHZ) I dB loss/gain (per 100 meters of cable)connectioncost (US$)documentation

2: 0 | General feederCableGeneralN/Α900 | 2 | 20 IN/A

3: 1 | General ConnectorConnectorGeneralN/A | 900 | 1 | 2 | 0 IN/A

4: 2 | General SplitterConnectorGeneralN/A | 900 | 2 I 3 | 0 IN/A

5: 3 | General 10dB amplifierAmplifierGeneralN/AI 900 I 10 | 2

I 0 | N/A

6: 4 | General Leaky FeederAntenna-LeakyGeneralN/A | 1900 I 4 | 2

I 0 | N/A Line 1 is a title line, indicating the title of a field delimited by a pipe, or "character. The first field is "key"; the second field is "entry ( ITEM)"; the third field is "TYPE"; etc. The penultimate field is the cost in dollars. Rows 2 to 6 show five records in the parts list of the following components: General Feeders, general connectors, general splitters, general 1 OdB amplifiers, and general leaky feeders.

00808048.8 The first designer can easily modify the parts list, just like putting new components on the market, withdrawing them from the market, or repricing. The possibility of maintaining a unique device list for each diagram allows designers to perform rapid design analysis to compare and contrast the performance and cost of different vendor components. With the present invention, the impact of using a specific component on the cost and performance of the wireless communication system can be immediately seen. Information that can be tracked with the bill of materials includes manufacturer and part numbers, physical and installation costs, RF loss characteristics, connections, and effective frequencies for the components. In addition, the use of a rich set of customization features enables designers to create a library of parts lists that suit the needs of the target application. In addition, when components with associated length data such as cables or leaky feeder antennas are built, extended, moved, or modified, their associated costs and impact on wireless system performance are automatically updated in the bill of materials to Adapt to changes in length. In addition, storing the parts list as an integral part of the drawing database allows users to call and archive the system design and all features. In addition, any standard link budget formula, noise figure formula, or some other metrics like bit error rate or network throughput can be used to immediately recalculate the performance of the wireless communication system. This recalculation uses specific electrical specifications for each component in the system that are also stored in the bill of materials.

Referring again to the drawings, particularly Figure 16, Figure 16 shows a list of material aggregates for one drawing. A description of a base station "MACROCELL" 1610 is shown to identify the antenna system for which the aggregate list is displayed. The first component 1611 is a PCN Panel 1710-1990 Deg 9.00dB gain point antenna manufactured by Allen Telecom. It should be noted that the component cost 1612, the classification subtotal cost 1613, and the total system cost 1614 are $0.00. This means that the designer has not updated the parts list library with the current cost. When the list library is updated, the summary will automatically display the component cost, as well as the subtotal and total cost of all base stations and components in the diagram.

Figure 17 shows a material list whose cost has been entered into the parts list database. Another component 1720 has also been added to the MACROCELL base station. The cost of each component 1612a and 1721 is now shown. The subtotal cost 1613a and the total cost 1614&Ο are also shown.

00808048.8 Referring now to FIG. 18, FIG. 18 shows the general method of the present invention. As mentioned above, first, in function block 180, the designer must create a database that defines the desired environment. Then, a component database is developed in the function block 181. In the case of a wireless communication network, a preferred method is described above. The establishment of these components will automatically generate a list of parts categorized by the base station and antenna system. In the function box 182, a material list can be displayed at any time.

In order to optimize the design of the wireless communication system and ensure sufficient antenna coverage, in function block 183, the designer runs a series of prediction models and optimization techniques. The foregoing illustrates a preferred method of running forecasts. This method allows the designer to see changes in the overall coverage and coverage of specially selected observation points in real time when the antenna is repositioned or oriented. In the function box 184, the designer can choose to add, delete or replace components, and then re-run the model in the function box 183. Whenever the designer makes changes in the system to improve performance, the bill of materials is automatically updated. In function block 183, the designer can run the predictive model and determine whether the wireless system is suitable in terms of performance and cost as in the design. If not, then the designer can choose to use cost or component performance to consider modifying the component. Performance parameters can be entered to allow the designer to select replacement components from a list containing only those components that will not degrade the performance of the overall system. It should be noted that in the preferred embodiment, the prediction or system performance model is recalculated upon user request, but those familiar with the art should know that it is also possible to add new components to or subtract from the bill of materials immediately ( "On-the-fly") recalculate the model.

The synthesis of the bill of materials and component performance specifications is the key to providing a fast and effective method for designing high-performance wireless communication networks within budget.

Although the present invention has been described based on its preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art know that the present invention can be used in modified practice within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

00808048.8