US-12621677-B2 - System and method for selecting new cell sites for deployment in a cellular network

US12621677B2US 12621677 B2US12621677 B2US 12621677B2US-12621677-B2

Abstract

Data relating to call failures that occurred in a wireless communication network is accessed from a memory, the data including a plurality of call failure samples. The samples are plotted on a map along with a potential new cell site. An enclosed buffer area is selected around the potential new cell site and call failure samples within the enclosed buffer area are selected. Among the selected samples, a set of samples is selected that are associated with values of a coverage parameter lower than a coverage threshold. A percentage contribution is calculated of the samples in the set among all samples within the buffer area. When the percentage contribution equals or exceeds a first threshold and a number of the samples in the buffer area equals or exceeds a second threshold, it is determined that the potential new cell site is to be deployed.

Inventors

Ahmed Awwad Whdan
Satish Kumar Sharma
Arnold Foronda Agcaoili

Assignees

DISH WIRELESS L.L.C.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20231228

Claims (20)

1 . A system comprising: a memory storing data relating to call failures that occurred in a wireless communication network; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and configured to: access from the memory the data relating to the call failures, wherein the data comprises: a plurality of call failure samples, wherein: each call failure sample is associated with a wireless call placed from a particular user equipment (UE); each call failure sample is associated with a call failure event; each call failure event comprises a call drop event or a call setup failure event; a coverage parameter associated with each call failure sample, wherein each coverage parameter indicates a power associated with a network signal measured by a particular UE; a signal quality parameter associated with each call failure sample, wherein each signal quality parameter indicates a quality of a network signal measured by a particular UE; each call failure sample is associated with a geolocation; and the geolocation associated with a call failure sample indicates a geographical location where a respective call failure event is recorded; plot the plurality of call failure samples on a geographical map, wherein plotting the call failure samples comprises plotting each call failure sample at a geolocation associated with the call failure sample; obtain information associated with a potential new cell site, wherein the information comprises a proposed geolocation of the potential new cell site; plot the potential new cell site on the map at the proposed geolocation; select, on the map, an enclosed buffer area around the potential new cell site, wherein the enclosed buffer area associated with the potential new cell site represents an estimated cell coverage of the potential new cell site; select the call failure samples enclosed by the buffer area; among the selected call failure samples, select a set of call failure samples that are associated with values of the coverage parameter that are lower than a coverage threshold; calculate a percentage contribution of the call failure samples in the set among all call failure samples enclosed in the buffer area; when the percentage contribution equals or exceeds a first threshold and a number of the call failure samples in the set equals or exceeds a second threshold, determine that the potential new cell site is to be deployed at the respective proposed geolocation; and when the percentage contribution is lower than the first threshold or a number of the call failure samples in the set is lower than the second threshold, determine that the potential new cell site is not to be deployed.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to: obtain information associated with a plurality of potential new cell sites, wherein the information comprises a proposed geolocation of each potential new cell site; plot the plurality of potential new cell sites on the map at respective proposed geolocations; select, on the map, a second enclosed buffer area around each potential new cell site, wherein the second enclosed buffer area associated with each potential new cell site represents a cell coverage of the potential new cell site; for each potential cell site: select the call failure samples enclosed by the second buffer area; among the selected call failure samples enclosed by the second buffer area, select a second set of call failure samples that are associated with values of the coverage parameter that are lower than a coverage threshold; and calculate the percentage contribution of the call failure samples in the second set among all call failure samples enclosed in the second buffer area; select the potential new cell sites associated with a respective percentage contribution that equals or exceeds the first threshold and a respective number of the call failure samples in the second set that equals or exceeds the second threshold; and rank the selected potential new cell sites based on the respective percentage contributions, wherein a higher rank is assigned to a potential new cell site having a higher respective percentage contribution.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine that a pre-selected number of a highest ranked potential new cell sites are to be deployed at respective proposed geo-locations.
4 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the second buffer areas selected for the potential new cell sites differ in one or more of a size of the second buffer area or a shape of the second buffer area.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to select the call failure samples enclosed by the buffer area by: generating a first map layer comprising the call failure samples plotted on a first copy of the map; generating a second map layer comprising the potential new cell site and the respective buffer area plotted on a second copy of the map; geospatially overlapping the first map layer and the second map layer; and selecting the call failure samples plotted in a portion of the first map layer that overlaps with the buffer area of the second map layer.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of call failure samples are recorded by a particular version of a UE that recorded a least number of call failure samples among all call failure samples recorded by a plurality of UEs.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to: receive the plurality of call failure samples from a plurality of UEs, wherein each UE runs a mobile application that records the call failure samples.
8 . A method for resolving call failures in a wireless communication network, comprising: accessing from a memory data relating to call failures that occurred in the wireless communication network, wherein the data comprises: a plurality of call failure samples, wherein: each call failure sample is associated with a wireless call placed from a particular user equipment (UE); each call failure sample is associated with a call failure event; each call failure event comprises a call drop event or a call setup failure event; a coverage parameter associated with each call failure sample, wherein each coverage parameter indicates a power associated with a network signal measured by a particular UE; a signal quality parameter associated with each call failure sample, wherein each signal quality parameter indicates a quality of a network signal measured by a particular UE; each call failure sample is associated with a geolocation; and the geolocation associated with a call failure sample indicates a geographical location where a respective call failure event is recorded; plotting the plurality of call failure samples on a geographical map, wherein plotting the call failure samples comprises plotting each call failure sample at a geolocation associated with the call failure sample; obtaining information associated with a potential new cell site, wherein the information comprises a proposed geolocation of the potential new cell site; plotting the potential new cell site on the map at the proposed geolocation; selecting, on the map, an enclosed buffer area around the potential new cell site, wherein the enclosed buffer area associated with the potential new cell site represents an estimated cell coverage of the potential new cell site; selecting the call failure samples enclosed by the buffer area; among the selected call failure samples, selecting a set of call failure samples that are associated with values of the coverage parameter that are lower than a coverage threshold; calculating a percentage contribution of the call failure samples in the set among all call failure samples enclosed in the buffer area; when the percentage contribution equals or exceeds a first threshold and a number of the call failure samples in the set equals or exceeds a second threshold, determining that the potential new cell site is to be deployed at the respective proposed geolocation; and when the percentage contribution is lower than the first threshold or a number of the call failure samples in the set is lower than the second threshold, determining that the potential new cell site is not to be deployed.
9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising: obtaining information associated with a plurality of potential new cell sites, wherein the information comprises a proposed geolocation of each potential new cell site; plotting the plurality of potential new cell sites on the map at respective proposed geolocations; selecting, on the map, a second enclosed buffer area around each potential new cell site, wherein the second enclosed buffer area associated with each potential new cell site represents a cell coverage of the potential new cell site; for each potential cell site: selecting the call failure samples enclosed by the second buffer area; among the selected call failure samples enclosed by the second buffer area, selecting a second set of call failure samples that are associated with values of the coverage parameter that are lower than a coverage threshold; and calculating the percentage contribution of the call failure samples in the second set among all call failure samples enclosed in the second buffer area; selecting the potential new cell sites associated with a respective percentage contribution that equals or exceeds the first threshold and a respective number of the call failure samples in the second set that equals or exceeds the second threshold; and ranking the selected potential new cell sites based on the respective percentage contributions, wherein a higher rank is assigned to a potential new cell site having a higher respective percentage contribution.
10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising determining that a pre-selected number of a highest ranked potential new cell sites are to be deployed at respective proposed geo-locations.
11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the second buffer areas selected for the potential new cell sites differ in one or more of a size of the second buffer area or a shape of the second buffer area.
12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein selecting the call failure samples enclosed by the buffer area comprises: generating a first map layer comprising the call failure samples plotted on a first copy of the map; generating a second map layer comprising the potential new cell site and the respective buffer area plotted on a second copy of the map; geospatially overlapping the first map layer and the second map layer; and selecting the call failure samples plotted in a portion of the first map layer that overlaps with the buffer area of the second map layer.
13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of call failure samples are recorded by a particular version of a UE that recorded a least number of call failure samples among all call failure samples recorded by a plurality of UEs.
14 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising: receiving the plurality of call failure samples from a plurality of UEs, wherein each UE runs a mobile application that records the call failure samples.
15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium that storing instructions that when executed by a processor causes the processor to: access from a memory data relating to call failures that occurred in a wireless communication network, wherein the data comprises: a plurality of call failure samples, wherein: each call failure sample is associated with a wireless call placed from a particular user equipment (UE); each call failure sample is associated with a call failure event; each call failure event comprises a call drop event or a call setup failure event; a coverage parameter associated with each call failure sample, wherein each coverage parameter indicates a power associated with a network signal measured by a particular UE; a signal quality parameter associated with each call failure sample, wherein each signal quality parameter indicates a quality of a network signal measured by a particular UE; each call failure sample is associated with a geolocation; and the geolocation associated with a call failure sample indicates a geographical location where a respective call failure event is recorded; plot the plurality of call failure samples on a geographical map, wherein plotting the call failure samples comprises plotting each call failure sample at a geolocation associated with the call failure sample; obtain information associated with a potential new cell site, wherein the information comprises a proposed geolocation of the potential new cell site; plot the potential new cell site on the map at the proposed geolocation; select, on the map, an enclosed buffer area around the potential new cell site, wherein the enclosed buffer area associated with the potential new cell site represents an estimated cell coverage of the potential new cell site; select the call failure samples enclosed by the buffer area; among the selected call failure samples, select a set of call failure samples that are associated with values of the coverage parameter that are lower than a coverage threshold; calculate a percentage contribution of the call failure samples in the set among all call failure samples enclosed in the buffer area; when the percentage contribution equals or exceeds a first threshold and a number of the call failure samples in the set equals or exceeds a second threshold, determine that the potential new cell site is to be deployed at the respective proposed geolocation; and when the percentage contribution is lower than the first threshold or a number of the call failure samples in the set is lower than the second threshold, determine that the potential new cell site is not to be deployed.
16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to: obtain information associated with a plurality of potential new cell sites, wherein the information comprises a proposed geolocation of each potential new cell site; plot the plurality of potential new cell sites on the map at respective proposed geolocations; select, on the map, a second enclosed buffer area around each potential new cell site, wherein the second enclosed buffer area associated with each potential new cell site represents a cell coverage of the potential new cell site; for each potential cell site: select the call failure samples enclosed by the second buffer area; among the selected call failure samples enclosed by the second buffer area, select a second set of call failure samples that are associated with values of the coverage parameter that are lower than a coverage threshold; and calculate the percentage contribution of the call failure samples in the second set among all call failure samples enclosed in the second buffer area; select the potential new cell sites associated with a respective percentage contribution that equals or exceeds the first threshold and a respective number of the call failure samples in the second set that equals or exceeds the second threshold; and rank the selected potential new cell sites based on the respective percentage contributions, wherein a higher rank is assigned to a potential new cell site having a higher respective percentage contribution.
17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to determine that a pre-selected number of a highest ranked potential new cell sites are to be deployed at respective proposed geo-locations.
18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the second buffer areas selected for the potential new cell sites differ in one or more of a size of the second buffer area or a shape of the second buffer area.
19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to select the call failure samples enclosed by the buffer area by: generating a first map layer comprising the call failure samples plotted on a first copy of the map; generating a second map layer comprising the potential new cell site and the respective buffer area plotted on a second copy of the map; geospatially overlapping the first map layer and the second map layer; and selecting the call failure samples plotted in a portion of the first map layer that overlaps with the buffer area of the second map layer.
20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of call failure samples are recorded by a particular version of a UE that recorded a least number of call failure samples among all call failure samples recorded by a plurality of UEs.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to a system and method for selecting new cell sites for deployment in a cellular network. BACKGROUND Performance of a cellular network is often monitored and measured by cellular network operators to understand how well the network is performing in particular areas of cell coverage and to determine any problems with the cellular network. Decisions are made with regard to deployment of new cell sites, placement of cell sites and upgradation of existing cell sites based on network performance data collected for a particular cellular network. SUMMARY The system and methods implemented by the system as disclosed in the present disclosure provide an intelligent technique to identify root causes of call failures in a wireless network and resolve the identified root causes. The disclosed system and methods provide several practical applications and technical advantages. For example, the disclosed system and method provide the practical application of determining performance issues associated with a cellular network quickly and accurately. The disclosed system and method provide the additional practical application of effectively resolving the identified problems in the cellular network to improve network performance and/or maintain high levels of performance within the cellular network. As described in embodiments of the present disclosure a performance server obtains a plurality of call samples (including call failure samples) recorded by one or more user equipment (UEs) in a wireless network (e.g., cellular network). Each call failure sample is associated with a call failure event such as a call drop event or a call setup failure event and includes values of a plurality of parameters recorded by the UE. The performance server classifies the call failure samples into a plurality of sample sets, wherein each sample set of call failure samples is associated with particular network conditions in which the respective call failure samples assigned to the sample set were recorded. Each sample set is associated with one or more root causes and one or more remedial actions that can be implemented to resolve one or more of the root causes. Once the call failure samples have been classified/grouped into the sample sets, the performance server identifies one or more root causes that caused call failure events associated with the call failure samples and provide recommendations of remedial actions that need to be implemented to resolve the identified root causes. For example, when one or more call failure samples are assigned to a particular sample set, the performance server obtains the possible root causes mapped to the particular sample set and the corresponding remedial actions for each of the root causes. The performance server generates a report that includes the possible root causes mapped to the particular sample set and a recommendation of a corresponding remedial action for each of the root causes. The report generated by the performance server may be used as a guidance by a network operator associated with the cellular network to identify and resolve one or more root causes that caused the call failure events to occur. By identifying root causes associated with call failure events quickly and accurately and further determining and recommending correct remedial measures for the identified root causes, the proposed system and method allow quick resolution of network issues which improves overall performance of the wireless network. Further, by determining a root cause associated with a call failure event intelligently and accurately, the disclosed system and method save computing resources and network bandwidth that would otherwise be used to investigate the call failure and applying various remedial measures one by one until the problem is resolved. Thus, the disclosed system and method improve processing performance of computing systems used to implement network components and also improve network performance. The disclosed system and method provide an additional practical application of determining which proposed new cell sites are expected to have a high impact on resolving reported call failure issues and provide a recommendation to deploy those high impact new cell sites. As described in embodiments of the present disclosure, the performance server determines an impact that deploying a potential/proposed new cell site may have in improving call failure issues occurring at a geographical location where the potential new cell site is proposed for deployment, and further determine whether the potential new cell site is to be deployed at the geographical location based on a determined degree of impact associated with deploying the potential new cell site. To determine an impact of deploying a potential new cell site at a proposed geolocation, the performance server analyzes call failure samples recorded in th