GPS downloadable interface locator

In a wireless communication network a method for locating and tracking status of a plurality of radio ports comprises the steps of: determining a coordinate position of one of the plurality of radio ports; and transmitting the coordinate position to a control center. The method can further comprise the step of removably-interfacing a GPS receiver to one of the plurality of radio ports. Transmitting the coordinate position to the control center can utilize a wired connection. Additionally, the coordinate position can be stored at the control center. The coordinate position is integrated into a map of the plurality of radio ports. A nonresponsive radio port can be identified by a corresponding coordinate position and the wireless network traffic can be routed appropriately.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to wireless communications, and more 
particularly to locating wireless base station radio ports. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Wireless access provides tetherless access to mobile users, this has been 
done principally to address the requirements of two specific and disjoint 
domains: voice telephony and indoor data LANs. Cellular telephone networks 
have extended the domain of telephone service over a wireless last hop, 
while mobile-IP LANs such as WayeLAN from AT&T, and RangeLAN from Proxim, 
do the same for indoor users of TCP/IP data networks. Advances with 
wireless technology and high-speed integrated service wired networking 
promises to provide mobile users with comprehensive multimedia information 
access in the near future. 
Personal Communication Services (PCS) are a broad range of individualized 
telecommunication services which enable individuals or devices to 
communicate irrespective of where they are. Personal Communication 
Networks (PCN) are a new type of wireless telephone system communicating 
via low-power antennas. PCNs offer a digital wireless alternative to the 
traditional wired line. 
As a cellular mobile radio moves from one cell to another, it is "handed" 
off to the next cell by a master computer, which determines which cell is 
receiving the strongest signal. Because the transceiver is always closer 
to the cellular user than in classical mobile communications, the cellular 
user's transceiver requires less power and is therefore less expensive. 
This advantage comes at a cost, the necessity of a large number of cell 
sites and associated radio ports. The switching from one cell to an 
adjacent cell site requires the accurate knowledge of the availability of 
the radio ports and their locations. 
Therefore, there is a need to be able to automatically and accurately 
identify the location of the radio ports for management and maintenance of 
the cellular network. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided in a wireless 
communication network a method for locating and tracking status of a 
plurality of radio ports. The method comprising the steps of: determining 
a coordinate position of one of the plurality of radio ports; and 
transmitting the coordinate position to a control center. 
In an enhancement of the present invention, the method further comprises 
the step of removably interfacing a GPS receiver to one of the plurality 
of radio ports. The step of transmitting the coordinate position to the 
control center can utilize a wired connection. Additionally, the 
coordinate position can be stored at the control center. 
In a further enhancement of the present invention, the coordinate position 
is integrated into a map of the plurality of radio ports. A nonresponsive 
radio port can be identified by a corresponding coordinate position and 
the wireless network traffic can be routed appropriately.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS 
Although the present invention is particularly well suited for use with a 
Mobile Telephone Cellular Systems and shall be described with respect to 
this application, the methods and apparatus disclosed here can be applied 
to other cellular systems including PCS. 
Referring now to FIG. 1 there is shown a block diagram of a wireless 
network. A Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO) 10 contains the field 
monitoring and relay stations for switching calls between the cellular 
network and the switched wired network 12. The MTSO controls the entire 
operation of a cellular system, monitoring all cellular calls, and 
tracking the location of all cellular-equipped vehicles traveling in the 
system, arranging hand-offs, and providing billing information. The MTSO 
is connected to a plurality of base stations 14. The base station 14 is 
the fixed transceiver in the wireless network, which is coupled through a 
radio port to a cellular antenna 16. The geographical area for which a 
base station 14 acts as the gateway is called its cell 18, the various 
base station 18 nodes are distributed at suitable locations. A mobile unit 
20 communicates with a base station 14 within a cell 18. Each base station 
14 contains an interface connection 22. The interface connection 22 is an 
RS232 connector, a PCMCIA connector, or other standard data interface. 
FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the present invention GPS downloadable interface 
locator. In the initial step 30 a GPS receiver is connected to the 
interface connection 22 shown in FIG. 1. In the next step 32, the GPS 
receiver determines the location coordinates. This is accomplished when 
the GPS receiver listens to signals from a constellation of satellites 
that orbit the earth twice a day, transmitting precise timing information. 
The interval between the transmission and the reception of the satellite 
signals is used to calculate the unit's distance from each of the 
satellites being used. Those distances are used in algorithms to compute a 
position. The GPS coordinate position transferred in step 34 through the 
interface connection 22 and is stored within non-volatile memory of the 
base station 14. The GPS coordinate position is also transmitted by the 
base station 14 to a maintenance control center 22 of the wireless 
network. The connection from the base station 14 to the maintenance 
control center 22 may comprise an ISDN connection or other network 
connection including connections utilizing wired lines, optical cables, 
coaxial cables and other transmission media. In step 36, having accurately 
located the position of the base station 14, shown in FIG. 1, the GPS 
receiver is disconnected. In step 38 the cellular network is monitored for 
a nonresponsive radio port such as a failure of a radio port in a cell. 
When a nonresponsive radio port such as a failure of a radio port in a 
cell is detected the exact location is reported to the maintenance control 
center 22 in step 40 
It should be noted that step 30 where a GPS receiver is connected to the 
interface connection 22 can follow just as well proceed the step 32 where 
the GPS receiver determines the location coordinates. 
After receiving the GPS location coordinates, the data can be integrated 
into a location map for displaying the wireless network status and 
performance. Upon detecting a nonresponsive or malfunctioning radio port, 
the maintenance control system 22 may dispatch the appropriate service and 
support as well as reconfigure the remaining radio ports and cells as 
necessary to compensate for the failure and minimize any disruption to the 
network. 
The present invention GPS Downloadable Interface Locator is equally well 
suited for an indoor wireless communication network, including a PCS 
network, the SWAN (Seamless Wireless ATM Networking) mobile networked 
computing environment at Bell Laboratories, or other similar networks. 
When the present invention GPS Downloadable Interface Locator is utilized 
with an indoor wireless communication network, when the GPS receiver is 
attached to the interface of the base station the GPS receiver may have 
difficulty obtaining a GPS coordinate within the structure. Under these 
conditions it may be necessary to locate the GPS receiver above the 
structure at a predetermined location. The GPS receiver may be positioned 
above each of the base stations or may be positioned at a reference point 
and the base stations located with respect to the reference point on a 
reference grid. This location information is stored in a portable computer 
attached to the GPS receiver for subsequent uploading to the base stations 
of the indoor wireless network. 
Numerous modifications and alternative embodiments of the invention will be 
apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description. 
Accordingly, this description is to be construed as illustrative only and 
is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the best mode of 
carrying out the invention. Details of the structure may be varied 
substantially without departing from the spirit of the invention and the 
exclusive use of all modifications which come within the scope of the 
appended claim is reserved.