Abstract:
A node disposition apparatus, a node disposition method and a computer readable medium thereof are provided. The node disposition apparatus may determine where a base station (BS) and a relay station (RS) should be disposed according to a connected mobile station amount of each node disposition candidate position in a non-transparent wireless network. Thereby, the BS and the RS may be disposed effectively to overcome the defects of the conventional BS and RS disposition way.

Description:
PRIORITY 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to Taiwan Patent Application No. 098138577, filed on Nov. 13, 2009, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
       FIELD 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a node disposition apparatus, a node disposition method and a computer readable medium thereof. Specifically, the present invention relates to a node disposition apparatus, a node disposition method and a computer readable medium thereof capable of disposing a node according to a connected mobile station (MS) amount of each node disposition candidate position in a non-transparent wireless network. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    In terms of the communication distance, wireless network technologies currently available may be classified into a variety of wireless network standards such as WLAN (Wireless Wide Area Network), WMAN (Wireless Metropolitan Area Network), WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network), Bluetooth, Infrared (IR) and so on. Among these wireless network standards, WLAN standards are used the most commonly in people&#39;s daily life, for example, in WLAN access points (APs) that obviate the need of wiring, WLAN wireless network cards used in home computers and the like. 
         [0004]    Compared to a wired network, a wireless network is more convenient to deploy and has greater mobility in usage, and meanwhile, use of a wireless network may dramatically reduce the cost of manpower and materials that are conventionally needed for the wired network. However, albeit of these advantages, the wireless network still has many limitations such as an instable data transmission range, poor data transmission safety, a low data transmission speed and so on. 
         [0005]    When it is desired to deploy a wireless network in a space, in order to overcome these drawbacks of the wireless network, a lot of wireless network nodes are often disposed in the space to form a wireless network whose signal coverage is adequate to cover the whole space. However, a problem involved in deployment of the wireless network is how to deploy the wireless network correctly and completely and allow for all wireless network nodes to transmit data to each other so as to ensure that all data can be transmitted to any position of the space. 
         [0006]    Accordingly, there remains a need in the art to provide a solution that can: dispose a wireless network node appropriately in a space to ensure that all wireless network nodes can transmit data to each other; reduce the amount of wireless network nodes that need to be deployed so as to reduce the deployment time and cost; and finally, dispose new wireless network nodes when changes occur to the network traffic or to the amount of wireless network nodes, thereby maximizing the effective signal coverage of the wireless network. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    An objective of certain embodiments of the present invention is to provide a node disposition apparatus for use in a non-transparent wireless network. The node disposition apparatus comprises a storage unit and a microprocessor. The storage unit is electrically connected to the microprocessor and configured to store a first node disposition candidate position and a second node disposition candidate position of the non-transparent wireless network as well as a connected mobile station (MS) amount of each of the node disposition candidate positions. The microprocessor is configured to: determine that the connected MS amount of the first node disposition candidate position is greater than the connected MS amount of the second node disposition candidate position; set the first node disposition candidate position as a first base station (BS) disposition position; subtract a common connected MS amount shared by the first node disposition candidate position and the second node disposition candidate position from the connected MS amount of the second node disposition candidate position to generate a revised connected MS amount of the second node disposition candidate position; determine that the revised connected MS amount of the second node disposition candidate position is unequal to zero to generate a first determination result; and according to the first determination result, set the second node disposition candidate position as a second BS disposition position. 
         [0008]    Another objective of certain embodiments of the present invention is to provide a node disposition method for a node disposition apparatus. The node disposition apparatus comprises a microprocessor and a storage unit electrically connected to the microprocessor. The storage unit is configured to store a first node disposition candidate position and a second node disposition candidate position of a non-transparent wireless network as well as a connected MS amount of each of the node disposition candidate positions. 
         [0009]    A node disposition method according to certain embodiments of the present invention comprises the steps of: (a) enabling the microprocessor to determine that the connected MS amount of the first node disposition candidate position is greater than the connected MS amount of the second node disposition candidate position; (b) enabling the microprocessor to set the first node disposition candidate position as a first BS disposition position; (c) enabling the microprocessor to subtract a common connected MS amount shared by the first node disposition candidate position and the second node disposition candidate position from the connected MS amount of the second node disposition candidate position to generate a revised connected MS amount of the second node disposition candidate position; (d) enabling the microprocessor to determine that the revised connected MS amount of the second node disposition candidate position is unequal to zero to generate a first determination result; and (e) enabling the microprocessor to set the second node disposition candidate position as a second BS disposition position according to the first determination result. 
         [0010]    Further, to accomplish the aforesaid objectives, certain embodiments of the present invention further provide a computer readable medium, which stores a program of a node disposition method for a node disposition apparatus. When the program is loaded into the node disposition apparatus, the aforesaid node disposition method can be accomplished. 
         [0011]    Certain embodiments of the present invention may determine on which node disposition candidate position a BS or an RS may be disposed according to the connected MS amount of each node disposition candidate position, so as to make a compromise between the effective signal coverage and the number of wireless network nodes in a non-transparent wireless network. This addresses the need of deploying too many wireless network nodes in order to maximize the effective signal coverage of the non-transparent wireless network, which would otherwise cause a considerable increase in the deployment cost of the wireless network. 
         [0012]    The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for the subject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanying the appended drawings for people skilled in this field to well appreciate the features of the claimed invention. It is understood that the features mentioned hereinbefore and those to be commented on hereinafter may be used not only in the specified combinations, but also in other combinations or in isolation, without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a node disposition apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIGS. 2A-2C  are schematic views of a non-transparent wireless network according to the first embodiment; and 
           [0015]      FIGS. 3A-3C  are a flowchart according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
       [0016]    While the invention is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the intention is not to limit the invention to the particular example embodiments described. On the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0017]    In the following description, the present invention will be explained with reference to embodiments thereof. However, these embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention to any specific environment, applications or particular implementations described in these embodiments. Therefore, description of these embodiments is only for purpose of illustration rather than limits the present invention. It should be appreciated that, in the following embodiments and the attached drawings, elements unrelated to the present invention are omitted from depiction; and dimensional relationships among individual elements in the attached drawings are illustrated only for ease of understanding, but not to limit the actual scale. 
         [0018]    A first embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 1 , which is a schematic view of a node disposition apparatus  1  for use in a non-transparent wireless network. As can be seen from  FIG. 1 , the node disposition apparatus  1  comprises a storage unit  11  and a microprocessor  13 . The storage unit  11  is electrically connected to the microprocessor  13  and configured to store a first node disposition candidate position  110  and a second node disposition candidate position  112  of the non-transparent wireless network, connected MS amounts  114  and  116  of each of the node disposition candidate positions, and a third node disposition candidate position  118 . 
         [0019]    For convenience of the following description, the non-transparent wireless network, to which the node disposition apparatus  1  is applied, is shown in  FIG. 2A . The non-transparent wireless network comprises a plurality of node disposition candidate positions  201 ,  203 , . . . ,  211  and a plurality of MSs  301 ,  303 , . . . ,  313 . In  FIG. 2 , a solid line represents that a BS or an RS disposed at the node disposition candidate position may communicate with an adjacent MS, and a dashed line represents that a BS or an RS disposed at the node disposition candidate position may communicate with an adjacent BS or RS. 
         [0020]    For example, a BS or an RS, when disposed at the node disposition candidate position  201 , may communicate with the MS  301 , MS  303 , MS  305 , MS  307 , and MS  309  as well as BSs or RSs disposed at the node disposition candidate positions  203  and  205 . In other words, the MS  301 , MS  303 , MS  305 , MS  307 , and MS  309  as well as BSs or RSs disposed at the node disposition candidate positions  203  and  205  may all be considered to be within the signal coverage of the node disposition candidate position  201 . 
         [0021]    For convenience of the following description, in this embodiment, the first node disposition candidate position  110 , the second node disposition candidate position  112  and the third node disposition candidate position  118  stored in the storage unit  11  as well as the MSs correspond to the node disposition candidate position  201 , the node disposition candidate position  207  and the node disposition candidate position  203  as well as the MSs  301 ,  303 , . . . ,  313  shown in  FIG. 2  respectively. In order for all the MSs in  FIG. 2A  to be covered by the signal coverage of the BSs or the RSs, the node disposition apparatus  1  will perform the following processes. 
         [0022]    Firstly, the microprocessor  13  of the node disposition apparatus  1  is configured to determine which one of the node disposition candidate positions  201 ,  203 , . . . ,  211  has the greatest connected MS amount. As can be seen from  FIG. 2A , the connected MS amounts of the node disposition candidate positions  201 ,  203 , . . . ,  211  are 5, 2, 1, 3, 2 and 1 respectively. Therefore, the microprocessor  13  determines that the node disposition candidate position  201  has the greatest connected MS amount. 
         [0023]    In other words, if a BS or an RS is disposed at the node disposition candidate position  201 , signal coverage thereof may cover all of the MSs  301 ,  303 ,  305 ,  307  and  309  to deliver the best deployment effectiveness. Hence, the microprocessor  13  sets the node disposition candidate position  201  as a first BS disposition position, and subtracts a common connected MS amount shared with the node disposition candidate position  201  respectively from the respective connected MS amount of each of the node disposition candidate positions  203 , . . . ,  211  to generate a revised connected MS amount respectively. 
         [0024]    More specifically, referring to  FIG. 2B , a schematic view of a non-transparent wireless network after the common connected MS amounts are subtracted is shown therein. As can be seen from  FIG. 2B , the revised connected MS amounts of the node disposition candidate positions  203 , . . . ,  211  after the common MS amounts are subtracted are 1, 0, 1, 0 and 0. As there are still some revised connected MS amounts that are unequal to 0, the microprocessor  13  determines that there are still MSs (i.e., the MSs  311  and  313 ) not covered by the signal coverage to generate a first determination result, and continues to determine which one of the node disposition candidate positions  203 , . . . ,  211  has the greatest revised connected MS amount. 
         [0025]    As can be seen from  FIG. 2B , both the node disposition candidate position  203  and the node disposition candidate position  207  have a revised connected MS amount of 1, so the microprocessor  13  choose one of the node disposition candidate position  203  and the node disposition candidate position  207  randomly for subsequent processes. Here, it is presumed that the node disposition candidate position  207  is chosen. Then, the microprocessor  13  will determine whether the node disposition candidate position  207  is located within signal coverage of a node disposition candidate position. If not, then the microprocessor  13  generates a second determination result and sets the node disposition candidate position  207  as a second BS disposition position according to the first determination result and the second determination result. 
         [0026]    If the microprocessor  13  determines that the node disposition candidate position  207  is located within signal coverage of a node disposition candidate position (i.e., the node disposition candidate position  201 ), it also generates a second determination result and sets the node disposition candidate position  207  as a RS disposition position according to the first determination result and the second determination result. In general, a BS provides better signal quality but has higher cost than a RS; so in order to reduce the disposition cost in this embodiment, a RS will be disposed at a node disposition candidate position only if the node disposition candidate position is located within signal coverage of a BS. Of course, in other embodiments, a BS may also be disposed at the node disposition candidate position  207  depending on practical conditions, and the present invention is not merely limited thereto. 
         [0027]    As can be seen from  FIG. 2B , the node disposition candidate position  207  is not located within signal coverage of the node disposition candidate position  201 , so a BS will be disposed at the node disposition candidate position  207 . Once the BS is disposed at the node disposition candidate position  207 , the microprocessor  13  subtracts a common connected MS amount shared with the node disposition candidate position  207  respectively from the respective connected MS amount of each of the node disposition candidate positions  203 ,  205 ,  209 ,  211  to generate a revised connected MS amount respectively. 
         [0028]    More specifically, referring to  FIG. 2C , a schematic view of the non-transparent wireless network after the common connected MS amounts are subtracted is shown therein. As can be seen from  FIG. 2C , after the common connected MS amounts are subtracted, the revised connected MS amounts of the node disposition candidate positions  203 ,  205 ,  209 ,  211  are 1, 0, 0 and 0 respectively. As there is still a revised connected MS amount that is unequal to 0, the microprocessor  13  determines that there is still a MS (i.e., the MS  313 ) that is not covered by the signal coverage, and continues to determine which one of the node disposition candidate positions  203 ,  205 ,  209 ,  211  has the greatest revised connected MS amount. 
         [0029]    As can be seen from  FIG. 2C , the node disposition candidate position  203  has a revised connected MS amount that is equal to 1, so the microprocessor  13  determines whether the node disposition candidate position  203  is located within signal coverage of a node disposition candidate position. In the case shown in  FIG. 2C , the microprocessor  13  must determine that the node disposition candidate position  203  is located within signal coverage of the node disposition candidate position  201  to generate a second determination result, and sets the node disposition candidate position  203  as a RS disposition position according to the first determination result and the second determination result. Thus, the node disposition in the non-transparent wireless network is completed. 
         [0030]    On the other hand, to reduce the node disposition cost, the microprocessor  13  of the disposition apparatus  1  may also dispose a node in the following way. In more detail, once the node disposition candidate position  207  is chosen randomly, the microprocessor  13  of the node disposition apparatus  1  will determine whether the node disposition candidate position is located within signal coverage of a third node disposition candidate position according to the second determination result to generate a third determination result. 
         [0031]    For example, as can be seen from  FIG. 2B , the node disposition candidate position  207  is located within signal coverage of the node disposition candidate position  205 , so the third determination result indicates that the node disposition candidate position  207  is located within signal coverage of the third node disposition candidate position (i.e. the node disposition candidate position  205 ). Additionally, as the node disposition candidate position  205  is located within signal coverage of the node disposition candidate position  201 , the microprocessor  13  of the node disposition apparatus  1  sets the node disposition candidate position  207  and the node disposition candidate position  205  as a RS disposition position respectively according to the first determination result, the second determination result and the third determination result. Thus, the BS disposed at the node disposition candidate position  201  may communicate with the MS  311  via the RSs disposed at the node disposition candidate position  207  and the node disposition candidate position  205 . 
         [0032]      FIGS. 3A-3C  show a second embodiment of the present invention, which is a node disposition method for use in the node disposition apparatus as described in the first embodiment. The node disposition apparatus comprises a microprocessor and a storage unit electrically connected with the microprocessor. The storage unit is configured to store a first node disposition candidate position and a second node disposition candidate position of a non-transparent wireless network, a connected MS amount of each of the node disposition candidate positions and a third node disposition candidate position. The third node disposition candidate position is located within signal coverage of the first BS disposition position. 
         [0033]    Besides, the node disposition method of the second embodiment may be implemented by a computer readable medium which, when being loaded into the node disposition apparatus via a computer and a plurality of codes contained therein is executed, can accomplish the node disposition method of the second embodiment. The computer readable medium may be stored in a tangible machine-readable medium, such as a read only memory (ROM), a flash memory, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a compact disk, a mobile disk, a magnetic tape, a database accessible to networks, or any other storage media with the same function and well known to those skilled in the art. 
         [0034]    The node disposition method of the second embodiment comprises the following steps. Referring to  FIG. 3A , step  401  is executed at first to enable the microprocessor to determine whether a connected MS amount of the first node disposition candidate position is greater than or equal to connected MS amounts of other node disposition candidate positions. If not, step  402  is executed to enable the microprocessor to choose one of the other node disposition candidate positions that has the greatest connected MS amount. 
         [0035]    If it is determined in step  401  that the connected MS amount of the first node disposition candidate position is greater than or equal to the connected MS amounts of the other node disposition candidate positions, then step  403  is executed to enable the microprocessor to determine whether the connected MS amount of the first node disposition candidate position is equal to any of the connected MS amounts of the other node disposition candidate positions. If yes, then step  404  is executed to enable the microprocessor to choose the first node disposition candidate position. 
         [0036]    Upon completion of step  404  or if it is determined in step  403  that the connected MS amount of the first node disposition candidate position is unequal to any of the connected MS amounts of the other node disposition candidate positions, then step  405  is executed to enable the microprocessor to set the first node disposition candidate position as a BS disposition position. Next, referring to  FIG. 3B , step  406  is executed to enable the microprocessor to subtract a common connected MS amount shared by the first node disposition candidate position and the second node disposition candidate position from the connected MS amount of the second node disposition candidate position to generate a revised connected MS amount of the second node disposition candidate position. 
         [0037]    Afterwards, step  407  is executed to enable the microprocessor to determine whether the revised connected MS amount of the second node disposition candidate position is unequal to zero. If not, then step  408  is executed to enable the microprocessor to stop operation. Otherwise, if it is determined in step  407  that the revised connected MS amount of the second node disposition candidate position is unequal to zero, then step  409  is executed to enable the microprocessor to determine whether signal coverage of the first BS disposition position covers the second node disposition candidate position. If yes, then step  410  is executed to enable the microprocessor to set the second node disposition candidate position as a RS disposition position. 
         [0038]    If it is determined in step  409  that the signal coverage of the first BS disposition position does not cover the second node disposition candidate position, then referring to  FIG. 3C , step  411  is executed to enable the microprocessor to determine whether the second node disposition candidate position is located within signal coverage of the third node disposition candidate position. If not, then step  412  is executed to enable the microprocessor to set the second node disposition candidate position as a BS disposition position. 
         [0039]    If it is determined in step  411  that the second node disposition candidate position is located within signal coverage of the third node disposition candidate position, then step  413  is executed to enable the microprocessor to set the second node disposition candidate position as an RS disposition position. Finally, step  414  is executed to enable the microprocessor to set the third node disposition candidate position as an RS disposition position. 
         [0040]    In addition to the aforesaid steps, the second embodiment can also execute all the operations and functions set forth in the first embodiment. How the second embodiment executes these operations and functions will be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the explanation of the first embodiment, and thus will not be further described herein. 
         [0041]    Certain embodiments of the disclosed invention may determine on which node disposition candidate position a BS or a RS may be disposed according to the connected MS amount of each node disposition candidate position, so as to make a compromise between the effective signal coverage and the number of wireless network nodes in a non-transparent wireless network. This obviates the need of deploying too many wireless network nodes in order to maximize the effective signal coverage of the non-transparent wireless network, which would otherwise cause a considerable increase in the deployment cost of the wireless network. 
         [0042]    The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents and inventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceed with a variety of modifications and replacements based on the disclosures and suggestions of the invention as described without departing from the characteristics thereof. Nevertheless, although such modifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the above descriptions, they have substantially been covered in the following claims as appended.