Methods and apparatus for access point location

A computerized method of determining an optimized placement of a wireless access point at a premises, said computerized method comprising:

• causing a plurality of wireless-enabled computerized devices to transmit and receive signals in a prescribed sequence in order to characterize:
• (i) at least one of movement or predictable pathways within said premises, and (ii) a performance of each of a plurality of wireless links between said plurality of wireless-enabled computerized devices;
• wherein said characterization of said at least one of said movement or said predictable pathways within said premises comprises:
• (i) generating a plurality of location profile data structures, said plurality of location profile data structures associated with respective ones of a plurality of locations within said premises where said plurality of wireless links are disposed, and (ii) initiating said prescribed sequence based on a movement of at least one of the plurality of wireless-enabled computerized devices;
• displaying information relating to said plurality of location profile data structures to at least one user of said premises, said displaying comprising enabling said at least one user to provide input to prioritize said plurality of locations based on a relative importance for each of said plurality of locations to said at least one user;
• and
• determining, based at least in part on said prioritization and said characterizations of said performance of said plurality of wireless links, a configuration comprising one or more of said plurality of locations where said performance of said plurality of wireless links is optimized when considered in an aggregate;
• wherein said causing said plurality of wireless-enabled computerized devices to transmit and receive signals in said prescribed sequence comprises causing at least:
• (i) a first one of said plurality of wireless-enabled computerized devices to radiate radio frequency signals, and a second one of said plurality of wireless-enabled computerized devices to receive said radio frequency signals radiated from said first one of said plurality of wireless-enabled computerized devices;
• and
• (ii) said second one of said plurality of wireless-enabled computerized devices to radiate radio frequency signals, and a third one of said plurality of wireless-enabled computerized devices to receive said radio frequency signals radiated from said second one of said plurality of wireless-enabled computerized devices.

A computer readable apparatus comprising a non-transitory storage medium, the non-transitory storage medium comprising at least one computer program having a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions configured to, when executed on a processing apparatus, cause a computerized process to:

• receive data collected by each of a plurality of wireless-enabled computerized client devices, the collected data relating to one or more radio frequency characteristics at respective ones of a plurality of locations within a user premises;
• utilize the collected data to generate data representative of a plurality of profiles associated with the plurality of wireless-enabled computerized client devices, respectively, wherein the plurality of profiles comprise a plurality of respective antenna signatures associated with the plurality of wireless-enabled computerized client devices;
• utilize the plurality of respective antenna signatures to associate the one or more radio frequency characteristics of the respective plurality of wireless-enabled computerized client devices to the respective plurality of locations;
• determine, via use of at least the data representative of the plurality of profiles, an optimized installation configuration for use of a wireless access point within the user premises;
• and
• cause display, via at least one computerized graphical user interface, of information relating to the optimized installation configuration to a user at least one of the plurality of wireless-enabled computerized client devices.

A computer readable apparatus comprising a non-transitory storage medium, the non-transitory storage medium comprising at least one computer program having a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions configured to, when executed on a processing apparatus, cause a computerized process to:

• cause a plurality of wireless-enabled computerized devices to transmit and receive signals in a prescribed sequence in order to characterize:
• (i) at least one of movement or predictable pathways within a premises, and (ii) a performance of each of a plurality of wireless links between the plurality of wireless-enabled computerized devices;
• wherein the characterization of the movement or the predictable pathways within the premises comprises:
• (i) a generation of a plurality of location profile data, the plurality of location profile data associated with respective ones of a plurality of locations within the premises where the plurality of wireless links are disposed, and (ii) an initiation of the prescribed sequence based on a movement of at least one of the plurality of wireless-enabled computerized devices;
• and
• determine, based at least on the characterizations of (i) the at least one of the movement or the predictable pathways within the premises, and (ii) the performance of each of the plurality of wireless links between the plurality of wireless-enabled computerized devices, a configuration comprising one or more of the plurality of locations where the performance of the plurality of wireless links is optimized when considered in an aggregate.