# US 12,120,532 B2 · Station placement designing method and station placement designing apparatus > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,120,532 B2 - Document ID: US12120532B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/768,412 - Filed: 2019-10-18 - Published: 2022-09-15 - Granted: 2024-10-15 - Earliest claimed: 2019-10-18 - Assignees: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation - Applicants: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation - Inventors: Hideyuki Tsuboi; Hideki Toshinaga; Kazuto Goto; Shuki Wai; Yushi Shirato; Naoki Kita; Takeshi Onizawa - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12120532B2 ## CPC - H04W 16/18: Network planning tools - G06T 7/70: Determining position or orientation of objects or cameras (camera calibration G06T7/80) - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL ## Abstract On two-dimensional map data indicating buildings serving as candidates for installing terminal station devices, locations of base station installation structures serving as candidates for installing base station devices are set as base station candidate locations, and for each of the base station candidate locations, buildings that have other buildings between themselves and the base station candidate location are selected as visibility detection subject buildings. The heights of the buildings are set at an identical length, a higher position than the buildings is set as an installation altitude of the base station devices, and for each selected visibility detection subject building, a visibility range of the visibility detection subject building from the installation altitude of the base station device in the base station candidate location is detected. Three-dimensional point cloud data acquired by photographing a region including the base station installation structures and the buildings are narrowed down on the basis of the detected visibility ranges, and using the narrowed-down point cloud data, the visibility of the buildings from the base station candidate locations is determined. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A station installation support method comprising: a vertical direction visibility detection subject building selecting step for setting, on two-dimensional map data indicating buildings serving as candidates for installing terminal station devices, locations of base station installation structures serving as candidates for installing base station devices as base station candidate locations, and selecting, for each of the base station candidate locations, buildings that have other buildings between themselves and the base station candidate location as visibility detection subject buildings; a vertical direction visibility detection processing step for setting the heights of the buildings at an identical length, setting a higher position than the buildings as an installation altitude of the base station devices, and detecting, for each of the visibility detection subject buildings selected in the vertical direction visibility detection subject building selecting step, a visibility range of the visibility detection subject building from the installation altitude of the base station device in the base station candidate location; and a point cloud data processing step for narrowing down, on the basis of the detected visibility ranges, three-dimensional point cloud data acquired by photographing a region including the base station installation structures and the buildings, and using the narrowed-down point cloud data to determine the visibility of the buildings from the base station candidate locations. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The station installation support method according to claim 1, wherein the vertical direction visibility detection processing step includes: a representative direction line generating step for generating, for each of the base station candidate locations, a representative direction line, which is a straight line that originates from the base station candidate location and is oriented in a direction that intersects a predetermined location on the visibility detection subject building; a visibility detection subject wall surface detecting step for detecting a location that is closest to the base station candidate location, among locations where a contour of the visibility detection subject building and the representative direction line intersect, as a location of a visibility detection subject wall surface of the visibility detection subject building, and calculating a distance on a horizontal plane between the detected location of the visibility detection subject wall surface and the base station candidate location as a visibility detection subject wall surface distance; a shielding wall surface detecting step for detecting building wall surfaces that intersect the representative direction line in order from the wall surface closest to the base station candidate location, detecting a location where the building wall surface detected immediately before the visibility detection subject wall surface intersects the representative direction line as the location of a shielding wall surface, and calculating a distance on a horizontal plane between the detected location of the shielding wall surface and the base station candidate location as a shielding wall surface distance; and a visibility range detecting step for detecting a visibility range of the visibility detection subject wall surface in relation to each of the representative direction lines on the basis of the height of the buildings, the installation altitude of the base station device corresponding to the base station candidate location, the visibility detection subject wall surface distance, and the shielding wall surface distance. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The station installation support method according to claim 1, comprising: a road classification processing step for classifying roads indicated on the two-dimensional map data as either an evaluation reference road that serves as a reference for determining a visibility evaluation subject range or an evaluation boundary road for determining a boundary of the visibility evaluation subject range in relation to each of the base station candidate locations; and an evaluation subject detecting step for detecting, for each of the base station candidate locations, an evaluation subject set, which is a set of buildings included in the visibility evaluation subject range, on the basis of the evaluation reference road and the evaluation boundary road corresponding to the base station candidate location, wherein, in the vertical direction visibility detection subject building selecting step, the buildings that have other buildings between themselves and the base station candidate location are selected from the buildings included in the evaluation subject set as the visibility detection subject buildings. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The station installation support method according to claim 3, wherein, in the evaluation subject detecting step, the buildings facing the evaluation reference road corresponding to the base station candidate location are detected for each of the base station candidate locations, the detected buildings are added to the evaluation subject set, every time a new building is added to the evaluation subject set, an addition candidate set, which is a set of the buildings existing near the added building, is generated, and all of the buildings not facing the evaluation boundary road corresponding to the base station candidate location, among the buildings included in the generated addition candidate set, are added to the evaluation subject set repeatedly until one of the buildings included in the generated addition candidate set faces the evaluation boundary road corresponding to the base station candidate location. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The station installation support method according to claim 3, wherein, in the evaluation subject detecting step, building detection lines that originate from the base station candidate location and extend in directions determined as desired are generated for each of the base station candidate locations, for each of the building detection lines, the first building that intersects the building detection line is detected and the detected building is added to an evaluation subject set, every time a new building is added to the evaluation subject set, an addition candidate set, which is a set of the buildings existing near the added building, is generated, and all of the buildings not facing the evaluation boundary road corresponding to the base station candidate location, among the buildings included in the generated addition candidate set, are added to the evaluation subject set repeatedly until one of the buildings included in the generated addition candidate set faces the evaluation boundary road corresponding to the base station candidate location. ### Claim 6 (depends on 3) The station installation support method according to claim 3, wherein, in the road classification processing step, for each of the base station candidate locations, a road to which the location indicated by the base station candidate location belongs is classified as the evaluation reference road, while a road to which a location indicated by a base station candidate location other than the base station candidate location corresponding to the evaluation reference road belongs is classified as the evaluation boundary road. ### Claim 7 (depends on 3) The station installation support method according to claim 3, wherein, in the road classification processing step, the roads included in the two-dimensional map data are divided by intersections, whereupon the divided roads are each classified as either the evaluation reference road or the evaluation boundary road, or a continuous road among the roads included in the two-dimensional map data is regarded as a single road, whereupon the roads are each classified as either the evaluation reference road or the evaluation boundary road. ### Claim 8 A station installation support device comprising: a vertical direction visibility detection subject building selection unit for setting, on two-dimensional map data indicating buildings serving as candidates for installing terminal station devices, locations of base station installation structures serving as candidates for installing base station devices as base station candidate locations, and selecting, for each of the base station candidate locations, buildings that have other buildings between themselves and the base station candidate location as visibility detection subject buildings; a vertical direction visibility detection processing unit for setting the heights of the buildings at an identical length, setting a higher position than the buildings as an installation altitude of the base station devices, and detecting, for each of the visibility detection subject buildings selected by the vertical direction visibility detection subject building selecting unit, a visibility range of the visibility detection subject building from the installation altitude of the base station device in the base station candidate location; and a point cloud data processing unit for narrowing down, on the basis of the detected visibility ranges, three-dimensional point cloud data acquired by photographing a region including the base station installation structures and the buildings, and using the narrowed-down point cloud data to determine the visibility of the buildings from the base station candidate locations.