US 9,002,404 B1Granted

Method and system for migrating from coaxial cable to hybrid cable base station installations

AssigneeSprint Communications Company L.P.

InventorsAndrew Mark Wurtenberger, Sreekar Marupaduga, Patrick Jacob Schmidt

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Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for migrating from coaxial cable to hybrid cable base station installations with zero or partial down-time are provided. In embodiments, the method includes determining, based on operational measurement data, a sector associated with a base station having the least traffic. Each sector supported by two conduits feeding two coaxial cables to an antenna. A channel count associated with the determined sector is reduced so that all transmits fit on a single coaxial cable resulting in an unused conduit and an unused coaxial cable. A hybrid cable is installed and activated so that all traffic for the determined sector is moved to the hybrid cable. Additional hybrid cables are installed to replace unused coaxial cables until traffic for all sectors has been moved to hybrid cables, which frees half the conduits for other use.

Claims14

Dependent claims

Non-transitory computer storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to perform operations comprising:

determining, based on operational measurement data, a first sector associated with a base station that is being replaced, the first sector having a least traffic, wherein more than one sector is associated with the base station and each sector is supported by two conduits feeding two coaxial cables to an antenna;
reducing a channel count associated with the first sector so that all transmits fit on a single coaxial cable of the two coaxial cables resulting in a first unused conduit of the two conduits, a first unused coaxial cable of the two coaxial cables, a first used conduit of the two conduits, and a first used coaxial cable of the two coaxial cables for the first sector;
receiving an indication that the first unused coaxial cable has been removed;
receiving an indication that a first hybrid cable has been installed in the first unused conduit;
activating the first hybrid cable so that all traffic for the determined sector is moved from the first used coaxial cable to the first hybrid cable;
receiving an indicating that the first used coaxial cable has been removed;
receiving an indication that a second hybrid cable has been installed in the first used conduit;
activating the second hybrid cable so that all traffic for a second sector is moved from a third used coaxial cable in a third conduit and a fourth used coaxial cable in a fourth conduit;
receiving an indication that the third used coaxial cable and the fourth used coaxial cable have been removed from the third and fourth conduits;
receiving an indication that a third hybrid cable has been installed in the third conduit;
and
activating the third hybrid cable so that all traffic for a third sector is moved from a fifth used coaxial cable in a fifth conduit and a sixth used coaxial cable in a sixth conduit.

9 more elements

determining, based on operational measurement data, a first sector associated with a base station that is being replaced, the first sector having a least traffic, wherein more than one sector is associated with the base station and each sector is supported by two conduits feeding two coaxial cables to an antenna;
reducing a channel count associated with the determined sector so that all transmits associated with the sector fit on a single coaxial cable of the two coaxial cables resulting in a first unused conduit of the two conduits, a first unused coaxial cable of the two coaxial cables, a first used conduit of the two conduits, and a first used coaxial cable of the two coaxial cables for the first sector;
receiving an indication that the first unused coaxial cable has been removed;
receiving an indication that a first hybrid cable has been installed in the first unused conduit;
and
activating the first hybrid cable so that all traffic for the first sector is moved from the first used coaxial cable to the first hybrid cable.

3 more elements

A computer system for migrating from a coaxial cable to hybrid cable base station installations, the computer system comprising a processor coupled to a non-transitory computer storage medium, the non-transitory computer storage medium having stored thereon a plurality of computer software components executed by the processor, the computer software components comprising:

a determination component for determining, based on operational measurement data, a first sector associated with a base station, the first sector having a least traffic, wherein more than one sector is associated with the base station and each sector is supported by two conduits feeding two coaxial cables to an antenna;
a reduction component for reducing a channel count associated with the first sector so that all transmits associated with the first sector fit on a single coaxial cable of the two coaxial cables resulting in a first unused conduit of the two conduits, a first unused coaxial cable of the two coaxial cables, a first used conduit of the two conduits, and a first used coaxial cable of the two coaxial cables for the first sector;
an removed indication component for receiving an indication when an unused coaxial cable has been removed from a conduit;
an installed indication component for receiving an indication when a hybrid cable has been installed in a conduit;
an activation component for activating the hybrid cable after the installed indication component indicates the hybrid cable has been installed;
and
a remaining sector component that, upon receiving an indication from the activation component that a hybrid cable has been installed determines whether there are any remaining sectors of the base station that are not supported by the hybrid cable.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.