Downlink speed estimation in wireless communication networks

1 . A method of operating a wireless communication network to estimate wireless downlink speed, the method comprising:

serving, by a network control plane, a user device using a radio band of an access node that resides at a geographic location and generating service metrics that indicate received signal strength associated with the geographic location and the radio band based on the service;

subscribing, by the analytics system, to the network control plane to receive a measurement report from the network control plane that indicates the received signal strength associated with the geographic location and the radio band;

receiving, by the analytics system in the wireless communication network, the measurement report indicating the received signal strength associated with the geographic location and the radio band based on the subscription;

converting, by the analytics system, the received signal strength for the radio band to a spectral efficiency for the radio band;

determining, by the analytics system, a bandwidth for the radio band;

hosting, by the analytics system, a data structure that correlates the radio band loading for the geographic location into a spectral efficiency ratio, inputting the loading for the radio band and the geographic location into the data structure, and obtaining the spectral efficiency ratio for the radio band as an output from the data structure;

estimating, by the analytics system, a downlink speed estimate for the geographic location and the radio band based on the spectral efficiency ratio, the spectral efficiency, and the bandwidth;

applying, by the analytics system, a speed threshold to the downlink speed estimate;

when the downlink speed estimate does not exceed the speed threshold, marking, by the analytics system, the geographic location and the radio band as insufficient; and

generating, by the analytics system, data for rendering a user interface to display a view of the geographic area, the downlink speed estimate for the geographic location and the radio band, and the insufficiency marking for the geographic location and the radio band.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the speed threshold corresponds to a government regulation.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein:

the received signal strength comprises a Received Signal Received Power (RSRP) estimation; and

receiving the measurement report comprises generating a coverage prediction that comprises the RSRP estimation.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein:

the received signal strength comprises a Received Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement; and

receiving the measurement report comprises receiving the measurement report generated by a wireless User Equipment (UE) that comprises the RSRP measurement.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the geographic location comprises a population concentration within the geographic location.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the radio band loading comprises serving sector loading.

7 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, by the analytics system, an additional measurement report from the network control plane indicating subsequent received signal strength associated with the geographic location and the radio band based on the subscription;

converting, by the analytics system, the subsequent received signal strength for the radio band to a subsequent spectral efficiency for the radio band;

estimating, by the analytics system, a subsequent downlink speed estimate for the geographic location and the radio band based on the spectral efficiency ratio, the subsequent spectral efficiency, and the bandwidth; and

applying, by the analytics system, the speed threshold to the subsequent downlink speed estimate;

when the subsequent downlink speed estimate exceeds the speed threshold, marking, by the analytics system, the geographic location and the radio band as sufficient; and

updating, by the analytics system, the data for rendering the user interface to display an updated view of the geographic location, the subsequent downlink speed estimate for the geographic location and the radio band, and the sufficiency marking.

8 . A wireless communication network configured to estimate wireless downlink speed, the wireless communication network comprising:

network control plane circuitry configured to serve a user device using a radio band of an access node that resides at a geographic location and generate service metrics that indicate received signal strength associated with the geographic location and the radio band based on the service;

data analysis circuitry configured to:

subscribe to the network control plane to receive a measurement report from the network control plane that indicates the received signal strength associated with the geographic location and the radio band;

receive the measurement report indicating the received signal strength associated with the geographic location and the radio band;

convert the received signal strength for the radio band to a spectral efficiency for the radio band;

determine a bandwidth for the radio band;

host a data structure that correlates the radio band loading for the geographic location into a spectral efficiency ratio, input the loading for the radio band and the geographic location into the data structure, and obtain the spectral efficiency ratio for the radio band as an output from the data structure;

estimate a downlink speed estimate for the geographic location and the radio band based on the spectral efficiency ratio, the spectral efficiency, and the bandwidth;

apply a speed threshold to the downlink speed estimate;

when the downlink speed estimate does not exceed the speed threshold, mark the geographic location and the radio band as insufficient; and

generate data for rendering a user interface to display a view of the geographic area, the downlink speed estimate for the geographic location and the radio band, and the insufficiency marking for the geographic location and the radio band.

9 . The wireless communication network of claim 8 wherein the speed threshold corresponds to a government regulation.

10 . The wireless communication network of claim 8 wherein:

the received signal strength comprises a Received Signal Received Power (RSRP) estimation; and

the data analysis circuitry is further configured to generate a coverage prediction that comprises the RSRP estimation.

11 . The wireless communication network of claim 8 wherein:

the received signal strength comprises a Received Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement; and

the data analysis circuitry is further configured to receive the measurement report generated by a wireless User Equipment (UE) that comprises the RSRP measurement.

12 . The wireless communication network of claim 8 wherein the geographic location comprises a population concentration within the geographic location.

13 . The wireless communication network of claim 8 wherein the radio band loading comprises serving sector loading.

14 . The wireless communication network of claim 8 wherein:

the data analysis circuitry is further configured to:

receive an additional measurement report from the network control plane circuitry indicating subsequent received signal strength associated with the geographic location and the radio band based on the subscription;

convert the subsequent received signal strength for the radio band to a subsequent spectral efficiency for the radio band;

estimate a subsequent downlink speed estimate for the geographic location and the radio band based on the spectral efficiency ratio, the subsequent spectral efficiency, and the bandwidth; and

apply the speed threshold to the subsequent downlink speed estimate;

when the subsequent downlink speed estimate exceeds the speed threshold, mark the geographic location and the radio band as sufficient; and

update the data for rendering the user interface to display an updated view of the geographic location, the subsequent downlink speed estimate for the geographic location and the radio band, and the sufficiency marking; and further comprising:

user interface circuitry configured to:

utilize the data to render the user interface that displays the view of the geographic location, the downlink speed estimate for the geographic location and the radio band, and the insufficiency marking; and

utilize the updated data to render an updated user interface to display the updated view of the geographic location, the subsequent downlink speed estimate for the geographic location and the radio band, and the sufficiency marking.

15 . A method of operating a wireless communication network to estimate wireless downlink speed, the method comprising:

subscribing to a network control plane to receive a measurement report from the network control plane that indicates a received signal strength associated with the geographic location and the radio band, wherein the network control plane serves a user device using the radio band of an access node that resides at the geographic location and generates service metrics that indicate the received signal strength associated with the geographic location and the radio band based on the service;

receiving the measurement report from the network control plane indicating received signal strength associated with a geographic location and a radio band based on the subscription;

converting the received signal strength for the radio band to a spectral efficiency for the radio band;

determining a bandwidth for the radio band;

hosting a data structure that correlates the radio band loading for the geographic location into a spectral efficiency ratio, inputting the loading for the radio band and the geographic location into the data structure, and obtaining the spectral efficiency ratio for the radio band as an output from the data structure;

estimating a downlink speed estimate for the geographic location and the radio band based on the spectral efficiency ratio, the spectral efficiency, and the bandwidth;

applying a speed threshold to the downlink speed estimate;

when the downlink speed estimate does not exceed the speed threshold, marking the geographic location and the radio band as insufficient; and

generating data for rendering a user interface to display a view of the geographic area, the downlink speed estimate for the geographic location and the radio band, and the insufficiency marking for the geographic location and the radio band.

16 . The method of claim 15 further comprising:

receiving an additional measurement report from the network control plane indicating subsequent received signal strength associated with the geographic location and the radio band based on the subscription;

converting the subsequent received signal strength for the radio band to a subsequent spectral efficiency for the radio band;

estimating a subsequent downlink speed estimate for the geographic location and the radio band based on the spectral efficiency ratio, the subsequent spectral efficiency, and the bandwidth;

applying the speed threshold to the subsequent downlink speed estimate;

when the subsequent downlink speed estimate exceeds the speed threshold, marking the geographic location and the radio band as sufficient;

updating the data for rendering the user interface to display an updated view of the geographic location, the subsequent downlink speed estimate for the geographic location and the radio band, and the sufficiency marking for the geographic location and the radio band.

17 . The method of claim 16 wherein:

the received signal strength comprises a Received Signal Received Power (RSRP) estimation;

the subsequent received signal strength comprises a subsequent RSRP estimation;

receiving the measurement report comprises generating a coverage prediction that comprises the RSRP estimation; and

receiving the additional measurement report comprises generating a subsequent coverage prediction that comprises the subsequent RSRP estimation.

18 . The method of claim 16 wherein:

the received signal strength comprises a Received Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement;

the subsequent received signal strength comprises a subsequent RSRP measurement;

receiving the measurement report comprises receiving the measurement report generated by a wireless User Equipment (UE) that comprises the RSRP measurement; and

receiving the additional measurement report comprises receiving the additional measurement report generated by the wireless UE that comprises the subsequent RSRP measurement.

19 . The method of claim 16 wherein the geographic location comprises a population concentration within the geographic location.

20 . The method of claim 15 wherein determining the radio band loading comprises serving sector loading.