Determining neighbor lists and PN offsets for new sector

1. A method of selecting a pseudo-noise (PN) offset for a newly deployed sector in a mobile communication network, said method comprising:

determining a neighbor list including neighbor sectors of the new sector;

determining an initial PN offset list including a list of PN offsets and corresponding sectors;

eliminating PN offsets from the initial PN offset list based on the neighbor list;

determining a first priority factor for surviving PN offsets in the PN offset list based on a sector azimuth of the new sector, sector azimuths of the sectors assigned the candidate PN offsets, or both;

ranking the surviving PN offsets based on the first priority factor and distance of the assigned sector from the new sector;

selecting a PN offset based on the ranking; and

configuring a transmitter in the new sector to transmit a PN sequence with the selected PN offset.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first priority factor is further based on terrain between the new sector and the sectors assigned the candidate PN offsets.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein ranking the surviving PN offsets comprises computing a weighted combination of the distance and first priority factor for each PN offset.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising verifying PN selection based on drive test measurements.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a neighbor list containing PN offsets for a plurality of neighboring sectors comprises:

determining an initial neighbor list containing PN offsets for a plurality of neighboring sectors;

determining the sectors in said neighbor list based on sector azimuths of the new sector and the neighboring sectors;

determining a final neighbor list based on the rankings.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein eliminating PN offsets from the initial PN offset list based on an initial neighbor list comprises eliminating PN offsets assigned to first, second, and third degree neighbor sectors.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein determining said neighbor list for the new sector comprises:

determining an initial neighbor list based on distance of neighboring sectors from said new sector;

assigning a second priority factor to said neighbor sectors in said initial neighbor list based on a sector azimuth of the new sector, sector azimuths of the neighbor sectors, or both;

ranking the neighbor sectors based on the second priority factor and distance of the neighbor sector from the new sector;

selecting neighbor sectors for inclusion in a final neighbor list based on the rankings.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the second priority factor is further based on terrain between the new sector and the neighbor sectors.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein ranking the neighbor sectors based on the second priority factor and distance of the neighbor sector from the new sector comprises computing a weighted combination of the distance and second priority factor for each neighbor sector.

10. The method of claim 5 further comprising verifying the final neighbor list based on drive test measurements.

11. A data processing and analyzing node in a mobile communication network for selecting a pseudo-noise (PN) offset for a newly deployed sector in a mobile communication network, said node comprising:

a network interface for communicating with other network nodes to gather network configuration data;

a processor circuit for processing the network configuration data to select a PN offset for a new sector, said processor circuit configured to:

determine a neighbor list for the new sector;

determine an initial PN offset list including a list of PN offsets and corresponding sectors;

eliminate PN offsets from the initial PN offset list based on the neighbor list;

determine a first priority factor for surviving PN offsets in the PN offset list based on a sector azimuth of the new sector, sector azimuths of the sectors assigned the candidate PN offsets, or both;

rank surviving PN offsets based on the first priority factor and distance of the assigned sector from the new sector;

select a PN offset based on the ranking; and

configure a transmitter in the new sector to transmit a PN sequence with the selected PN offset.

12. The data processing and analyzing node of claim 11 wherein the processor circuit determines the first priority factor further based on terrain between the new sector and the sectors assigned the candidate PN offsets.

13. The data processing and analyzing node of claim 11 wherein the processor circuit ranks the surviving PN offsets by computing a weighted combination of the distance and first priority factor for each PN offset.

14. The data processing and analyzing node of claim 11 wherein the processor circuit is further configured to verify PN selection against drive test measurements input by an operator.

15. The data processing and analyzing node of claim 1 wherein the processor circuit determines a neighbor list containing PN offsets for a plurality of neighboring sectors by:

determining an initial neighbor list containing PN offsets for a plurality of neighboring sectors;

determining the sectors in said neighbor list based on sector azimuths of the new sector and the neighboring sectors;

determining a final neighbor list based on the rankings.

16. The data processing and analyzing node of claim 11 wherein the processor circuit eliminates PN offsets from the initial PN offset list by eliminating PN offsets assigned to first, second, and third degree neighbor sectors.

17. The data processing and analyzing node of claim 11 wherein the processor circuit determines said neighbor list for the new sector by:

determining an initial neighbor list based on distance of neighboring sectors from said new sector;

assigning a second priority factor to said neighbor sectors in said initial neighbor list based on a sector azimuth of the new sector, sector azimuths of the neighbor sectors, or both;

ranking the neighbor sectors based on the second priority factor and distance of the neighbor sector from the new sector;

selecting neighbor sectors for inclusion in a final neighbor list based on the rankings.

18. The data processing and analyzing node of claim 17 wherein the processor circuit determines the second priority factor further based on terrain between the new sector and the neighbor sectors.

19. The data processing and analyzing node of claim 17 wherein the processor circuit ranks the neighbor sectors by computing a weighted combination of the distance and second priority factor for each neighbor sector.

20. The data processing and analyzing node of claim 15 wherein the processor circuit is further configured to verify the final neighbor list based on drive test measurements input by an operator.