Systems and methods for automatically configuring frequencies of radio communication devices

1. A system for allocating frequency channels across a radiofrequency (RF) mesh network, comprising:

a plurality of nodes, wherein each node defines a geographic position and comprises:

a radio associated with the geographic position, and

an antenna communicatively coupled to the radio and defining a broadcast heading and beam shape;

wherein the plurality of nodes are communicatively connected in a network over a plurality of wireless links, wherein each of the plurality of wireless links is between a first radio of a first node and a second radio of a second node that cooperatively define a radio group such that the plurality of nodes defines a plurality of radio groups;

wherein each radio group of the plurality of radio groups is associated with a frequency channel over which a corresponding wireless link of the plurality of wireless links is made;

a central routing server comprising an automated frequency planning module that:

executes an RF allocation algorithm, wherein the RF allocation algorithm determines the frequency channel to assign to each radio group of the plurality of radio groups based on a computed interference propensity metric associated with pairs of radio groups, wherein the computed interference propensity metric is based on at least one of the geographic position, the broadcast heading of the antenna, and the beam shape of the antenna of each node of the pairs of radio groups, and

deploys the determined frequency channel to each radio group of the plurality of radio groups;

wherein the RF allocation algorithm comprises a graph coloring technique, and wherein the automated frequency planning module:

defines a graph of radio groups connected by edges, wherein an edge connects a pair of radio groups based on the computed interference propensity metric associated with the pair;

orders the plurality of radio groups according to a number of edges connected to each radio group of the graph to generate an ordered list of radio groups; and

sequentially assigns frequency channels to the ordered list of radio groups.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the automated frequency planning module orders the plurality of radio groups according to the number of edges and, wherein radio groups have equal numbers of edges connected thereto, such radio groups are ordered based on a secondary metric.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the secondary metric comprises a number of downstream users connected to the nodes of the radio group, and wherein radio groups having a higher number of downstream users are ordered ahead of radio groups having a lower number of downstream users.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the secondary metric comprises a historical downlink demand of the nodes of the radio group, and wherein radio groups having a higher historical downlink demand are ordered ahead of radio groups having a lower number of downstream users.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the edge connects a pair of radio groups based on the computed interference propensity metric exceeding a threshold value.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein each edge is weighted in proportion to the computed interference propensity metric, and wherein the automated frequency planning module orders the plurality of radio groups according to a weighted sum of the number of edges connected to each radio group.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the RF allocation algorithm comprises a heuristic technique, wherein frequency channels are assigned such that the broadcast headings of the antennas of the nodes in each radio group are within non-overlapping angular sectors.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the RF allocation algorithm comprises a business logic technique, wherein frequency channels are ordered by quality of service (QoS) and assigned to radio groups based on the number of downstream connected users associated with the nodes in each radio group.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein, upon addition of a new node to the plurality of nodes at a first time point, the automatic frequency planning module:

assigns a first frequency channel using a naïve RF allocation algorithm, wherein the frequency channel is assigned based solely on the geographic position and heading of the antenna of the new node, and

assigns a second frequency channel using the RF allocation algorithm at a time point subsequent to the first time point.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the automatic frequency planning module executes the RF allocation algorithm immediately in response to a change in network traffic above a threshold value.

11. A method for allocating frequency channels across a radiofrequency (RF) mesh network, comprising:

identifying pairs of radio groups having a propensity for interference from among a plurality of radio groups, wherein each radio group comprises at least two radios communicatively coupled by an associated wireless link, based on at least one of the geographic position, heading, and beam shape associated with each of the at least two radios of each radio group, and generating an interference propensity mapping based on the propensity for interference of each radio group with each other radio group;

allocating frequency channels to each of the plurality of radio groups based on the interference propensity mapping;

deploying the allocated frequency channels to the plurality of radio groups; and

collecting interference metrics based on actual network traffic among the plurality of radio groups, updating the interference propensity mapping based on the collected interference metrics, and reallocating frequency channels in response to detecting an allocation trigger;

wherein generating the interference propensity mapping comprises generating a graph of radio groups connected by edges, wherein an edge connects a pair of radio groups based on the propensity for interference associated with the pair, and wherein allocating frequency channels to each of the plurality of radio groups comprises:

ordering the plurality of radio groups according to a number of edges connected to each radio group of the graph to generate an ordered list of radio groups; and

sequentially assigning frequency channels to the ordered list of radio groups.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising ordering radio groups having a same number of edges connected thereto based on a secondary metric.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the secondary metric comprises a number of downstream users connected to the nodes of the radio group, and further comprising ordering radio groups having a higher number of downstream users ahead of radio groups having a lower number of downstream users.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the edge connects a pair of radio groups based on the propensity for interference exceeding a threshold value.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein each edge is weighted in proportion to the propensity for interference, and further comprising ordering the plurality of radio groups according to a weighted sum of the number of edges connected to each radio group.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising allocating frequency channels to each of the plurality of radio groups such that the broadcast headings of the antennas of the nodes in each radio group are within non-overlapping angular sectors.

17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising allocating frequency channels to each of the plurality of radio groups based on the number of downstream connected users associated with the nodes in each radio group.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the allocation trigger comprises a change in network traffic above a threshold value.