Device for deploying access points in a wireless network and a method therefor

1. A method comprising:

obtaining, channel strengths between access points (APs) and coverage areas, the coverage areas being covered by at least one of the APs;

determining from the obtained channel strengths, propagation losses of multiple pairs of areas, each of the pairs of areas including two of the coverage areas;

identifying first pairs of areas among the pairs of areas with lower propagation losses and second pairs of areas among the pairs of areas with higher propagation losses;

selecting, from the first pairs of areas, candidate areas for deploying mesh-operated APs, each of the candidate areas being coverage areas included in one of the first pairs of areas;

determining wireless coverage in coverage areas included in the second pairs of areas by the respective mesh-operated APs when deployed in one or more of the candidate areas; and

selecting coverage areas from the candidate areas for deploying mesh-operated APs based on the determined wireless coverage in the coverage areas.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the selecting coverage areas selects the coverage areas from the candidate areas for deploying mesh-operated APs such that the wireless coverage is maximized.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the further selecting is based on one or more preferred areas for deploying mesh-operated APs and/or on a pre-determined maximum number of areas for deploying mesh-operated APs.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises obtaining communication bands of the respective APs and selecting therefrom a communication band for the mesh-operated APs based on a lowest channel occupancy.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the selecting a communication band for the mesh-operated APs further comprises selecting a communication band for communication between the mesh-operated APs different from a communication band for communication between the mesh-operated APs and client devices located within the coverage areas.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising

calculating a minimum transmission power for the mesh-operated APs based on the propagation losses.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising

measuring a signal strength between a respective AP and a plurality of locations within a respective coverage area.

8. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising calculating, from the measured signal strengths, a channel strength between the respective AP and the respective coverage area representative for the measured signal strengths.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the obtaining, the determining the propagation losses; the identifying first pairs of areas; the selecting, and the determining the wireless coverage are performed by processing circuitry located in a cloud server.

10. A device comprising a processing circuitry configured:

to obtain channel strengths between access points (APs) and coverage areas, the coverage areas being covered by at least one of the APs;

to determine, from the obtained channel strengths, propagation losses of multiple pairs of areas, each of the pairs of areas including two of the coverage areas;

to identify first pairs of areas among the pairs of areas with lowest propagation losses and second pairs of areas among the pairs of areas with highest propagation losses;

to select, from the first pairs of areas, candidate areas for deploying mesh-operated APs, each of the candidate areas being coverage areas included in one of the first pairs of areas;

to determine wireless coverage in coverage areas included in the second pairs of areas by the respective mesh-operated APs when deployed in one or more of the candidate areas; and

to select coverage areas from the candidate areas for deploying mesh-operated APs based on the determined wireless coverage in the coverage areas.

11. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to select the coverage areas from the candidate areas for deploying mesh-operated APs based on the determined wireless coverage in the coverage areas such that wireless coverage is maximized.

12. The device according to claim 11 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to select coverage areas from the candidate areas based on one or more preferred areas for deploying mesh-operated APs and/or on a pre-determined maximum number of coverage areas for deploying mesh-operated APs.

13. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the

device further comprises a measuring circuitry configured to measure a signal strength between a respective AP and a plurality of locations within a respective coverage area; and

the processing circuitry is further configured to calculate, from the measured signal strengths, a mean channel strength between the respective AP and the respective coverage area.

14. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform:

obtaining, channel strengths between access points (APs) and coverage areas, the coverage areas being covered by at least one of the APs;

determining from the obtained channel strengths, propagation losses of multiple pairs of areas, each of the pairs of areas including two of the coverage areas;

identifying first pairs of areas among the pairs of areas with lower propagation losses and second pairs of areas among the pairs of areas with higher propagation losses;

selecting, from the first pairs of areas, candidate areas for deploying mesh-operated APs, each of the candidate areas being coverage areas included in one of the first pairs of areas;

determining wireless coverage in coverage areas included in the second pairs of areas by the respective mesh-operated APs when deployed in one or more of the candidate areas; and

select coverage areas from the candidate areas for deploying mesh-operated APs based on the determined wireless coverage in the coverage areas.